Television. "New Day," "All for the Light"... Have the summer soap operas won over viewers?

Daily soap operas have captivated millions of viewers every day for years. So much so that TF1 and M6 each launched one this summer.

Accustomed to this type of format, TF1 already has three on its program schedule: Demain nous appartient (since 2017) and Ici tout commence (since 2020) in the late afternoon as well as Plus Belle la vie, encore plus belle (since January 2024) in the early afternoon. Since Monday, June 16 (6 p.m.), it has been broadcasting a fourth, Tout pour la lumière , planned only for the summer. M6 also took advantage of the summer season to enter the race, with a first daily series for the channel: Nouveau Jour has been broadcast every evening since Monday, June 30 (8:35 p.m.) and should continue for the rest of the year. Faced with this increased competition , have these new programs managed to make a place for themselves?

TF1 has focused on a saga combining song and dance at the "Studio Lumière" based in La Ciotat. For its launch, the program attracted 1.1 million viewers, or 13.4% of the audience, according to figures from Médiamat-Médiamétrie. It achieved the best launch of a daily series among young people, with a 41% audience share among 15-24 year-olds. Seven days later, counting replay viewing, this first episode reached 1.4 million viewers. It's worth noting that the series is also streaming on Netflix five days early thanks to a unique partnership between the channel and the platform. Twenty-four hours after its launch on Netflix, the series was fourth in the top 10 series to watch, before disappearing the following week. Regarding linear audiences, it is less than the return to the air of Plus Belle la vi , on Monday January 8, 2024, which created the event with 2.99 million viewers.

This is also lower than the audiences of the channel's other soap operas on the same day: Here It All Begins had 1.95 million viewers on Monday, June 16, at 6:30 p.m. and Tomorrow Belongs to Us had 2.11 million viewers at 7:10 p.m.

On M6, Nouveau jour , about the Bartoli family, owners of a 4-star hotel in Hérault, got off to a good start. Broadcast at 8:35 p.m., replacing Scènes de ménages all summer, the soap opera attracted the curiosity of 1.53 million viewers on Monday, June 30, according to figures from Médiamat-Médiamétrie released by the channel. A week later, when counting replay viewing, the figures climbed to 1.98 million viewers and a 20.4% audience share for the woman responsible for purchases under 50, an important target for the channels. In comparison, Scènes de ménages , usually broadcast at this time slot the rest of the year, has attracted an average of 2.36 million viewers since the beginning of the year. While the TF1 series appeals more to a younger audience, the M6 series is positioned more towards the target of women responsible for purchasing under 50.

A little over a month after its broadcast debut, the curiosity effect has faded and ratings are crumbling. On TF1, the series, led by Joy Esther, Lannick Gautry, and Isabel Otéro, among others, had only 883,000 viewers on Monday, June 23, a week after its launch. Since its broadcast, the soap opera has only exceeded one million viewers twice in linear broadcasts, on Tuesday, June 17 (1 million) and Monday, July 21 (1.02 million). However, on Friday, July 4, it recorded its lowest rating, with 656,000 viewers. As of July 17, a month after the broadcast of the first episode, the program had an average of 850,000 viewers. A disappointing result compared to the channel's two other daily shows. On July 17, Here It All Begins attracted 2.08 million viewers, and Tomorrow Belongs to Us 2.17 million viewers.

The same observation at M6: Nouveau jour , carried by Helena Noguerra, Laëtita Milot, Bruno Solo and Jean-Baptiste Maunier, among others, brought together more than a million curious viewers every evening during the launch week - except Friday, July 4 (790,000). The series then exceeded one million loyal viewers only three times and reached its lowest level on Friday, July 18, with 669,000 viewers. On July 26, 703,000 people watched the program. The soap opera is facing competition from Un Si Grand Soleil on France 2, broadcast at the same time, bringing together more than two million loyal viewers every evening. So, to stop the drop in audiences, M6 will review its strategy: starting this Monday, August 4, the new season of En famille , previously broadcast during summer weekends, will also switch to weekdays, at 9 p.m., just after Nouveau jour .

While it is still too early to assess these two new soap operas and consider their future, the stakes are different, since Tout pour la lumière is only scheduled for the summer, while Nouveau jour is expected to continue all year. It remains to be seen what time the series will be switched to in the fall, when Scènes de ménages returns.