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In a wide-ranging keynote address at Series Mania in Lille, M6 CEO David Larramendy laid out his ambitious vision for the future of one of France’s leading broadcasters. Reflecting on a transformative year and anticipating further changes, Larramendy emphasized the group’s strategic pivot toward streaming, fiction and content reinvention in a competitive global media landscape.

Possible Sale and Market Consolidation

Addressing rumors about a possible sale of M6, Larramendy deflected speculation: “Is M6 for sale? I don’t know. Ask our shareholder.” However, he acknowledged that the French media market needs consolidation. Due to current regulations, M6 cannot be sold before 2032, but he supports revisiting those rules.

“If the law changes, consolidation could happen,” he said, noting past interest from TF1 and new expressions of interest from others.

Cyril Hanouna Joins M6 in Entertainment Push

In a high-profile talent acquisition, TV host Cyril Hanouna will join M6 in September.

Controversial French TV host Cyril Hanouna will “start a new chapter” when he launches his M6 chat show in September, according to M6 boss David Larramendy.

Larramendy addressed reports head on that Hanouna is soon joining M6 for a pre-evening show on the W9 network, which comes in a week that Hanouna criticized an M6 radio host and ended his long-running series Touche Pas à Mon Poste! (Don’t Touch My TV Set!)

“Cyril Hanouna is very talented, is one of the last TV stars and all audiences can relate [to him],” Larramendy told Series Mania today. “We don’t want to exclude anyone. He has said things that were wrong and things we disagreed with and we told him. He is starting a new chapter.”

Larramendy said Hanouna’s new show will steer clear of politics. “We’re not a political company and don’t intend to do political so it will be entertainment,...

Vivendi’s Canal+ Group is fighting back against a decision over the summer by France’s Arcom audiovisual and digital communication authority to strip its controversial C8 channel of its TNT frequency.

The pay-TV giant announced on Thursday that it would be referring the matter to France’s Council Of State, the country’s highest court for issues and cases involving public administration.

C8 was one of two channels, alongside NRJ12, to learn in July that it had lost its TNT licence in the renewal process. Arcom awarded these frequencies instead to new networks, Ouest-France TV’s Of TV and Réels TV, backed by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s Cmi group. The current term expires in February 2025.

“C8 firmly opposes Arcom’s decision… such a decision by Arcom is unprecedented in the history of TNT, dating back to 2005,” the group said in a statement, noting that the channel had...

Canal + Group’s popular channel C8, which airs the controversial talk show “Touche pas à mon poste,” looks bound to disappear.

France’s broadcasting regulatory authority (Arcom) has decided not to grant the renewal of the TNT channel’s frequency to Canal+ Group following auditions with leaders of the Vivendi-owned TV banner.

Contacted by Variety, Canal+ Group declined to comment. The outlet could now appeal Arcom’s decision to the state council.

C8 is not the only frequency that failed to be renewed by the eight-member board of Arcom. The regulatory body also turned down NRJ12. In total, Arcom pre-selected 15 channels out of 24 applicants.

Canal+ Group’s other frequencies, such as its right-wing news channel CNews (often referred to as France’s equivalent to Fox News) made the cut, but will have to sign a convention that Arcom will be submitting soon to all 15 pre-selected services. The convention will...

Controversial French free-to-air channel C8, a subsidiary of Vivendi’s Canal Plus Group, is set to lose its TNT frequency, following a bombshell decision by France’s Arcom audiovisual and digital communication authority.

The body is in the process of renewing the 15 licenses for France’s terrestrial frequencies and has been auditioning existing frequency holders and new applicants since the spring ahead of a decision.

There have been questions over whether C8 would retain its frequency for some time.

C8, which is home to the controversial populist presenter Cyril Hanouna and his provocative chat show Touche pas à mon poste, has racked up close to $8.2 M (€7.6M) in Arcom fines on various counts of lack of honesty and political plurality in recent years.

French deputy Sophie Taillé-Polian, a member of the left-wing and ecologist Génération.s party, launched a campaign in February for C8 and its equally controversial sister channel...

France goes to the polls on Sunday for the second round of a snap parliamentary election in which far right National Rally (Rn) party looks set to come out on top.

With less than 48 hours until the booths open, polls are forecasting Rn is on course to win between 200 to 230 seats in France’s 577-seat National Assembly lower house.

This will not give it an absolute majority but could result in the party’s 28-year-old president Jordan Bardella becoming prime minister with the backing of its leader Marine Le Pen.

Emmanuel Macron, who called the election in response to hefty far right gains in European Parliament elections in mid-June has vowed to stay in place as president until the end of his term in May 2027, although it is not clear what power he will wield if the new government is led by Rn.

The prospect of Rn taking political control...

Banijay France has entered a joint venture with seasoned French industry player Malika Abdellaoui to launch Marathon Studio, as part of its strategy to ramp up its output in the scripted landscape.

Abdellaoui was previously managing director of Newen Distribution, the production and distribution company owned by French’s biggest TV network TF1 Group. Prior to joining Newen, Abdellaoui was deputy director of TV sales at EuropaCorp, as well as senior acquisition manager at the Disney Channel for France and Emea. Abdellaoui will be the majority shareholder of Marathon Studio. Banijay France’s CEO François de Brugada pointed out that Marathon is a renowned brand name in France and “is one that Banijay has owned for some time.” Marathon was a subsidiary of Zodiak Media, which was bought by Banijay in 2016.

Banijay France also recently tapped French film and TV veteran Dominique Farrugia to take the leadership of Banijay’s production label EndemolShine Fiction,...

Mip TV is staying close to home this year after organizers revealed that France is to be the country of honor for the Cannes event.

The event, which runs 8-11 April 2019, will dedicate a series of conferences and promotional events to the French TV industry. This comes after France’s export association TV France International reported that sales were up over the last twelve months to €325M, it second best performance in 20 years.

This growth has been driven by animation and documentary sales as well as drama series, such as The Bureau and Midnight Sun, which increased international sales by 28% since 2016.

“It could not be better timing to celebrate France’s creativity and savoir-faire on the international content scene. Over the years, French production has taken a growing share of the international market in every genre, from animation to documentary, formats and, of course, drama series. French creators and producers...