Emmanuel Chain: thanks to erotic films for the success of Capital.

For many years, Capital held a prominent place in M6’s Sunday schedule, attracting a large audience interested in economic reports and investigations. However, the airing time and the following program played a crucial role in the gradual rise of its viewership. The show, initially scheduled late on Sunday nights, benefitted from a zapping phenomenon due to direct competition with TF1’s Sunday night films.

Ratings Closely Linked to Competing Programming

Emmanuel Chain explained that before it was moved to prime time at 9 PM, Capital aired around 10:20 to 10:40 PM. Right after, M6 aired its famous erotic film, a sequence that marked an entire generation of late-night viewers. It was precisely this chaining of programming that served as an unexpected lever to boost the audience numbers of his magazine.

According to him, viewers tended to switch to M6 after the TF1 films finished. These films, also aired on Sunday nights, started earlier and ended at varying times. When a TF1 film ended early, viewers had time to switch to Capital before the erotic film began on M6. Conversely, if the TF1 film ran long, they arrived directly at the erotic film without passing through the economic magazine.

This direct relationship between the length of the rival film and the audience of Capital had a tangible impact on the show’s performance. Emmanuel Chain recognizes that the audience peaks were more dependent on timing and competition than on the show itself: “If the TF1 film was long, they fell directly onto the erotic film, and there, we had lousy ratings!”.

This testimony illustrates the complexity of audience dynamics on television, where the success of a program can largely depend on competitive dynamics and viewers’ consumption habits in the evening.

A Lesson on the Relative Importance of Audience Ratings

This experience profoundly impacted Emmanuel Chain, leading him to a lesson in humility. He emphasizes that despite the editorial quality of a show, audience numbers can fluctuate due to unpredictable external factors. This realization made him reconsider the weight of ratings in his career as a journalist and presenter: “It made me very humble because you can very well make a serious show, and it can vary a lot in terms of ratings.”.

With his usual humor, Emmanuel Chain took a moment to thank the Sunday night erotic film, which enjoyed spectacular success, and which he believes played a decisive role in the visibility and media launch of Capital. This anecdote thus tells an unexpected facet of television, where unlikely programming combinations create sometimes unforeseen successes.