The sum is now known: “saving Fort Boyard” will cost at least 36 million euros to the department of Charente-Maritime, its one and only owner (Charente-Maritime voted for a program authorization of 44 million euros , i.e. the maximum envelope currently envisaged to complete the work on Fort Boyard).
The addition, unveiled on April 19, currently rests solely on the shoulders of this local authority and its citizens. Their president Sylvie Marcilly hopes to quickly obtain the support of her public partners to “avoid the worst” at the old fortress without unbalancing the accounts and investments of the departmental council. A sponsorship campaign will also be launched in the fall to the general public to support this budgetary balancing act.
New agreement
But what about Adventure Line Productions (ALP) and France Télévisions, the production company and broadcaster of the famous eponymous show that appeared on the small screen in 1990? Without them, the former military fortress would never have acquired this global aura. Abandoned for a long time, Fort Boyard would certainly have been swallowed up by the ocean amid general indifference. Sylvie Marcilly, however, assures that she “did not ask” ALP or France Télévisions to contribute to this exceptional rescue. But the elected official will not refuse their help “as a patron”, she specifies.
Since the announcement of this “perilous” project, thousands of comments have pointed out the role and responsibility of ALP and France Télévisions in the maintenance and renovation of Fort Boyard. Would the producer and broadcaster not have generated – as some think – millions, billions of euros for the benefit of the Charente-Maritime department? The answer is no, summarizes Sylvie Marcilly, evoking a reality incommensurate with the rain of boyars – the fictitious currency of the TV game – poured for more than three decades within the confines of the fort.
To evolve in this incredible setting, Adventure Line Productions is preparing to pay “100,000 euros per year” to the departmental council, says Sylvie Marcilly. This amount appears in “a new agreement” signed in recent days and “for a period of 20 years”, adds the elected official. Contacted by “Le Parisien”, the ALP company confirms this information but will not comment further on “the details” of this agreement. One thing is certain: the previous contracts signed between ALP and Charente-Maritime were much less generous. Sylvie Marcilly compares this envelope to “rent” paid for an occupation limited to a few months in the year and emphasizes this several times: “I don’t have the impression of being cheated”.
“Huge visibility”
Far from filling its pockets with hard cash, Charente-Maritime would thus derive a completely different benefit from this game show. Over the last thirty years, the department “credited in the credits” has in fact acquired “immense visibility” based on ratings. “The show is broadcast on a national channel, often in prime time. Achieving such notoriety is priceless. And without this game, Fort Boyard would not attract as many fans,” insists Sylvie Marcilly.
The elected official, who says she relies on several studies, estimates the economic benefits linked to the show at “1 million euros per year”. More than 170,000 people board cruise ships each year to get as close as possible to the ancient fortress. The new agreement signed with ALP would also expressly mention the future opening to the public announced for 2028, outside of filming periods. Suspended from future audiences for the game show, the official showcase of the monument, the department is also counting on these visits to reduce the cost of the work and directly benefit from “the Eiffel Tower of Charente-Maritime”. Non-competition requires, Fort Boyard cannot serve as a setting for any other audiovisual production company.
