Groupe M6

Metropole Télévision SA
Company type	Public
Traded as	Euronext Paris: MMT ; CAC Mid 60 Component
Industry	Media
Founded	1 March 1987; 37 years ago
Headquarters	Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Key people	Nicolas De Tavernost (ex CEO)
Products	Television; Broadcasting; Production; Websites; Media investments;
Revenue	1,315,600,000 Euro (2023)
Net income	237,100,000 Euro (2023)
Owners	RTL Group (48.26%); CNP (7.24%);
Website	www.groupem6.fr

Metropole Télévision SA, commonly known as Groupe M6 (English: M6 Group), is a French media holding company. It was formed around the commercial television channel M6, launched in March 1987 by the CLT (RTL Télévision) and La Lyonnaise des Eaux.^[1]^[2]^[3]

In addition to its audiovisual and digital media presence, some of the group's television channels are operated (including M6, W9, 6ter, Paris Première, Téva, Série Club) as well as the television channels of the Lagardères (Gulli, Canal J, TiJi, MCM, MCM Top and RFM TV), radio stations (RTL, RTL2 and Fun Radio), and film and television production and distribution companies. The company has also been presenting information and services on the Internet, including online video and computer companies. Since 1999, the group has also diversified into publishing, music and show production, distance selling, and sport with the Football Club of the Girondins de Bordeaux.

In May 2021, Groupe M6 and TF1 Group announced that they had begun negotiations for a proposed merger.^[4]^[5] On 16 September 2022, the merger was officially abandoned.^[6] On 22 September 2022, Thomas Rabe, CEO of RTL Group's parent company, Bertelsmann confirmed that Groupe M6 is up for sale, after the failed merger with TF1 Group.^[7] On 3 October 2022, RTL Group confirmed that they wouldn't be selling their stake in Groupe M6.^[8]

Assets

Television

Channel	Description	Stake	Launched	Acquired
M6	Broadcast network	100%	1 March 1987 (replaced TV6)
W9	Youth entertainment and musical digital channel launched for DTT		31 March 2005
6ter	Generalist family digital channel launched for DTT		12 December 2012
Paris Première	Generalist and cultural interest Pay-TV channel Available on Pay-DTT, with FTA programs		15 December 1986	6 May 2004
Téva	Pay-TV channel targeting a female audience		6 October 1996	2007
M6 Music	Musical Pay-TV channel		5 March 1998
Série Club	Pay-TV channel dedicated to TV series	50% Groupe TF1, 50% Groupe M6	8 March 1993
MCM	Pay-TV youth entertainment and music channel	100% (via Groupe MCM)	1 July 1989	2 September 2019
MCM Top	Pay-TV music channel Distributed in Portugal and Brazil		28 November 2003
RFM TV	Pay-TV music channel Available in Portugal as MCM Pop Available in Brazil		3 April 2001
La Chaîne du Père Noël	Pay-TV children channel, available every year for the Christmas and holiday season	100% (via Jeunesse TV)	5 November 2011
Gulli	Children and family channel launched for DTT		18 November 2005
Tiji	Pay-TV channel for children under seven		15 December 2000
Canal J	Pay-TV channel for children over seven		23 December 1985
M6 Suisse	Swiss subfeed, available in free-to-air on satellite	100% (advertising window operated by Goldbach Media)	2 October 2001
W9 Suisse			2 August 2011
6ter Suisse			2014

International

Channel	Description	Stake	Launched	Acquired
M6 International	International version of M6, outside Europe	100%	2019
Gulli Girl	Russian children channel		2009	2 September 2019
Tiji Russie	Russian preschool channel		2009
Gulli Africa	Children channel for the African market		23 March 2015
Gulli Bil-Arabi	International Arab-language children channel		28 June 2017
Gulli Brasil	Portuguese-language children channel in Brazil and Africa		9 August 2020

Former channels

All these channels used to be on Pay-TV.

Channel	Description	Stake	Launched	Ceased
Fun TV	Music channel	100%	22 February 1997	31 December 2008
M6 Music Black	Music channel		10 January 2005	4 January 2015
M6 Music Club	Music channel		20 January 2009	4 January 2015
M6 Music Rock	Music channel		10 January 2005	20 January 2009
M6 Boutique	TV shopping channel	100% (via Home Shopping Service)	19 May 1998	1 July 2020
Best of Shopping	TV shopping channel	100% (via Home Shopping Service)	1 October 2003	1 July 2020
Girondins TV	Channel dedicated to FC Girondins de Bordeaux	100% (via FC des Girondins de Bordeaux)	14 August 2008	30 October 2018
TF6	Generalist family channel	50% Groupe TF1, 50% Groupe M6	18 December 2000	31 December 2014

Radio

The Groupe M6 acquired RTL France on 1 October 2017, from its main shareholder RTL Group.

