Image

According to the 2014 year in review by Médiamétrie, this genre received average ratings for this time slot. However, the order may be changing with some very good ratings at the start of 2015.

Five years ago in 2010, American series (The Mentalist, House and Criminal Minds) were the top-rated fiction series in France. In 2014, while The Mentalist was still at the top of the ratings, two French series were present in the top three: Profilage and Nos Chers Voisins, representing a clear sign of renewed interest in local fiction. At the start of 2015, this trend strengthened. For example, on TF1 on 26 January, the TV movie L'Emprise, with Odile Vuillemin and Fred Testot took the evening's top rating and attracted nearly 9.8 million TV viewers with a 34.9% audience share, more than 10 points over the average for French fiction. 
New series on France 2 have also found an audience. The six episodes in the first season of Chefs with Clovis Cornillac attracted an average of 4.4 million viewers each Wednesday evening from 11-25 February, with a 17.1% audience share of individuals aged 4 and over – more than 3 points above the average for this slot in 2014. Series even "outperformed" – on 18 March, with the first episode of France 2's crime series Les Temoins, with Thierry Lhermitte. The show attracted over 5.9 million viewers, or a 21.7% audience share. 

More than 1 in 10 Prime Times

These ratings seem to herald renewed interest for a genre that Médiamétrie assessed in 2014; this apprasial analysed the French fiction offering in prime time and its ratings. 
In 2014, across all channels in the Médiamat National Quotidien study, except for France Ô (TF1, France 2, France 3, Canal+, France 5, M6, Arte, D8, W9, TMC, NT1, NRJ12, France 4, D17, Gulli, HD1, 6, 2014ter, Numéro 23 and RMC Découverte), 883 evenings were devoted to French fiction, or 13% of prime time. It was the fourth most-broadcast genre in this time slot, behind cinematic films (25%), foreign fiction (20%) and magazine programmes (15%), but ahead of documentaries and entertainment programmes. 
.

Image

However, programming volume differs according to channel. HD1, a subsidiary of the TF1 Group, undoubtedly broadcasts the most, with no fewer than 20 evenings per week, or 173 evenings and 20% of the overall offering for the year, all channels combined. For the most part this meant rebroadcasts of series already seen on TF1, such as RIS police scientifique, Section de recherches and Alice Nevers.
Next came the mainstream channels France 3, France 2 and TF1, who devoted two evenings per week on average; Arte had the same frequency. 
On the other hand, M6 broadcast little: 8 evenings for the year, similar to certain DTT channels (NT1, TMC, W9, France 4) that don't assign regular slots to this genre. 

Image

In 2014, French fiction supported prime time performance 

In 2014, French fiction supported prime time performance.

Mainstream channels bet on new shows in prime time

For mainstream channels, French fiction in prime time is synonymous with new shows: a new season for a series such as Profilage (season 5) on TF1, Fais pas ci, fais pas ça (season 7) on France 2, Borgia (season 3) on Canal+, or the launch of a new series such as Résistances on TF1. But during the summer, the share of new content falls, with channels generally using this period to wedge in reruns. And on the DTT channels launched after 2005, new content remained the exception. 

Image

While Arte and France 3 gave over a large share to one-off TV movies, which still represented over half of their fiction offering in prime time (71% and 58% respectively), series make up the bulk of the offering on other channels: 99% on TF1, 70% on France 2, 96% on Canal+, 92% on HD1...

The "freshness" of a fiction offering targeting a general audience on the mainstream channels, combined with the power of their brand and programming founded on regular time slots during the week, ensured them the best ratings in the genre, while reruns on DTT attracted a more limited audience. 
As a result, an episode from the series Profilage on TF1 shown on 4 December took the best ratings of the year for a French fiction show, with 8.6 million viewers and a 31.2% audience share. While TF1 occupied the top spot for audience ratings of French fiction in prime time, France 2 ranked among the Top 20 three times (with an episode of Fais pas ci, Fais pas ça, another of Candice Renoir, and the TV movie Rouge Sang), and France 3 once (with Plus Belle la Vie).

Image

Within the genre, crime series seemed to attract viewers more than comedies. This is seen on France 2, whose "crime series" slot on Fridays (Boulevard du Palais, for example) outpaced the average audience share for the time slot, unlike the "family fiction" slot (Fais pas ci, Fais pas ça) on Wednesdays. Same observation for TF1, where crime fiction shows (Alice Nevers) on Thursdays produced better ratings than family fiction shows on Mondays (Joséphine Ange Gardien).  

An increasingly female and 50+ audience

The audience for French fiction in prime time is 63% female (vs. 56% on average over the time slot), and 71% over the age 50 (compared to 55% on average over the time slot). As a result, the non-working share (61%) is also higher than for the prime time average (48%). For all that, large gaps are noted according to the different fiction shows broadcast; several of them even contribute to the rejuvenation of certain channels.

A more receptive, regular audience

This 2014 assessment brought to light a genre that strengthened channels’ audience base across this time slot. 
The study published by Médiamétrie on the occasion of the Luchon Festival of fiction, produced from a web user panel in December 2014, indicated a trend towards the genre's audience expanding across all time slots. Nearly three quarters (73%) of French people aged 15 and over stated that they watched at least 4 French soap operas or series in 2014 – four points higher than in 2013. And the majority weren't satisfied with following just one: over half (52%) of those who watched one French fiction show followed two or three, and 12.5% up to four or more. 

This audience was also more regular: 61.9% of those aged 15 and over watched French fiction shows at least once per week, compared to 60.6% in 2013.

All these indicators demonstrate an increased receptiveness in audiences, which combined with the appeal of new content on mainstream channels and with a renewal of narrative, can contribute to winning back the French fiction audience, sometimes beyond that of foreign series, as was seen at the beginning of 2015. 

Isabelle Repiton