“The boss of TF1 told me that I was making the mistake of my life”: Michel Denisot tells behind the scenes of his transfer to Canal+

At a time when some veterans of the house are deploring the group's change of identity, the star host of “Grand Journal” recounts in the book “Very first time” the best memories of the encrypted channel which is celebrating its 40th anniversary of existence. Michel Denisot has in fact seen the emergence up close, and even launched, some of the stars of the moment such as Omar Sy, Louise Bourgoin or even Jamel Debbouze, who today have become “half of French cinema”as he welcomes it.

“He could have been right, but…”

But, before participating in the emergence of this nursery, the football enthusiast had to slalom between the obstacles placed in his path. A large part of the press had in fact condemned the first pay channel from the outset, and his former employers gave him little chance of succeeding in this adventure. At the microphone of Léa Salamé on France Inter, this Monday, November 4, he remembered the bitter words spoken by Hervé Bourges when plunging into the unknown. “When I left TF1 to go to Canal, the boss told me that I was making the mistake of my life”indicated the former sports journalist. “He could have been right but it turned out differently”he then humbly admitted, returning especially to what this risky decision had brought him, like the “freedom to undertake”. Puremédias invites you to listen to this anecdote in the video above.

READ ALSO: “When you see the channel today…”: Omar Sy deplores the evolution of Canal+, where he “learned everything”

Poached by Pierre Lescure

Michel Denisot did not begin his career on Canal+. Le Berrichon notably carried out his ranges in the sports department of the front page for seven years. He presented the program “Téléfoot” there and commented on several matches of the 1982 World Cup. It was his friend Pierre Lescure, whom he knew at RMC, who poached him and Alain de Greef in the spring of 1984 for everything build from a blank page. Taking risks “quite exhilarating” but which bore fruit. Today, he is preparing to blow out the candles on a significant cake and publishes a book in which he collects the testimonies of seventy personalities who took their first steps on the encrypted channel.