France 2 prime time news hits five-month ratings high

France 2 can give itself a well-deserved pat on the back.

Its prime time news is once again flying high (so to speak) in the television ratings (handbags at dawn scenario).

Helpfully for those in France who might have a tendency to forget certain things or find televison schedules confusing, both TF1 - the country's main private channel - and France 2 (public TV)  broadcast their flagship news at exactly the same time every evening - 8 pm.

Right now there are stand-ins for the regular weekday anchors who are taking a well-deserved summer break.

Julien Arnaud is filling in for Gilles Bouleau on TF1 while over at France 2 another Julian - but this time with an "a" as in Bugier - is keeping the chair warm for the regular host David Pujadas.

And Bugier seems to be doing a great job because France 2 news has just achieved a "record rating" (or at least the highest since March 2013) with 4.4 million viewers tuning in for Monday evening's edition.

Part of the reason probably is the "show" immediately preceding the news.

France 2 has the rights to the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, and Monday evening was one of the highlights (for the French) with the country's Olympic champion pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie going for gold.

To the disappointment of those watching and the suitably OTT and annoying commentator Patrick Montel, Lavillenie only managed silver.

But the other most likely reason for the upswing in ratings is Bugier himself.

The 32-year-old is personable, professional and...as these things clearly matter in a visual medium - has a face definitely made for television.

Julian Bugier - he looks good even in blurred screenshots (from France 2)

Bugier, you might remember, was the anchor who put journalist Robert Ménard firmly in his place about his opinions on the death penalty during an exchange when both men were working for i>Télé back in 2010.

He joined France 2 in July 2011, firstly as the stand-in (or "joker") for the weekend anchor  Laurent Delahousse when he was away, and then two months exchanging roles with Marie Drucker to become the replacement for Pujadas when the regular anchor was on leave.

Allez Les Bleus - for the draw

Let's talk football for a moment.

As you might know France took on Spain in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday evening.

Much of the talk here before the match was characterised by speculating on the chances of Les Bleus beating the reigning World and double European champions.

After all in their previous match last Friday, France had convincingly beaten Georgia 3-1 while Spain had dropped a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Finland.

Oh yes and let's not forget that when France and Spain met in October 2012, the game finished in a 1-1 draw.

Reason to be optimistic then and everyone in France was hopeful of a win.

All that is apart from one notable exception - the country's "normal" president François Hollande.

The man his staff at the Elysée palace apparently refer to "affectionately" as "pépère" was in suitably fine laid-back form as he appeared at a press conference alongside Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy on the same day as the match.

Mariano Rajoy and François Hollande (screenshot i>Télé)

The two men had been discussing pressing matters such as the economic crisis and the rise in unemployment throughout Europe and of course took questions on those and other subjects.

But towards the end there was also a lighter moment when they were asked for their predictions for the evening's encounter on the pitch - after all they would be attending the game together.

And Hollande, appearing fittingly small fry with Rajoy towering next to him, gave perhaps the most telling of responses as he said, "For lots of reasons the best result for France would be a draw."

"Non mais allo quoi," to quote TV reality star Nabilla's popular catchphrase.

This was the French president speaking wasn't it?

Isn't it kinda, like, all right for a country's leader to show a little more support and enthusiasm for a national side in any sport?

Rajoy had no such problems as he answered the same question.

"If you don't mind, I don't agree," he said.

"I think the best result would be a win for Spain."

Ah well, "pépère" is only living up to his reputation of not wanting to offend anyone isn't he?

It bodes well for his planned live interview with TV news anchor David Pujadas on France 2 on Thursday evening.

France-Espagne : François Hollande pronostique un "match nul" - 26/03/13 à 22h00

TF1 prime time news anchor Laurence Ferrari quits

TF1's prime time news anchor Laurence Ferrari will bid farewell to viewers on Thursday evening.

Laurence Ferrari (screenshot TF1 news)

She's off to pastures new(ish), returning to work for the Canal + group with a talk show on Direct 8 which will, in her words, "give her more freedom" and where she'll be able to "bring her experience and personality" - something Ferrari feels she has been unable to do at TF1.

It's hardly the end of an era for French television as the 46-year old has only been presenting TF1's prime time news since September 2008.

That pales somewhat into insignificance compared to the length of tenure of her predecessor, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor (PPDA), who had been doing the job for donkeys years - well 21 of them to be precise.

But her decision came as something of a surprise apparently and the channel now has to look for a replacement.

That of course means speculation is rife and the "usual suspects" are being put forward as potential successors.

Perhaps the most obvious choice would be Harry Roselmack.

He's popular (with viewers) has done the job before (as a stand-in for both PPDA and Ferrari) and currently presents a couple of other programmes on TF1.

But it's only a year since Roselmack announced that he was stepping down from presenting the news to "concentrate on his other projects" - maybe too soon for a return.

Anne-Sophie Lapix, who replaced Ferrari at TF1 when she initially left for Canal + and then again at Canal + when Ferrari returned to TF1 (yes this is very much a game of musical chairs) has already ruled herself out saying she's happy where she is.

And then there's the name of "the dashing" Laurent Delahousse, who has very much stamped his mark on the weekend news over at France 2.

Every time there's a vacancy somewhere (such as when M6 launched its revamped nightly news bulletin or was looking around for a new presenter for 'Capital') Delahousse's name crops up.

He's saying nothing...at the moment.

