“Creation is not dead”, assures the director of antennas and programs at France Télévisions

Of course French television, sometimes accused of conformism, can reinvent itself, argue three players in the sector during Médias en Seine day.

More beautiful life soon back on TF1, 11th season of Star Ac’… Is entertainment on television going in circles? Three French television actors defend this as part of the Médias en Seine event, organized by Radio France, Les Échos and Le Parisien, Wednesday November 22, 2023.

“It is quite easy and comfortable to turn to old programs”concedes Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez, director of antennas and programs at France Télévisions, who is proud to see the cult series More beautiful life soon to be broadcast on TF1. According to him, “innovation and risk-taking are lacking on French television”. He nevertheless points out a contradiction: “there are many French producers but little creativity”.

Does this mean that we can no longer revolutionize television? “I revolutionized it 20 years ago”recalls Alexia Laroche-Joubert, television producer and president of Banijay France, with Loft Story then Star Academy, the first reality TV shows broadcast in France from 2001. Star Ac’, whose 11th season has just started, is a “Proust’s Madeleine” which allows a “joint listening bringing together several generations in front of the screen”, rejoices its creator. These new versions, “it’s also creation”, insists Alexia Laroche-Joubert, who indicates that the audiovisual production group Banijay has aid funds in favor of creation.

New codes

“We have formats that are exporteddeclares Alexia Laroche-Joubert. Our ‘production value’, that is to say the capacity to produce in France, is the best in the world.”, she emphasizes. “The modernization of the Miss France competition on television is a creation that has attracted a younger audience, and making adaptations is important too. believes Alexia Laroche-Joubert.

For its part, Arte France is betting, and winning, on a hybrid approach on different platforms and drawing inspiration from new forms for television, such as video games. “We address an audience with its codes, those that it knows, but which are new codes for television”explains Gilles Freissinier, director of digital development at Arte France.

Television at the dawn of a new era?

The director of antennas and programs at France Télévisions, Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez, wants to believe in the start of an innovative cycle with the broadcast of programs like Drag Race France and Papotins or the arrival of YouTuber Hugo Décrypte on France 2. According to him, “we are going to look for things that exist in society but which do not yet have an echo chamber like television can offer.” He sees two distinct trends emerging for the future: a classic one that relies on recipes that work and a more innovative one that would like television to surprise and take risks. France Télévisions, as a public audiovisual group, can. “Television is far from dead in its creative capacity”assures Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez.

Television players clearly sense a major change to come, particularly with the development of artificial intelligence. “AI will offer new creative perspectives”, rejoices Gilles Freissinier of Arte France. Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez of France Télévisions has no idea what television will look like in 2030, but one certainty “it will be very different from that of 2023”.