“BFMTV has been the premier news channel for 13 years, month after month, that’s undeniable. Our challenge is to continue to be the first”. It is with a belligerent but serene tone that Hervé Béroud, Altice Media’s information manager and group executive, opened the season of his group’s information division, which brings together the BFM and RMC brands. They have shone for the performance of their media, on linear, but also on digital where BFMTV has taken first place among media brands, according to the latest ACPM ranking.
For this new school year, the first French news channel has completely rebuilt its studio, “one of the most technologically advanced in the world”.
“This new plateau is the embodiment of where we are today, it allows you to tell information in a different way. BFM can have this audacity” justified Marc-Olivier Fogiel, general manager of the channel who actively participated in its conception.
Ruquier at 20:00
If the BFMTV network does not experience major revolutions, the general information channel, as its boss calls it, does not hide that it has struck one of the blows of the beginning of the school year by recruiting Laurent Ruquier. The former France 2 host will present “Le 20h de Ruquier” together with LCI’s up-and-comer Julie Hammett. “First of all, we want to retain viewers who would be tempted to watch the news of TF1 and France 2, explained Marc-Olivier Fogiel. Laurent Ruquier will present a topical intervention, he will not be militant or committed ”. The show should air in early October, “maybe sooner if we’re ready.”
[CTA_NL]
A BFMTV channel 2 coming soon digitally
This season, BFM wants to continue its progress on digital and promises the launch of a new channel “BFMTV 2” only on the web. If the name is not yet final, we already know that it will be a real digital channel built with a schedule, with reruns and live news that we do not see on BFMTV, particularly when the news arrives.
More BFM regions coming soon
Another ambition of the group is to develop local BFM channels. With 6 million viewers, some of them are already “2ᵉ news channels in their broadcasting areas, behind BFMTV and ahead of LCI or CNews” revealed Hervé Béroud. “This season they will be operating at full speed because they are again broadcast by Orange and present by all operators, and we hope to create more”, underlined Arthur Dreyfuss, director of Altice France, which looks particularly to the western facade of France. The Altice group risks colliding with the limit on the accumulation of authorizations for local television stations set at 19 million inhabitants by the anti-concentration law applied by Arcom. This limitation could therefore prevent BFM Régions from obtaining new terrestrial broadcasting licences. “Either we have to change the law, or we will open channels without DTT frequencies”.
Double-digit growth
If the group is silent on advertising revenues, it seems to go against the trend of the television market (-7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the Bump). Arthur Dreyfuss even confides that “growth remains strong, double-digit in digital for 3 years and globally this summer”. Altice Media, whose sale is rumored, does not refrain from being a player in the consolidation nor from applying for new DTT frequencies, while 15 broadcasting licences, including that of BFMTV, expire in 2025…
