If he were to write a book one day, Nicolas de Tavernost would not sign an autobiography, nor the history of the channel with which his life is intertwined. “I don’t know who it would interest, except the microcosmmumbles the chairman of the management board of M6 with a half-smile. The day when I can express myself freely, he jokes, that would be to say that I am not a big fan of independent authorities in general…”
There is no doubt that the work already exists in the mind of this tireless destroyer of the regulations – which he nevertheless scrupulously respects. Waiting to find his “freedom of speech”on the advice of a friend editor, he “records structuring things”.
But, for the time being, Nicolas de Tavernost has taken on a completely different task, which he is suspected of having some difficulty in grasping: writing the last chapter of his professional career. The veteran (72 years old) of the French audiovisual sector may have already succeeded in postponing the date of his departure twice, by raising the maximum age of the members of the executive board to 72, then to 75, a new postponement seems unlikely.
Throughout the time he worked on the project (abandoned in September 2022) to merge M6 – which he co-founded for Lyonnaise des Eaux then launched in 1987 –, with its competitor TF1, an end to the journey in the form of apotheosis seemed within reach. Bibiane Godfroid, who was its general director of programs for seven years, even thought so. unstoppable”.
It was to him that the title of boss of the new giant of the “PAF” (the French audiovisual landscape) should return. ” I have no regrets, says, eye to eye, the flamboyant septuagenarian. Firstly because I don’t bother at M6, and secondly because launching a fusion is exciting, but it’s just annoyance. “I also believe that he realized the enormous task it was to marry the cultures, so different, of the two houses”adds Bibiane Godfroid.
“Nicolas has succeeded in everything, or almost”
This failure confirmed, and the objective of selling M6 by RTL Group, owned by the German Bertelsmann, abandoned, Nicolas de Tavernost embarked on the defense of M6’s candidacy for a new authorization to broadcast on DTT for the next ten years – it has been in effect since May 6 – with the seriousness and enthusiasm of a beginner.
On February 15 before the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (Arcom, ex-CSA), his hearing completed, he calmly unfolded his large juvenile carcass, began to shake hands right and left. Imperial without appearing triumphant, already ready to accelerate in the bend, when nothing, if not two short years, seemed to separate him from retirement.
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