SCHEDULE WATCH CHANNEL PROFILE: Lagardère Group’s Gulli wants to regain the top slot as France’s leading children’s channel with format launches and exclusive content. Marie-Agnès Bruneau reports.

Lagardère Group’s nine-year-old channel Gulli is no longer France’s only free-to-air DTT kids offer, following the government’s ruling obliging pubcaster France Télévisions to turn its youth-skewing net France 4 into a children’s service in the daytime from March 31.

The decision meant France Télévisions had to give up its 34% stake in Gulli and sell it back to Lagardère.

“The sale was completed a few weeks ago,” confirms Gerald-Brice Viret, Lagardère Active’s CEO of television channels. The deal, the details of which remain undisclosed, also requires that France 4 does not carry too many advertising breaks over the next three years to limit the impact on Gulli’s revenues.

“We are also relatively confident about this new competition, as Gulli positions itself as a full children channel, as opposed to France 4, which starts targeting other demos from 18.00,” says Viret.

The move had been expected for some time. Anticipating this, Gulli’s schedule had already been repositioned last fall to target kids more emphatically. The revamp included the successful launch of its first original primetime format adventure gameshow Tahiti Quest in February. More original shows are due to launch this coming season.

Lagardère is now looking to commission more ambitious animation series based on already well-known franchises exclusively for its channels. Alongside Gulli, Lagardère Active runs cabsat kids channels Tiji for preschoolers and Canal J for older kids.

However, Gulli’s revamp has not been entirely dictated by France 4’s new-look kids schedule, as the Lagardère channel’s audiences were already on the slide in 2012-2013.

“I was hired a year ago to reposition Gulli and the other kids channels and help them recover their leading position among the 4-14s, which has now been achieved,” says Viret.

In the free-to-air TV landscape, Gulli had lost its lead position among 4- to-10 year-olds to mainstream channel TF1 between 06.00 and 20.00, while in the cabsat universe it was overtaken by Disney channels. “In a year we’ve managed to improve Gulli’s performances among 4-10s by nearly one third to 16.3% (v 13.3% the previous season), while all three channels ccombined have recovered their leading position in the cabsat universe,” he says.

In terms of Gulli’s overall share average (all viewers four years-plus), Gulli has lost ground over the years, dropping from a 2.2% share at its peak in 2010 to 1.7% in 2013. It recovered slightly to post an average 1.8% share for the first half of 2013, although in June it managed only 1.5%, before rising to 1.9% in first weeks of July.

Viret claims that France 4’s launch as a daytime kids channel doesn’t impact Gulli negatively, pointing out that both channels have actually improved their share of kids audiences at the expense of generalist channels.

“As for the four-plus demo, the free to air competition has become fiercer in recent years. However, the four-plus audience share is less important to us now because our key target is more than ever the 4-10s, and remember that much of the four-plus audience is composed of the over 50s!” he says.

Moreover, with June “pretty much driven by the Fifa World Cup”, Viret adds that Gulli’s 1.5% or 1.6% primetime share of four-plus viewers ignores the fact that “primetime is not our primetime. Ours is after school from 16.30-18.00.”

Current Schedule
The key change under the new programming team last season saw Gulli repositioned to target primarily children, day and night. However, during school termtime the channel continues to schedule broad-appeal family shows in primetime, including series, animation and live action movies and TV movies.

“We previously scheduled shows for parents and children to co-view in strands where kids are less available in the daytime, along with some shows specifically targeting their mothers,” explains Caroline Cochaux, managing director of programmes and programming of Lagardère’s television channels. “But that proved a bit confusing, as even though there are fewer children at these times there are still some around, and when broadcasting shows for their mothers we were losing the children. As a result we’ve reworked Gulli to be a truly ‘children’s channel’.”

Gulli’s midday slot (11.30 to 13.00), for instance, which used to feature live-action series suitable for co-viewing, has been re-branded as a preschool block called Gulli Doo, featuring series such as The Smurf and SamSam. “There were no specific preschool strands on Gulli previously, and the move has proved successful as our audience share among the 4-10s has nearly doubled to an average 17.3%,” says Cochaux.

The channel has also realigned its schedule to target other children’s demos. “We have structured it better. We’ve introduced another preschool block in the mornings, replacing previous animation content that addressed relatively older children, of between seven and eight years old,” adds Cochaux.

On Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays (a day when most children don’t go to school in France) the channel has also introduced a Girl Power block between 12 to 13.30, which Cochaux says has worked quite well, while for boys there’s the Code Aventures block from 10.00 to 12.00 at weekends.

“Our performance among the 4-10s between 07.00 to 19.00 has improved by 25-30% compared to the previous season to around 18%, ahead of TF1,” says Cochaux.

Acquisitions
Animation represents 75% of the channel’s line-up and most of its daytime programming, primarily in the form of foreign and French acquisitions.

Acquired series lined up for launch this coming season include Dreamworks Animation’s Monsters vs Aliens, Mondo TV’s Dinofroz, Shopro’s Tenkai Knight, BRB’s Invizimals, Rainbow’s Winx Club and Marathon’s Rekkit.

The channel airs 35 hours of French animation a week, although only a few are Lagardère commissions, as the channel continues to gradually increasing its investments in French animation. In the past, Gulli has sometimes teamed up with its former partner France Télévisions for second run rights, such as Zodiak/Télé-Images production Kids’s Extreme Streetfootball, which is airing on France 3 this summer and is due to launch on Gulli in 2016.

Other Gulli coproductions also involve other broadcast partner in the payTV window, such as Xilam’s Hubert & Takako with Canal+ (and also Canal J), which launches on Gulli this fall; or Marathon Media’s Blake & The Aliens, coproduced for GameOne and Nickelodeon; and Ankama’s Muffin Jack Jeremy with Nickelodeon.

