France Télévisions should soon decide the fate of “Plus belle la vie”, while the audiences of the daily soap opera continue to lose speed.
Almost a month after the revelations of Le Figaro on the cancellation of Plus belle la vie, the fate of the daily soap opera is still in the balance. On February 17, the newspaper had indeed announced the possible end of the France 3 series after 18 years on the air, the contract between France Télévisions and the production box Newen expiring on December 31, 2022.
And since this article which had the effect of a bomb, it is silence… According to information from the Parisian, the fate of Plus belle la vie should be decided in the coming days. But nothing is won. “The renegotiations are harsher than usual between the management and the production group Newen, a subsidiary of TF1”, confided a source close to the file.
It must be said that for the past few years, the audiences for the series have continued to decline. If the daily soap has for a very long time been one of the heavyweights of the channel, bringing together nearly 5 million viewers every night, the series has been struggling to unite for several years now.
Audiences for current episodes are capped below 2.5 million viewers, a figure far too low for France 3.
Several options are therefore available to the chain. Still according to information from Le Parisien, France Télévisions would consider replacing the daily soap opera with a game show, which would make it possible to make great savings, a game episode costing “four to five times cheaper” than an episode of Plus belle la vie.
Another option: the TF1 group could host it on one of its antennas, “maybe in another form, why not a weekly variation”. Unfortunately, the low audience share among women responsible for purchases under 50, who is a prime target for advertisers, and the average age of the daily run the risk of dissuading the front page from pursuing Plus belle la vie.
One thing is certain, if the series were to stop, it would be dramatic for the economy of the city, the series generating no less than 600 direct jobs per year, not counting the canteen, accommodation or travel.