Rodolphe Belmer has made the case for TF1 Group as “the free entertainment reference for French citizens on TV and in streaming.”
Talking during a Lille Dialogue keynote session here at Series Mania, the TF1 CEO said the growth of streaming services, especially Netflix, meant linear networks such as his group needed to double down on their cultural strengths to reach viewers.
Several times he referenced the need to create content based around “heroes” and cultural figures, adding: “The editorial line is to promote French popular culture.”
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Belmer, a Netflix board member, provided an analysis of the TV and streaming market during his talk. He claimed international SVOD service Netflix remained firmly established in the subscription market as rivals such have pivoted back towards major franchises and owned IP to offset streaming losses.
“Netflix is a huge and remarkable success but the development of SVOD has shown other players have penetrated the market,” he said. His analysis was the subscription streaming market would continue to slow but ultimately keep growing at a smaller rate.
“We have to differentiate ourselves,” he said.
Owned by Bouygues, TF1 is France’s biggest commercial network. Last year it attempted to merge with rival M6 to better compete against global streaming rivals but this was shot down over advertising market dominance concerns.
Elsewhere in the chat, Belmer said TF1’s production group Newen Studios was now looking to organically grow its revenues after a spree of acquisitions of companies such as
Elsewhere in the chat, Belmer said TF1’s production group Newen Studios was now looking to organically grow its revenues after a spree of acquisitions of companies such as Daï-Daï Films, Anagram and Rise Films. In total, Newen owns nearly 50 producers.
“We have achieved acquisitions-based growth,” he said. “The size is now efficient so we’re going to focus on organic growth — developing as many productions as we can, attracting young talent and producers who enrich our growth.”
He said Newen would still look at opportunistic acquisitions but this was no longer the priority.
Belmer, chairman of Series Mania, succeeded Gilles Pélisson as TF1 CEO last month. He previously spent 15 years at Canal+ and worked as CEO of satellite TV company Eutelsat.
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