Mélissa Theuriau? She seems happy at M6 with the fortnightly investigative magazine 'Zone Interdite'.

Julien Arnaud is another possibility. He's currently the replacement for TF1's weekend anchor Claire Chazal but there's a blemish on his record as the mid-morning programme he presented, 'Près de chez vous', was cancelled a year ago after just five months.

And let's not forget Ferrari's former husband Thomas Hugues (hold on to your hats, here comes more musical chairs).

He used to fill in for Chazal at the weekends and present TF1's Sunday evening magazine  'Sept à Huit' with Ferrari.

Both jobs were handed to Roselmack when Ferrari left for Canal + first time around and Hugues went to...well everywhere and nowhere really, most notably i>Télé.

On second thoughts perhaps Hugues is simply too lightweight to be considered.

In the short term it'll be TF1's former London and Washington correspondent Gilles Bouleau who'll take over.

He has been Ferrari's stand-in since Roselmack resigned (aaaaaaargh - this is impossible to follow isn't it) and is also being touted by some as a potential full-time replacement, especially as he comes with little "celebrity status" baggage.

The successful candidate will surely need to be someone the French feel they can - in a manner of speaking - welcome into their homes every evening and who has the stature and credibility of being both a presenter and a journalist.

Those aren't easy roles to combine in a country where the softly-softly deferential approach is often the preferred one especially when "interviewing" political leaders on TV.

Whoever TF1 chooses, the likelihood is that the decision will be made with one eye on audience figures.

Yes,  TV is news is ratings-driven and that has been a constant criticism levelled at Ferrari with the numbers tuning in to watch falling from a nightly average of 9.1 million when she took over to around 6.4 million.

It would be unfair to put that down solely to Ferrari.

She has been up against stiff competition, most notably from David Pujadas who presents the equivalent prime time news programme at exactly the same time as Ferrari over at the public channel France 2.

And there has probably also been a change in French viewing habits - not everyone wants to watch the news at eight o'clock in the evening - coupled with a wider choice of channels - in number if not content.

Throw in the fact that there are now competing all-news broadcasters such as BFM TV, i>Télé and TF1's sister channel LCI and it's surely little surprise that viewing figures have dropped.

Finally on a purely professional behind-the-scenes level he or she will have to work with TF1 news director Catherine Nayl with whom Ferrari has apparently had a less than easy relationship.

Hollande - Sarkozy, Le Débat - where were Ferrari and Pujadas?

How was your Wednesday evening?

Did you spend it as reportedly more than 17 million others did in France, in front of the box watching Le Débat, the long-awaited televised duel between François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy four days before the country goes to the polls?

Well did you?

And what about those loo breaks - did you manage them? Because there were no commercials and the two kept going and going and going for almost three hours.

If you did manage to stick with it, the chances are that you'll have found something to confirm your opinions on both candidates - be that positive or negative - and their relative claims to be the country's choice when the French vote on Sunday.

It probably also depends on where you stand - politically speaking.

But surely everyone must be agreed on one thing.

What the heck happened to the two journalists who were supposedly moderating the debate?

Laurence Ferrari, TF1's nightly news anchor, and her counterpart from France 2, David Pujadas, were there.

You could see them on the screen and occasionally hear them try to get the two "political pugilists" either side of them back on the agreed track in terms of subjects to be discussed.

Somehow though they just seemed to get lost in the crossfire; a fact that didn't go unnoticed by political commentators and viewers alike.

The magical kingdom of the Net of course provided a playground for those not only wishing to parody what Hollande and Sarkozy had to say but also what Ferrari and Pujadas didn't manage to do.

There's a great selection of them on Tumblr for you to peruse at your leisure - it's worth looking through and will certainly raise a smile or two.

But perhaps the best was the one depicting Ferrari and Pujadas as the subjects of an Alerte enlèvement  or Amber Alert with the cruelly accurate, "We're currently looking for two journalists who should be chairing the debate between Sarkozy and Hollande. One is wearing a wig and the other makes eyes at Sarkozy. The last time they were seen was playing Scrabble on
 TV."

(tweeted by Jalal@Djal4real)

French TV creates new 'ministers of missionaries" for Tunisia

Houssine Dimassi and Abdeljelil Bedoui might not be names you recognise.

They're both Tunisians and were supposed to be members of the country's new unity government.

But they resigned, along with a fellow member of the Union générale tunisienne du travail (General Union of Tunisian Workers, UGTT) Anouar Ben Gueddour before the first cabinet meeting.

News outlets around the world of course reported their resignation, the reasons behind their decision and the possible impact it would have on Mohammed Ghannouchi's attempts to guide the country through the initial post-Ben Ali period.

French public television, France 2, carried a story on the men in its prime time news programme on Tuesday evening.

And it even kindly informed viewers of the jobs the men would not be filling; Dimassi as labour minister, Ben Gueddour as junior transport minister and Bedoui as minister without portfolio.

Except it didn't quite turn out that way as the names and positions flashed up at the bottom of viewers' screens.

Instead all three suddenly acquired rather an extraordinary title - that of "minister of missionaries" (ministre des missionnaires) rather than "minister who had resigned" (ministre démissionnaire).


Anchor David Pujadas was understandably not amused an, after evidently being told of the mistake through his earpiece, stressed at the end of the report that the men "had resigned."

France 2 meanwhile hurriedly did the necessary editing for its online rebroadcast.

Too late though as screenshots were already circulating on the Net.