2023-12-26 17:05:26
Published on Dec 26 2023 at 1:54 p.m.Updated Dec 26 2023 at 6:05 p.m.
End clap for Laurent Ruquier’s show on BFMTV. However, it was one of the most noticed “movements” of the summer transfer window in the PAF, but the choice of the star host to leave France Télévisions to join the flagship channel of the Altice group in the 8 p.m. slot did not only lasted three months.
“I have decided not to continue the adventure started at the end of September on BFMTV,” announced Laurent Ruquier in a message sent internally on Tuesday morning. I might hide behind the economic situation and various dramatic events which certainly have not made my task easier since my arrival, but it is clear that the public has not followed me in this different role for me. »
The issue of the hearings
While admitting that “you have to know how to accept your failures”, Laurent Ruquier underlines that the management of the channel wanted him to continue in January, but that he preferred to “stop there”. After an encouraging start, the audience levels for Laurent Ruquier’s “8 p.m.” have slipped.
According to our information, over three months, his show attracted around 240,000 viewers per day on average, a slight increase over a year. At the same time, in the same slot occupied by Pascal Praud, CNews exceeded 800,000 daily viewers on average (+23% over one year). While the Franceinfo channel is also progressing, LCI is seeing its show “Un OEil sur le Monde” (from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.) gain 12% for its second season, to 213,000 viewers on average since September. The TF1 group’s news channel is therefore close behind BFMTV in this box.
But Marc-Olivier Fogiel, the general director of BFMTV, wants to minimize this issue. “The audience (above what we did previously) is not the subject, which leads [Laurent Ruquier] to stop is the gap between the necessary investment and the pleasure he derives from what he can offer to viewers,” he declared in another message to employees.
From January 2, the BFMTV schedule will return to its pattern from the previous season. To replace Laurent Ruquier’s meeting, which was broadcast between Monday and Thursday, Yves Calvi will continue his show until 8:30 p.m., when Alice Darfeuille will take the air at 8:30 p.m. for “90 minutes”.
Redesigned grid
“We therefore continue calmly, in our corridor, far from the comments, to offer the best to our viewers with a solid and varied schedule,” argues Marc-Olivier Fogiel. However, BFMTV was banking heavily on the arrival of Laurent Ruquier to revitalize its 8 p.m. slot once morest the news of the major general channels, but also headliners like Pascal Praud on CNews, Yann Barthès on TMC and Cyril Hanouna on C8 .
Historical leader among continuous news channels, BFMTV has seen its main rivals progress in a context marked by conflicts. While LCI consolidates its place on the audience podium by placing particular emphasis on international coverage and coverage of the war in Ukraine since 2022, since November CNews (Canal+ group) has continued to narrow the gap with BFMTV and, for the first time, it even took first place over a week (from December 4 to 10). That said, for the year 2023, BFMTV remains ahead with 3% audience share, while CNews is at 2.3%.
“Big Heads” on RTL
However, the period is complicated for BFMTV. Recently, the channel has lost several of its stars, like Bruce Toussaint, who left for TF1 where from January 8 he will host a new morning show called “Hello! “. And there were rumors – always denied – of BFMTV being put up for sale by Altice, the group owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi which is seeking to reduce its debt.
As for Laurent Ruquier, he will continue his other activities. Still on the radio with “Grosses Têtes” on RTL, he also devotes himself to writing for the theater and producing artists. And the small screen? “I only want to continue making television if the pleasure is shared with the viewers,” he concludes.
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