The Lagardère channels are now looking to invest in more exclusive series, with Canal J or Tiji taking the first payTV window and Gulli the first free-to-air one. One such production is 7 C’s coproduced by Zagtoon, Method Animation and SamG for Gulli and Canal J, and is due for delivery next year.

The group is also aiming to secure more ambitious series based on well-known franchises. Gulli and Canal J have jointly commissioned CGI series Sonic Boom (52×11’) from OuiDo Productions, based on the Sega brand. Separately, Gulli and Tiji have signed two developments deals, including Europacorp’s adaptation of its popular movie franchise Arthur & The Invisibles as a 52×13’ series, along with Saban Brands, Zagtoon and Method Animation’s Popples (52×13’), a remake of the popular 80s animation. “Now that Gulli carries preschool strands we’re able to commission more for this age group,” notes Cochaux.

Formats
Gulli is also in the process of boosting its commissions around formats and hosted shows. The channel’s fall line-up will include 15 hosted shows, including eight newcomers.

Existing shows include its daily show In Ze Boite at 19.00, already in its seventh season and doing well, along with a few weekly shows at weekends and Wednesdays when kids are not at school.

Last February the channel successfully launched an original adventure format Tahiti Quest from Ah! Productions on Fridays in primetime, in which families, made up of two parents and two kids, face a series of challenges on the island of Tahiti.

“It’s in the same action-entertainment vein as Total Wipeout which we acquired and broadcast as a ready made in primetime,” comments Cochaux. “Doing sports, running, playing, winning losing is pretty much the stuff of children’s day-to-day lives. Alongside other projects, we’ve been looking to develop primetime entertainment formats for the weekends” she says.

Tahiti Quest achieved an average 705,000 viewers and an overall 2.9% share (four-plus), over its five-week run – twice the strand’s previous average – as well as a 24.3% share among 4-10s. The channel has since commissioned a second season of six episodes for this coming season.

The channel has also committed to a number of other upcoming primetime challenge and adventure shows, including a kids’ version of Mistral’s Interville (aka Intercities) International (13×90’), involving Russia, Hungary, Indonesia, Egypt, and the Americas.

Elsewhere in primetime, Gulli plans to test new one-off 90’ entertainment specials to start with. In the pipeline is a heavily adapted version of the Japanese format National Family Challenge from Tokyo TV. The French adaptation Cache-toi Si Tu Peux made by 2P2L and Talk To You, involves three families living in the same street hiding for as long as possible in places created by professional decorators in their homes.

Gulli has also commissioned a 90’ entertainment show Les Mini Sosies Font Leur Show and an accompanying 40’ doc from Grosse Equipe, in which tweens are trained for two weeks to imitate their favourite artist in an entertainment show.

Another new commission from prodco ALP is Les Trésors du Livre Des Records, a 5×90’ show based on the Guiness Books of Records, with kids invited to vote for their favourites.

Prodco French TV will also produce Ruben Et Les P’tites Toques, a 25×4’30 cooking series for kids.

Factual
Gulli is also making a move into factual programming. The channel has commissioned Terminal 9 Studios and J2F Productions to make Copains Comme Cochons, a series in which the host travels across France to meet people who have strong relationships with animals. The show will include a 15×40’ series, plus 5×70’ specials and 75 shortfom clips.

Elsewhere on the factual front, Gulli has acquired BBC wildlife doc Meerkats, and intends to air more documentaries in primetime. “We believe very much in the documentary genre,” says Cochaux.

Movie acquisitions
While Gulli’s budget has not improved to fund these latest content new developments, Cochaux maintains the channel’s budget is “stable”.

Like most channels in France, Gulli was hit by the advertising downturn, with 2013 revenues “a bit down on 2012’s (€43m – US$57.53m), but we remained profitable,” says Viret. 

“We have reorganised our programme budget differently,” he continues. “We’re dedicating less of our budget to primetime movies, and are no longer going for the more costly recent mainstream movies and blockbusters. Instead, we’re looking for classic ones that are far less expensive and bring kids and parents together.” Last season, for instance, the channel acquired some Charlie Chaplin movies, and next season it will be airing French classics such as Jeux Interdits, comedies starring French comedian Bourvil, and movies by Marcel Pagnol (Jean de Florette).

“Considering the cost difference is around €200,000 for a recent maintream movie versus €30,000 for a classic one, it does give us more financial flexibility for our other fare,” Viret says.

Gulli’s top shows of the 2013-2014 season
(Rank, title, type, day/date, slot, viewer millions, % share; consolidated audience figures; September 2013 to June 2014)

Primetime, 4 years-plus
1. Home Alone II: Lost in New York, US movie, Tues Mar 4, 1.150, 4.5
2. Home Alone, US movie, Tues Feb 25,1.122, 4.2
3. Herbie: Fully Loaded, US movie, Sun Oct 27, 1.115, 4.1

Daytime, 4 years-plus
1. Back at the Barnyard, animation, Sat Dec 21, 09.15, 0.695, 11.8
2. A Kind Of Magic, animation, Wed Jan 29, 17.55, 0.612, 4.8
3. The Fairly Odd Parents, animation, Tues Mar 18, 18.35, 0.597, 4.1

Daytime, 4-10s
1. Back at the Barnyard, animation, Sat Dec 21, 09.15, 0.399, 31
2. Power Rangers Samuraï, live action series, Sat Dec 7, 09.30, 0.340, 27.5
3. Legends of Chima, animation, Mon Sep 2, 09.20; 0.316, 33.4

Source: Gulli, Médiamétrie