Still ‘lots of interest’ in sale of French broadcaster M6, CEO David Larramendy tells Series Mania

There is still “lots of interest” in the protracted sale of French broadcaster M6, CEO David Larramendy claimed during a Lille Dialogues keynote address at Series Mania.

David Larramendy (Photo: Jérôme Gorin)

The saga dates back to early 2021 when European media giant RTL Group first sought a buyer for its broadcast group, with an asking price of around €3bn (US$3.2bn). RTL Group’s parent company, Bertelsmann, approached potential bidders for its controlling 48% stake in M6 Group, including TF1 Group, Mediaset, Vivendi and Altice.

Gallic broadcaster TF1 emerged as the most likely buyer, but a proposed merger collapsed in August of 2022 after intervention from the French Competition Authority. The antitrust watchdog ruled that it would only approve the deal on the condition that either the TF1 TV channel or the M6 channel were sold.

Bertelsmann subsequently put M6 back on the block but current regulations mean the broadcaster cannot now be sold before 2032. However, according to Larramendy, that hasn’t prevented a list of interested parties from kicking the company’s tyres with a view to future bids.

“It’s always positive that people are attracted to M6,” he told Series Mania delegates. “Is it up for sale? I don’t know, ask our shareholders, but the market needs consolidation.

“M6 cannot be sold before 2032 so the market is frozen. It’s not a good thing. Is TF1 the best buyer? It’s an interesting one. I don’t think they’re the only buyer because there’s lots of interest.

“This consolidation is impossible because the law needs to change first.”

During the keynote session, Larramendy discussed the importance of streamer-friendly content for M6, as well as investments in technology to improve functionality on its M6+ platform, which was launched in May 2024.

He explained that M6’s once traditional focus on US series has now evolved to a content strategy which leans more heavily towards local productions, such as the Eric Cantona-fronted drama Anonymous Brigade.

Larramendy said M6 will maintain its €530 million (US$572.4m) annual investment level, with scripted drama the biggest priority when it came to content spend. The company also intends to throw more money at children’s channel Gulli, which he said performs well up to 20:00 but needs to improve in the post-20:00 slots aimed at a broader family audience.

Echoing the sentiments of Hélène Etzi, country manager for the Walt Disney Company France, Larramendy believes co-financing expensive scripted productions with streaming platforms is a key strategy.

M6’s first co-funded series with Max, psychological thriller Belphégor, is adapted from the novel by Arthur Bernède.

“It’s a very ambitious project and we’re sharing the cost with Max, that’s the first time [we’ve done that] in TV series,” said Larramendy, who is chairman of the board of directors of M6 Group.

“Fierce competition has pushed up the quality of production and the levels of viewer expectation in content, so why not co-finance with platforms to maximise return on investment? To have creativity you need a lot of money, that’s why we have such agreements.

“It’s okay to collaborate [with platforms] then a few hours later we compete.”