Radio	Description	Stake	Launched	Acquired
RTL	Generalist	100%	15 March 1933	1 October 2017
RTL2	Pop-rock music		6 January 1992
Fun Radio	Youth-oriented and dance music		2 October 1985

Video platforms

On 19 March 2008, M6 launched its first catchup service, M6 Replay. On 4 November 2013, M6 Replay, W9 Replay and 6ter Replay were merged into 6play. Since late 2017, RTL radios joined 6play.

Service	Description	Stake	Launched	Acquired
M6+	Catchup, live TV, radio and video on demand Available in Belgium and Croatia as RTL Play, and in Hungary as RTL+	100% (via M6 Web)	4 November 2013

Film

M6 Films, film co-production
M6 Studio, film production
Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie, film catalog
SND, formerly known as Société Nouvelle de Distribution or SND Films, film distribution and production
M6 Vidéo, home video distribution division
Studio 89 Productions, television production
C. Productions, television news production
Golden Network, digital content

References

^ "20 ans de cotation de M6 sur la place parisienne". Euronext. 24 September 2014.
^ "M6 en quête de nouvelles recettes". Le Monde. 22 November 2013.
^ "M6 souffle ses 25 bougies". Terrafemina. 1 March 2012.
^ "France's TF1 & M6 Enter Exclusive Merger Negotiations to Create $4B Media Giant". 18 May 2021.
^ Broughton, Mathew (20 May 2021). "TF1 & M6 Propose Merger; Vungle Acquires TreSensa". ExchangeWire. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
^ "Proposed merger between TF1 and M6 group abandoned, companies say". Reuters. 16 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
^ "Billionaires prepare for new battle over French broadcaster M6". Financial Times. 22 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
^ "Bertelsmann's RTL scraps plan to sell stake in French TV Group M6". Reuters. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.

External links

Official website

[1] "20 ans de cotation de M6 sur la place parisienne". Euronext. 24 September 2014.

[2] "M6 en quête de nouvelles recettes". Le Monde. 22 November 2013.

[3] "M6 souffle ses 25 bougies". Terrafemina. 1 March 2012.

[4] "France's TF1 & M6 Enter Exclusive Merger Negotiations to Create $4B Media Giant". 18 May 2021.

[5] Broughton, Mathew (20 May 2021). "TF1 & M6 Propose Merger; Vungle Acquires TreSensa". ExchangeWire. Retrieved 14 September 2021.

[6] "Proposed merger between TF1 and M6 group abandoned, companies say". Reuters. 16 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.

[7] "Billionaires prepare for new battle over French broadcaster M6". Financial Times. 22 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.

[8] "Bertelsmann's RTL scraps plan to sell stake in French TV Group M6". Reuters. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.

[ref1-9] t venture with Leonine Holding, The Walt Disney Company, Bauer Media Group and Hubert Burda Media.

[ref3-10] t venture with Amperwelle Studio München Programmanbietergesellschaft, Axel Springer AG, Burda, Studio Gong, m.b.t. Mediengesellschaft der bayerischen Tageszeitungen für Kabelkommunikation, Medienpool and Radio Bavaria Rundfunkprogrammgesellschaft.

[ref13-11] t venture with Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack, Studio Gong Niedersachsen and Brune-Rieck-Beteiligungs.

[ref4-12] t venture with Axel Springer, Heinrich Bauer Verlag, Lühmanndruck Harburger Zeitungsgesellschaft and Morgenpost Verlag.

[ref9-13] t venture with Pressefunk Nordrhein-Westfalen and Westdeutscher Rundfunk.

[ref10-14] t venture with Funk & Fernsehen Nordwestdeutschland, Antenne Niedersachen and Niedersachsen Radio.

[ref11-15] t venture with Mediengruppe Dr. Haas.

[ref12a-16] t venture with Rheinland-Pfälzische Rundfunk.

[ref12b-17] t venture with Broadcast Sachsen.

[ref5-18] t venture with TF1 Group.

[ref12-19] t venture with France Télévisions and Groupe TF1.

[ref1-20] t venture with Leonine Holding, The Walt Disney Company, Bauer Media Group and Hubert Burda Media.

[ref3-21] t venture with Amperwelle Studio München Programmanbietergesellschaft, Axel Springer AG, Burda, Studio Gong, m.b.t. Mediengesellschaft der bayerischen Tageszeitungen für Kabelkommunikation, Medienpool and Radio Bavaria Rundfunkprogrammgesellschaft.

