Julien Pichene
M6 launched the ninth season of the show “Objectif Top Chef” on Monday. The objective of the channel is clear: to raise the hearings of the program, in sharp decline last year. So, Philippe Etchebest made his big comeback in a new version of the competition, accompanied by two other great chefs: Yoann Conte and Juan Arbelaez.
Philippe Etchebest is still the head of the program and the principle remains the same: the apprentices will have to make the best dish possible. But there are new things: Philippe Etchebest, who had less time to devote to this program, is now supported by two other chefs: Yoann Conte, starred chef at the restaurant La maison bleue in Annecy, and Juan Arbelaez, former candidate for Top chef at the head of 14 restaurants.
Juan and Yoann will be on a mission to meet the 72 participants of this new season, all over France.
Audiences down sharply last year
Another novelty: tastings are now done blind. That is to say that Philippe Etchebest no longer knows who prepared this or that dish…
Audiences for the program ended in sharp decline last year. Between the season 7 finale and the season 8 finale, the show lost around 900,000 viewers… 1.2 million people watched the finale last November. In terms of market share, we had gone from 18% to 8%.