Mediapro teams up with TF1 for Telefoot
June 2, 2020
By Colin Mann
As of August 2020, for the long-awaited return of France’s premier football championship, La Ligue, French football will have a new home; the Telefoot channel.
Content producer and rightsholder Mediapro Group and French commercial broadcaster TF1 Group have signed what they say is an “unprecedented” agreement. This four-year, renewable partnership is based on three fundamental pillars:
- A brand licence
- An editorial and production partnership
- A partnership of talents.
Telefoot channel will offer live and exclusive coverage of the essentials and the best of French Ligue 1: more than 80 per cent of matches, including the ten best matches and the Sunday evening game, a comprehensive weekday and weekend offering including the major Sunday evening magazine and the insights of the greatest experts. The channel will also broadcast eight matches of the French Ligue 2 per day.
According to Mediapro, the agreement demonstrates its ambition for the French championship and enshrines TF1 Group’s know-how in covering the biggest sporting competitions and its historical attachment to French football.
A brand licence for a new channel called Telefoot, the historic brand name of TF1’s magazine
Created in 1977, Téléfoot is the longest-running football television programme that viewers will find at the start of the academic year every Sunday at 11 am on TF1. With an awareness rate of more than 80 per cent among the male public, it is also one of the best known television brands. Téléfoot has already won over three generations of viewers, thanks to the quality of its interviews and reports, as well as its ability to constantly reinvent itself through new formats. The brand conveys positive and unifying values, thanks to its coverage of football news, which is fully in line with Mediapro’s project and editorial ambition for its new 100 per cent football channel.
An editorial and content production partnership
This partnership is based on the know-how, high standards and passion of the Mediapro and TF1 teams. Over the years, they have been able to offer quality coverage of sporting events, with recognised production and relevant analysis. It includes:
- The production of the French Ligue 1 magazine broadcast on Sunday morning from 12 to 1 pm on the Telefoot channel, including images of the matches already played on the Day in question,
- The production of several Téléfoot Vintage specials which relive the best moments in the history of French football,
- The broadcast of La quotidienne – Téléfoot, the daily digital version of TF1’s Sunday appointment.
A partnership of talents : Grégoire Margotton and Bixente Lizarazu commenting on 20 French Ligue 1 matches on Sunday evening, including the ten best matches of the season
A duo that has become emblematic since the 2018 World Cup in Russia won by the French national team ‘Les Bleus’, Grégoire Margotton and Bixente Lizarazu embody expertise combined with emotion. World champion, European champion, winner of the Champions League with Bayern Munich, 97 caps for the French national team, Lizarazu calls the matches with hindsight and precision. Recognised by his peers and the public as one of the best football commentators, Margotton imposes his voice and his words as a signature. Mediapro is pleased to be able to entrust the commentary on the best matches in French Ligue 1 to this duo who has become a reference for football fans and the entire profession.
“We are very pleased to announce the creation of Telefoot, the new Home of French football, 100 per cent dedicated to football, broadcast seven days a week,” commented Jaume Roures, Chairman and Founder of the Mediapro Group and Julien Bergeaud, CEO of Mediapro Sport France. “This partnership with TF1, France’s leading audiovisual channel, is the natural alliance of two groups recognised in football. Thanks to our editorial know-how and technological expertise at the cutting edge of innovation, we will offer fans a new look at football. Telefoot, our channel dedicated to French football, will be the must-see destination to follow everything about French Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 and to know everything about French football.”
“We are delighted with this alliance with Mediapro, an internationally recognised group in football and audiovisual production, and we are happy to support them in their launch in France,” added Gilles Pélisson, Chairman and CEO of Groupe TF1 and François Pellissier, Director of Sports. “The creation of a channel entirely dedicated to football is a further illustration of TF1 Group’s commitment alongside French football players to promote the values of one of the most popular sports, which is dear to the TF1 Group. This partnership is an opportunity to showcase one of our finest brands, which has been bringing audiences together for over forty years. We are also pleased to be taking part in this adventure with our best, most cutting-edge and most popular experts, including our commentator duo Grégoire Margotton and Bixente Lizarazu. This partnership is a testament to our expertise in creating high value-added sports content.”