The BFMTV news channel is installing a new schedule from January 6. Bought in July by the shipowner CMA CGM, BFMTV has been managed since the end of September by Fabien Namias (ex-LCI), who succeeded Marc-Olivier Fogiel as general director. In recent months, CNews has repeatedly snatched its status as the leading continuous news channel in France in terms of audience share, even if it remains ahead in cumulative audience (12.5 million viewers per day, according to it) .
With its new 8 p.m., BFMTV will hunt in the territory of the major general channels. Lasting two hours (until 10 p.m.), it will be presented by Maxime Switek from Monday to Thursday, then by Alice Darfeuille from Friday to Sunday, with on these days a slot dedicated to long formats “Ligne rouge” at 9 p.m. “20H BFM” replaces the show created at the end of August to compete with Pascal Praud (CNews), co-hosted by Eric Brunet and Alice Darfeuille. In the 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. slot, previously occupied by Maxime Switek, BFMTV will install a new program from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. “Apolline from 9 to 10” will be presented by Apolline de Malherbe, already in charge of the 8:30 a.m. interview.
It will be followed from 10 a.m. to noon by a new show, “Le live BFM”, presented by Julie Hammett from February 3. Roselyne Dubois will take over from January 6 to 31. Another new feature is the arrival at BFMTV of Guillaume Daret, until now deputy head of the political department of the public group France Télévisions. He will present the major political interview on Sundays at midday, “BFM politique”, in addition to his role as columnist in “20H BFM”.
Interview with the general manager Fabien Namias
Question: why this new grid?
Fabien Namias: “The project is quite simple. With Jean-Philippe Baille and Nicolas de Tavernost (deputy general manager for information and CEO of the RMC BFM group, editor’s note), we are convinced that BFMTV is never as strong as when it is on its fundamentals: information, live, images, exclusives and decryption The BFMTV editorial team has an extraordinary deployment capacity, to be on the ground everywhere and all the time. BFM is on the heat, the news, it is the best and cannot be caught up. It’s when we indulge a little too much in the game of information on stage, of permanent debate, of controversy for the sake of it. controversy, that we lose strength.”
Question: Faced with competition from CNews, had BFMTV deviated a little from this model?
Fabien Namias: “This is one of the conclusions that I drew and which leads to the modifications on the grid. What is certain is that by trying too hard to imitate, we lose a little of our identity. In December, with very strong news – politics, Notre-Dame, the fall of the al-Assad regime in Syria, the cyclone in Mayotte – BFMTV was largely the leading news channel. Why? hot news and we have put the means of the editorial team when we do that, we are first. It’s a very powerful lesson.
Question: In 2024, BFMTV and CNews were equal in audience share. Which is the leader of the news channels?
Fabien Namias: “Over the year, BFMTV is first on the two criteria which form the basis of the audience. In cumulative audience (number of viewers per day, editor’s note), we are at 12.6 million compared to 8.6 for the next channel. In audience On average, we have 227,000 viewers who constantly watch the channel, compared to 225,000 for our main competitor. This gives equality in audience share (2.9%, editor’s note), but. in average audience, BFMTV is in front, it’s not huge, but we are first, by a short margin. BFMTV has the assets to maintain its leadership, even if it is contested. season that we can have the first effects of what we are launching.”
Question: Why launch an 8 p.m. news program to replace Eric Brunet’s debate show?
Fabien Namias: “We are changing to offer the public a program emblematic of what BFMTV knows how to do: news, hot and hierarchical. Every evening, between 11 and 13 million French people watch the two major 8 p.m. news programs (on TF1 and France 2, editor’s note). It was a little surprising that BFMTV did not offer a major news program at that time. The format will borrow from the major traditional newspapers and what we see in the United States or. in Great Britain, with writing and modernity specific to BFMTV. It will be carried by Maxime Switek from Monday to Thursday then Alice Darfeuille from Friday to Sunday, and will offer a multitude of diverse sequences for two hours.
Question: How to describe the other big novelty, “Apolline from 9 to 10” by Apolline de Malherbe?
Fabien Namias: “It will remain a news show, with more room for debate, deciphering, in-depth analysis, than in the morning show, where priority is given to images and live broadcasts. What we are trying to do, it’s creating breaks in rhythm, so that the channel is not monotonous from morning to evening.”
Question: Since the takeover, fears have emerged about supposed interventionism by Rodolphe Saadé, boss of CMA CGM. What about it?
Fabien Namias: “It’s a fantasy. I haven’t experienced the slightest intervention since I’ve been here. CMA CGM is the owner of BFMTV, and it’s so much the better that groups which have a financial base continue to believe in the information and to invest, to have reliable and quality information.”
