Just as ARCOM decided to exclude C8 from DTT, Ouest France – France’s largest regional daily in terms of audience (2,297,000 readers) – announced the launch of its own television channel: Ouest France TV. At a time when what is more commonly known as the French media landscape is undergoing major changes, this new arrival is reshuffling the deck in terms of local and national news consumption.
TF1, France Télévisions, Canal+ and M6 dominate today’s traditional national media. They have seen the emergence of 24-hour news channels, some of which have hosted them. Then came a new type of competitor: the streaming platforms. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ have been attracting audiences for some years now. Until then, local news would have suffered only from growing online reading/consumption. It could co-exist with radio.
Ouest France TV has a clear positioning: a local channel, focusing on local news with reports rooted in the area, aimed at ‘ young adults, aged 25 to 49, who live outside city centres, and offering them an alternative to the existing channels, edited from Paris, which do not give them enough of a voice or reflect their reality properly ’, explains Maud Lévrier, Head of Transformation, Digital and Distribution. This positioning could make France 3’s local variations tremble. It is up to them to come up with new schedules to remain competitive. At the national level, the focus may turn to the integration of regional content.
The new channel will be accessible via multiple channels. Available on terrestrial networks, cable, satellite and streaming, Ouest France TV promises maximum accessibility to reach a broad audience. The latter consume information differently, which has led Ouest France TV to integrate interactive features with social networks and mobile applications. This will enable genuine audience participation (polls, live reactions, etc.).
This channel is part of a revitalisation of the French broadcasting industry, and promises to recreate the link with its audience. If it succeeds, we can imagine other regional dailies taking inspiration and following suit. See you on1 September 2025 to discover the new channel!