And the choice of Axel Duroux seemed me obvious

TF1 found its Saviour The Paris stock exchange, in any case, responded yesterday as if it were the case, welcoming the arrival next to the President of the Executive Board of the Group RTL France, Axel Duroux, branch a by more than 7 in its first interchange. But the euphoria is result throughout the day (action TF1 closed up 1.69). It is however a Palace revolution that it attended the announcement of the appointment of the heavy weight of audiovisual at the controls of the chain of the Bouygues group Monday night. Accustomed to only two years, the CEO of the one, Nonce Paolini, sixty years, will have to learn to share power with this newcomer aged forty-six years.

"He will have to wait several months to determine whether the file supports," said an observer. The distribution of roles between the two leaders will obviously be the issue key to the new organization. During a brief point press organized yesterday late morning, Nonce Paolini did not appear be a State of soul. "It is several months that I had come to the conclusion that he had to find a Director General for TF1, he explained. And the choice of Axel Duroux seemed me obvious. I have talked with Martin Bouygues. "It is clear that it is number two." And if a dispute between them, it is "the CEO who will decide." In their missions, the two men are however interchangeable. "I did not want to recreate a tandem of the kind which were Patrick Lay and Etienne Mougeotte." "Create reserved area would have meant cutting slices company and this is no longer possible today", says Nonce Paolini.

The proposal had many assets to seduce the boss of the first French radio. For a head of the string, "Axel Duroux made a bond liability from RTL to TF1". "Today, I have a choice." "Personal choice", he wrote in an e-mail to the employees of the Group RTL Monday. The resignation of the former journalist, by the Presidency of Endemol France, and the five was reintroduced yesterday by the Council of supervision of RTL, with "immediate effect", but yesterday evening, TF1 did not want to advance on the date of his arrival. The transfer will take place "at school, at the latest". A priori, this schedule will not allow Axel Duroux impact heavily on the grid for the month of September of the first string, already well advanced.

Restoring confidence

The challenges ahead recall what he had to deal with upon her arrival in RTL, in April 2005. TF1, as the station of the Bayard Street at the time, is facing a steady decline of his hearing, fell in the first week of June below 25. A decrease, in his case, related to the success of the digital terrestrial television (DTT) free but also failures of programming, be it the daily drama "Second chance", "dance floor", or the last season of the "Star Ac'", totally breath. Integration of TMC and NT1 in the TF1 group, after the agreement with AB, and the digital development will of course be other important projects. But, in a House destabilized by the most serious crisis that ever since its privatization in 1987, Axel Duroux will especially confidence internally.

His arrival in TF1 will be the prelude to other appointments "The knowing, it will soak records to come close custody", prophesying his entourage.

In M6, the passage of the pattern of RTL to competition is rather poorly lived. Member of the Supervisory Board, Axel Duroux knows, it is true, all the secrets of manufacture of the chain led by Nicolas de Tavernost.