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Estimated reading time:  3 min 11 s

There is a huge appetite for TV entertainment, especially among the young. Whether the format is music, game shows or comedies, large audiences gather in front of the TV to relax as a family.

Entertainment: family time

Entertainment formats are most popular with families, just behind news and youth programmes, then with sport and films on an equal footing. Thus, over the 2021-22 season, according to the Médiamat TV audience measure, each week, 40% of viewers aged 4 to 14 and 50% of those aged 15 to 24 watched at least five consecutive minutes of an entertainment programme. Entertainment accounted for 18% of TV consumption among 4 to 14 year olds and 15 to 24 year olds.

These programmes were the third most watched TV genre by 4 to 14 year olds, followed by youth programmes and fiction. This was also true for 15 to 24 year olds, ahead of fiction and magazine shows.

Young people were particularly keen on certain types of entertainment: safe bets that had been established over several years: 68% of viewers aged 4 to 14 watched “Les Enfoirés” on 4 March 2022 and “Koh-Lanta” was seen by up to 66% of this age group on 21 September 2021. Voting for Miss France was another hit with the younger generation: nearly 70% of 4 to 14 year olds watched it on television, making it their most watched entertainment show.

Looking at the Top 10 programmes ratings-wise among 4 to 14 year olds, half of these shows were entertainment: “Les Enfoirés”, “Koh-Lanta”, “Ninja Warrior”, “Lego Masters” and “Masked Singer”. The other half were films. “Les Enfoirés” also featured in the top 10 for 15 to 24 year olds. This chart included newer programmes alongside favourites such as “Les Enfoirés” and “Koh-Lanta” that had been in the Top 10 (4 to 14 year olds) since 2012-13 (when the chart included four entertainment shows).

The most popular entertainment shows on TV enjoyed a strong audience share among the youngest viewers, and a bigger share than for viewers as a whole.

Top 10 entertainment programmes for the 2021-22 season

Entertainment: viewers prefer game shows

Entertainment was one of the most prominent genres on TV. From September 2021 to May 2022, the entertainment and variety show genre accounted for 12% of TV schedules, across a variety of formats. TV channels aired music videos (50%), and game shows (31%), with the remainder of airtime made up from comedies, concerts, variety and talk shows, and circus shows.

Looking at the viewers' preferred types of entertainment, we can see that game shows were immensely popular: three-quarters of the entertainment programming watched, including "12 coups de midi" and "Koh-Lanta" on TF1, "N’oubliez pas les paroles" on France 2, "Slam" on France 3 and "La meilleure boulangerie de France" on M6! Comedies came next (9%), followed by variety shows (7%).

Younger viewers were also ardent fans of game shows. TV viewers between the ages of 4 and 14 watched 79% of a programme on average, whereas the 4 and over age group watched 72%. For example, on TF1, 4 to 14 year olds watched 87% of “Koh-Lanta” episodes on average (vs. 81% for the 4 and over age group). On M6, 4 to 14 year olds also watched 87% of "Lego Master" episodes on average (vs. 67% for the 4 and over age group).  

4 to 14 year olds loved to watch games shows in catch-up mode. 18% did so this season (compared to 7% of those aged 4 years and older), with particularly high ratings for prime-time game shows: 41% watch catch-up for "Koh-Lanta" on TF1 and 36% for "La France a un incroyable talent" (France's Got Talent) on M6.

In terms of seasonality, the periods with the most abundant entertainment offer were: September, the end of the year and February.

The supply of entertainment programmes was balanced during the week, with fewer broadcasts on Sundays. Viewers devoured more entertainment on Saturdays (21% of the audience).

Prime time is the best slot to watch entertainment. It featured 28% of the entertainment programmes watched, mostly game shows. Prime time is also a key crossroads with one-fifth of entertainment consumption, mainly game and variety shows. 

Laure Osmanian Molinero