[ref13-22] t venture with Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack, Studio Gong Niedersachsen and Brune-Rieck-Beteiligungs.

[ref4-23] t venture with Axel Springer, Heinrich Bauer Verlag, Lühmanndruck Harburger Zeitungsgesellschaft and Morgenpost Verlag.

[ref9-24] t venture with Pressefunk Nordrhein-Westfalen and Westdeutscher Rundfunk.

[ref10-25] t venture with Funk & Fernsehen Nordwestdeutschland, Antenne Niedersachen and Niedersachsen Radio.

[ref11-26] t venture with Mediengruppe Dr. Haas.

[ref12a-27] t venture with Rheinland-Pfälzische Rundfunk.

[ref12b-28] t venture with Broadcast Sachsen.

[ref5-29] t venture with TF1 Group.

[ref12-30] t venture with France Télévisions and Groupe TF1.

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v t e Television in France
Terrestrial digital (free)	TF1 France 2 France 3 Canal+ France 5 M6 Arte C8 W9 TMC TFX NRJ 12 LCP & Public Sénat France 4 BFM TV CNews CStar Gulli TF1 Séries Films L'Équipe 6ter RMC Story RMC Découverte Chérie 25 LCI France Info BFM Régions OF TV
Terrestrial digital (pay)	Paris Première Canal+ Cinéma Canal+ Sport Planète+
Other free	Equidia Euronews FashionTV France 24 KTO Sport en France TV5Monde
Groupe TF1	TF1 TMC TFX TF1 Séries Films LCI TV Breizh Ushuaïa TV Histoire TV
Groupe M6	M6 W9 6ter M6 Music Paris Première Téva Série Club Gulli Canal J Tiji MCM MCM Top RFM TV
Groupe Canal+	C8 CNews CStar Canal+ Canal+ Sport 360 Canal+ Sport Canal+ Foot Canal+ Cinéma Canal+ Séries Canal+ Kids Canal+ Docs Ciné+ OCS OCS Ciné+ Frisson Ciné+ Émotion Ciné+ Family Ciné+ Festival Ciné+ Classic CStar Hits France Comédie+ Olympia TV Polar+ Planète+ Planète+ Crime Planète+ Aventure Seasons InfoSport+ Canal+ Live Télétoon+ Télétoon+1 Piwi+ Mezzo
RMC BFM	RMC Story RMC Découverte BFM TV BFM 2 BFM Paris BFM Lyon BFM Grand Lille BFM Grand Littoral BFM DICI Alpes du Sud BFM DICI Haute-Provence BFM Marseille Provence BFM Toulon Var BFM Nice Côte d'Azur BFM Alsace BFM Normandie BFM Business
The Walt Disney Company	Disney Channel Disney Junior National Geographic National Geographic Wild
NBCUniversal	13ème Rue Syfy E! DreamWorks
Paramount Global	BET Comedy Central Game One MTV MTV Hits Nickelodeon Nickelodeon Junior Nickelodeon Teen J-One Paramount Channel
Mediawan Thematics	AB1 Automoto La chaîne (in association with TF1 Group) Action Animaux Chasse et Pêche Crime District Clubbing TV Lucky Jack.tv Mangas RTL9 Science et Vie TV Toute l'Histoire Trek XXL
Warner Bros. Discovery	Boomerang Cartoon Network Cartoonito Discovery Channel Eurosport 1 Eurosport 2 Investigation Discovery TCM Cinéma TLC Warner TV Warner TV Next
Other (pay)	BeIN Sports La Chaîne Météo MGG TV
Media holding companies	Mediawan Thematics Groupe Canal+ France Télévisions Groupe M6 Webedia Groupe TF1 Altice
Lists	Television series Television stations
Defunct	La Cinq Antennes Locales Direct 8 Discovery Real Time Encyclo Escales Girondins TV Jimmy M6 Music Club M6 Music Black MCM Africa MCM Pop MTV Base MTV Idol MTV Pulse Muzzik La Sept OM TV Sport+ TF6 Virgin 17 Ciné FX Polar Nolife Vivolta M6 Boutique Best of Shopping Planète+ Thalassa MyCuisine Liberty TV RFO Sat France Ô Campagnes TV OCS Happy OCS Novo Téléfoot Disney XD Disney Cinema Voyage Canal+ Family Boing Discovery Family Canal+ Décalé OCS Choc OCS City RT France Ultra Nature Clique TV IDF1 Salto Discovery Science HGTV - Home & Garden TV (cancelled) Non Stop People OCS Max OCS Pulp OCS Géants Vià Altice Studio Golf Channel France

Authority control databases
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