{"id":1128637,"date":"2026-08-03T21:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1128637\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T21:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:44:16","slug":"frances-tf1-explores-sale-of-production-distribution-unit-studio-tf1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1128637\/","title":{"rendered":"France’s TF1 Explores Sale of Production-Distribution Unit Studio TF1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tJust a year and a half after rebranding its production-distribution group into Studio TF1<\/a>, France\u2019s leading commercial network TF1 has quietly put it on the market, Variety has confirmed. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe broadcasting group, which is presided over by former Netflix<\/a> board member Rodolphe Belmer<\/a> since 2023, has hired Rothschild to oversee an early-stage sale process, according to a Reuters<\/a> which was first to report the news. The outlet also cited a source reporting that the business could be valued at around \u20ac400 million. <\/p>\n

\n\tContacted by Variety, TF1 said it \u201cdoes not comment on rumors or market speculation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPreviously named Newen, the banner was acquired by TF1 in 2015 and became of one of France\u2019s largest independent production and distribution groups, encompassing more 50 production companies and labels across 12 territories. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe potential sale comes as TF1 looks to shift its investment toward streaming under Belmer\u2019s leadership. TF1\u2019s first-half results, released last week, reflected the pressures facing TF1, which saw its revenue drop by 9.9% to \u20ac993 million, with revenue from its media division declining 10.8% to \u20ac869 million. Current operating profit also fell to \u20ac77 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tStudio TF1, meanwhile, posted an operating loss of \u20ac4 million. The broadcaster pointed to the absence of major Netflix deliveries and a television delivery schedule concentrated later in the year. Last year\u2019s results were boosted by several TV shows, including \u201cBlind Sherlock.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe production-distribution banner has been mainly active in the TV landscape. It produced 3750 hours of programming in 2025, including long-running French soap operas airing on TF1, such as \u201cTomorrow is Ours\u201d (\u201cDemain Nous Appartient\u201d) and \u201cHere It All Begins\u201d (\u201cIci Tout Commence\u201d), as well as Christmas TV movies produced by its Canadian outfit Reel One. But it\u2019s also tried to make inroads in the movie business in the last couple years, pledging to double <\/a>its film production by 2027, aiming for 10-15 films annually, partly to have greater control over IP. After enlisting \u00a0Pierre Branco<\/a>, former head of Warner Bros Discovery in France, Benelux and Africa, as its new CEO, Studio TF1 also launched theatrical distribution operations at the start of 2026 and made its first full release in French cinemas with Reem Kherici\u2019s sex-toy comedy \u201cGood Vibes Only\u201d which sold more than 700,000 tickets. Four more movies are on the company\u2019s release slate, including Laszlo Nemes\u2019 period movie \u201cMoulin\u201d starring Gilles Lellouche which competed at the Cannes Film Festival.<\/p>\n

\n\tAside from its costly \u2013 and risky \u2014 production and distribution business, Belmer has increasingly looked to reposition TF1 around streaming and aggregation. The executive, who previously ran Canal+ Group, spearheaded the launch of an AVOD service, TF1+, and also struck a partnership with Netflix, to have its five live channels and on-demand content carried on Netflix. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn an interview with\u00a0Variety, <\/a>Belmer said the deal with Netflix reflected TF1\u2019s goal of maximizing the reach of its content beyond its own platforms. \u201cThe first phase of our strategy was to make TF1+ the leading AVOD service to monetize our programs, not just on linear but also on streaming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile it\u2019s exploring a sale of Studio TF1, the group is rumored to be eyeing a renewed bid for rival commercial network M6, according to Reuters. TF1\u2019s previous attempt to merge with M6 <\/a>collapsed in 2022 after French regulators requested antitrust remedies deemed unfeasible. <\/p>\n

\n\tTF1 isn\u2019t the only European media group seeking to unbundle their production and broadcasting businesses. Over in the U.K., ITV are\u00a0selling their media and entertainment arm<\/a>\u00a0to Comcast-owned Sky, while its production outfit ITV Studios will be spun off as an independent listed company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just a year and a half after rebranding its production-distribution group into Studio TF1, France\u2019s leading commercial network…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":967098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36,451,111635,80876],"class_list":["post-1128637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-france","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-france","tag-netflix","tag-rodolphe-belmer","tag-tf1"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1128637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/967098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1128637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1128637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1128637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}