During the launch of “More beautiful life, even more beautiful”, this Monday, January 8, viewers did not fail to notice that the duration of the episodes had been drastically reduced. Find out the reason.
This Monday, January 8, TF1 viewers were able to discover the first episode of Plus belle la vie, encore plus belle, a spiritual sequel to the famous France 3 soap opera. The opportunity for early fans to rediscover their favorite characters in new adventures which promise to be as incredible as ever.
The first episode indeed hit hard. In the last minutes, while all the Mistralians were celebrating the inauguration of the new Mistral bar, Francesco collapsed due to illness.
Very quickly the police discovered that the cook had been poisoned with atropine, a substance which can prove dangerous if administered in large doses. But who could be so angry with Francesco that they would want to kill him?
If at first the investigators suspected the ex-husband of Sylvia, the cook’s sister, they now have in their sights Estelle, his wife, who could want to kill him in order to collect his life insurance.
20 minute episodes
If TF1 viewers were won over by this new version of Plus belle la vie, they did not fail to notice that the episodes were greatly shortened.
On France 3, the episodes lasted around 25 minutes. By switching to TF1, this airtime was reduced to 20 minutes, or even less (this Thursday’s episode was only 19 minutes).
And with about 1 minute of recaps of previous episodes and 25 seconds of credits, each episode is actually just over 18 minutes long. For comparison, Tomorrow Belongs to Us and Here It All Begins, the two other flagship TF1 series, have a respective duration of 29 and 27 minutes.
Why was the duration shortened?
Rodolphe Belmer, Chairman and CEO of TF1, answered this question in an interview with Stratégies. And the reason is very simple. He explained that TF1 was seeking to offer viewers a strong program following the 1 p.m. news, which attracts 4.5 million viewers every day.
To extend this audience peak as long as possible into the afternoon, they were looking for a “affinity program with the newspaper’s public, active and provincial.” “It should not be too long because some of the workers then return to work” added Rodolphe Belmer. “However, an episode of Plus Belle La Vie lasts around twenty minutes..”
The perfect duration so that workers can resume their tasks at 2 p.m. One thing is certain, TF1 believes a lot in this sequel to Plus belle la vie, even more beautiful. And the bet is winning for the moment since the first episode brought together 3 million curious people, or 29% of the public aged four and over and 44.3% of women responsible for purchases under the age of fifty. Figures which, if they are maintained, will guarantee the sustainability of Plus belle la vie vie on TF1.
Find new episodes of Plus belle la vie, even plus belle from Monday to Friday at 1:40 p.m. on TF1. The episodes are available in preview on the TF1+ platform.