Yet another replay of Visitors well deserved to nibble on election night, April 10, the day of the first round of the presidential election. In any case, this is the choice made by TF1, announcing, Wednesday, March 23, that it will end its evening at 9:30 p.m., earlier than usual. election night “will offer three hours of live, between 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.,” said at Agence France-Presse Thierry Thuillier, deputy managing director of the information division of the TF1 group. Many commentators saw it as a symptom of public disinterest in the election.
Multicast, Jean-Marie Poiré’s comedy, with the character of Jacquouille la Rogue, records audience successes with each televised appearance. Such a format is a first for the presidential election. “But not for the other elections, including legislative ones”, said Mr. Thuillier. This choice is justified by the fact that “the uses, tastes and expectations of viewers have evolved”due “from the multiplication of the offer” debates and comments on the news channels.
Traditionally, on election night, “You had the TF1 20-hour set which arrived on the France 2 set at 9 p.m., and vice versa, and you still had comments and political sets, but honestly without much progress”underlined Mr. Thuillier. “As a leading channel (…)we consider that in the warm part of an hour and a half [à partir de l’officialisation des résultats à 20 heures]we may have given all the facts, results, reactions, comments »he continued.
“Pluralism”
To comment on the results, the channel invited government spokesperson Gabriel Attal (La République en Marche), Jordan Bardella, interim president of the National Rally, Marion Maréchal, who appears in Eric Zemmour’s campaign ( Reconquest!), Eric Ciotti, from the campaign of Valérie Pécresse (Les Républicains), Clémentine Autain, deputy La France insoumise, and Delphine Batho, from the campaign of Yannick Jadot (Europe ecology-Les Verts), i.e. “virtually the entire spectrum of political pluralism”.
From 9:30 p.m., election night will continue on LCI, the news channel of the TF1 group. However, TF1 does not refrain from extending its program if the news so requires.