Present in Montpellier to celebrate the 3 years of the series, the CEO of France Télévisions also mentioned the back-to-school schedule and the need to fight even more against disinformation.
How do you analyze the success ofSuch a great sun ?
It is first of all an audience success that I explain by the very high quality of writing and production, which is the fruit of the work of all the teams. It is also a technological success. We have innovated a lot in the way of making a soap opera and we will continue. A new studio, quite unique in Europe, will soon see the light of day to take the use of special effects a step further. In total, France Télévisions will have invested more than € 20 million on its Vendargues site over the past four years.
Is this Vendargues site set to develop?
Absoutely. Beyond the soap opera, we have avenues to accelerate its development and welcome new series, why not even feature films! This studio is a major industrial tool to make Occitanie one of the main French audiovisual poles.
Meeting at Midi Libre
The public service flame on a birthday cake. Coming to Montpellier on the occasion of the 3 years of the Un si grand soleil series, Delphine Ernotte Cunci made a long detour through the headquarters of Midi Libre.
A moment of sharing and conviviality between the CEO of France Télévisions and a dozen readers, who came to share their views, their questions and their expectations of viewers. Several actors of the series shot in Montpellier also came to share this moment of good humor, immortalized within the editorial staff, to the delight of their fans.
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What are the local benefits?
Nearly 230 collaborators work on the soap opera every day. Over one year, including the extras, that represents 2,500 people. It’s colossal! Not to mention our investments and the resulting economic benefits, especially for the region’s hotel and restaurant industry.
Why is Occitanie a privileged place?
We came to Montpellier for several reasons. The region has an incredible diversity of landscapes – sea, mountain, city, countryside. It is an extremely dynamic territory and its population is very diverse. This diversity is also found in the soap opera. We are happy to be established here and very well received.
I understand the strategy of TF1 and M6 who wish to strengthen themselves to face a fairly violent competition
Will France Télévisions strengthen its anchoring in the regions?
Our local roots are part of our DNA. Half of our workforce works in the regions or overseas. Proximity is also a very strong expectation of our audiences and we are going to strengthen it further, especially on France 3 with new dedicated spaces. The morning sessions shared with France Bleu will also continue to be deployed throughout the territory in the coming months.
What are the new features of your back-to-school schedule?
We wanted to strengthen our mission of supporting audiences. This is the meaning of the renewal of some of our flagship programs, such as Telematin with a new formula, a new studio and new presenters. The new format is working well, as are the new games which have a very loyal following.
The presidential election will also be a strong streak. Our big Thursday night political show, now titled Elysee 2022, will become more regular and we are creating new formats – like 8:22 p.m. which will host a political guest at 8:00 p.m. for twenty minutes. Novelties also in documentaries and fictions, such as an adaptation of Germinal coming soon to France 2. It is the result of a European collaboration with German and Italian public television, of which we are very proud. We are going to multiply these collaborations to provide access to high quality works, which we would be unable to finance on our own.
The fight against disinformation is a major issue in an election year …
Yes, and to fight more and better together, we are strengthening our cooperation with our public audiovisual partners. The fight against false images and videos is the next frontier and we have just created a dedicated unit (“Les Révélateurs”), with the INA. In the strong climate of mistrust that we are experiencing, we are also relying heavily on franceinfo, a non-stop news channel which inspires the most confidence in the audiovisual landscape.
Does the merger between M6 and TF1 worry you?
I understand the strategy of these two groups who wish to strengthen themselves to face a fairly violent competition, both from social networks on the news and platforms on the programs. We have an interest in television doing well and therefore in private groups able to resist. More than ever, it also reinforces the need for strong and well-funded public media.
Should we see this as a threat to plurality?
Information pluralism is a pillar of our democracies and we must defend it. For example, during the first confinement, we supported the regional daily press by broadcasting their Unes every evening at 8 pm in France 2. Our enemies are identical: fakes news and disinformation. Anything that strengthens the alliances between French media that share these values of pluralism is positive.
In 2015, you said, “We’ve had white men’s television for over 50 years.” Do you make the same observation?
My very first fight was on parity and it paid off. Today, 50% of women experts who work on our branches are women, compared to 25% five years ago. We still have efforts to make on the diversity of origins, social, the diversity of faces. This demand for better representation of society is not a fad. It is a constant expectation of our audiences and we must respond to it.
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