France’s TF1 Explores Sale of Production-Distribution Group Studio TF1 as Broadcaster Doubles Down on Streaming
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- TF1 has hired Rothschild to oversee an early-stage sale of Studio TF1, its production-distribution arm rebranded from Newen just 18 months ago, with a potential valuation of around €400 million cited by a Reuters source.
- Studio TF1 posted a €4 million operating loss in H1 2026, as parent TF1 saw overall revenue fall 9.9% to €993 million and media division revenue drop 10.8% to €869 million.
- Studio TF1 encompasses more than 50 production companies across 12 territories, produced 3,750 hours of programming in 2025, and recently launched theatrical distribution with the comedy "Good Vibes Only" selling over 700,000 tickets.
- Rodolphe Belmer, a former Netflix board member who became TF1 president in 2023, has spearheaded the launch of AVOD service TF1+ and a partnership placing TF1's five live channels on Netflix.
- TF1 is rumored to be considering a renewed bid for rival commercial network M6, after a previous merger attempt collapsed in 2022 when French regulators demanded antitrust remedies TF1 deemed unfeasible.
- The move mirrors ITV's unbundling in the U.K., where the broadcaster is selling its media arm to Sky and spinning off production outfit ITV Studios as an independent listed company.
Why it matters: TF1 is offloading a production arm that lost €4 million in H1 to fund its streaming pivot under Belmer, who has already launched AVOD platform TF1+ and a Netflix content deal. A sale at ~€400M could provide capital for TF1's rumored renewed bid for M6 and signals a broader European pattern of broadcasters separating content production from distribution and aggregation businesses.
