“Youtube is today the leading television channel in France”. Supporting figures, Justine Ryst, general director of the platform in France, set the scene in an interview with AFP on November 5. For the latter, the monumental success of “Kaizen”, the film by YouTuber Inoxtag about his ascent of Everest, materialized this trend of multimedia triumph, which would make the Google subsidiary “a key player in the French audiovisual landscape”. She therefore called for the creation of bridges between video platforms and linear channels, in particular via “a single measure” of the audience. Work currently carried out by Médiamétrie, which has refuted this idea.
A vision contested by Médiamétrie
The day after this proposal, Yannick Carriou, CEO of the leading media research company, stepped up to express his astonishment at the comments made by his colleague. “Is YouTube, or any other platform, a television channel as I have been reading in the press since this morning? No! We cannot at the same time say that we are a channel but not a media. The words have a sense”, underlined the leader appointed in 2020 in a post shared on LinkedIn. According to him, a television channel “meets strict criteria of editorial responsibilities and legal compliance, as well as ongoing investments in content”. He therefore came to the conclusion that “YouTube is not a television channel, and therefore even less 'the first television channel'”.
Following his column, the head of Médiamétrie warned consumers against “the disorder” et “the confusion” between these two entities, preferring the prospect of collaboration in order to comply with the transformation of uses and therefore to develop adapted measurement tools. “Cross-media measurement is about bringing different objects together, not confusing them. Preserving clarity is essential to maintaining the trust of those who invest in content and advertising”he says, convinced that the response to this change requires a rigorous and transparent approach.
Audience measurement has transformed with the multiplication of screens
As a reminder, audience measurement has undergone numerous changes in recent years. After the integration in 2020 of the audience achieved outside the home and/or on the move regardless of the screen, then in January 2024 of the audience achieved on internet screens at home, including in non-resident households. equipped with a television, the Médiamat takes into account the audience of the programs watched in preview, whatever the screen and location. Finally, the measurement of audiences for streaming platforms, such as Netflix or Disney+, initially planned for the third quarter of 2024, will take place in the following quarter. The scope of the Mediamat has therefore expanded with the proliferation of screens.
