(AOF) – Gilles Pélisson, CEO of the TF1 group, will propose during the board of directors of October 27, 2022 to appoint Rodolphe Belmer to the position of general manager. On this date, the functions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer will be separated. Gilles Pélisson will thus become chairman of the group’s board of directors until the closing of the 2022 accounts, on February 13, 2023, the date on which Rodolphe Belmer would be proposed as CEO of the TF1 Group.
Gilles Pélisson will then join the Bouygues group as deputy managing director of the Bouygues group in charge of media and development.
Rodolphe Belmer, 53, was CEO of Atos until July 2022, after serving as CEO of satellite operator Eutelsat Communications for six years (2016-2021). Between 2001 and 2015, Rodolphe Belmer built his career within the Canal+ Group, of which he was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2003, before serving as Group Chief Executive Officer from 2012 to 2015. In parallel, Rodolphe Belmer is Chairman of the Fondation created by the SACD Auteurs Solidaire since 2018, administrator of Netflix since 2018 and president of the Festival Séries Mania since 2019.
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Key points
– Leading French television group with 29.9% audience share among 25-49 year olds;
– Five free-to-air channels – TF1, TMC, LCI, TFX, TF SERIES FILMS – 4 thematic pay channels – TV Breizh, Histoire, Ushuaïa and SérieClub – and a digital replay platform, MYTF1;
– Turnover of €2.4 billion, 89% generated in France and divided into three sectors: channel advertising (76% of revenue), studio and entertainment activities (17%) with Newen and the “Digital Unify”, bringing together the activities carried out under the brands Aufeminin, Doctissimo, Gamned! Marmiton, MylittleParis, Studio71 and Digital Factory;
– Business model based on 4 strengths: human, intellectual (editorial, commercial and content producer know-how), financial (solid equity and cash flow) and physical capital;
– Capital locked by Bouygues (43.7%) and by employees (9.1%) and by the legislative impossibility of a takeover bid, Gilles Pélisson being chairman of the 11-member board of directors;
– Balance sheet without debt with shareholders’ equity of €1.8 billion and a net surplus of €275 million.
Challenges
– Strategy in 3 points: reinforcement of the core business, growth in streaming, production via internal synergies, development of Tech Media;
– Innovation strategy declined upstream with the production of content, downstream with digital based on the FabLab TF1: expansion of Tech Media in OTT, AdTech, open innovation and the cloud / support for start-ups (more than 30), with acceleration program (from creation to distribution) via the One Inno fund, the Media Lab and 3 innovation hubs / focus on database authentication (23 million users) for a targeted offer, including on certain households, via precision and granularity;
– Environmental strategy: for 2030: 30% decline, vs. 2019, in CO2 emissions via co-production, digital sobriety, soft mobility and decarbonization of purchases / for 2025: 35% decline in the electricity consumption of the TF1 tower;
– Leading advertising agency in France, with remarkable multi-media expertise and the ability to maintain its market share.
Challenges
– Highly regulated sector with limits to redeployments and external growth, uncertainties related to the rise of video on demand, connected TV and the rise of streaming platforms;
– Uncertainties on the final decision of the Competition Authority on the merger of television activities with those of M6, expected for 2023: synergies expected from 250 to 350 $M;
– After the acquisition of France Télévisions’ stake in the audiovisual subscription platform Salto, held with M6, success of the streaming project;
– Vigilance of costs in a context of slowdown in the European economy;
– After a 5% increase in revenues and 17% in net profit as of June 30, 2022 objective: Media division: strengthening of audiences with the Football World Cup at the end of 2022 / sale of Publishers activities by the end of year / Newen Studios: significant deliveries in the 2nd half and new orders from the platforms;
– Outcome of the conflict with Canal Plus (which stopped broadcasting the TF1 group channels).
French players well positioned in audiovisual production
Among the independent players, the Frenchman Banijay is the world leader with an expected turnover of 3 billion euros in 2022 in a market which represents 100 billion in revenue. Mediawan (backed by the KKR fund), whose turnover amounts to 1 billion euros, is the other main French player in the sector. The market is still very fragmented because according to the European Audiovisual Observatory, the top twenty production groups were responsible for only 38% of titles created in 2020. However, experts believe that the sector has entered a phase consolidation. Thus Banijay’s stock market listing aims to enable it to better participate in this movement.