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M6 (TV channel)

French national television network

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

M6 (French pronunciation: [ɛm sis]), also known as Métropole Télévision, is the most profitable private national French television channel and the third most watched television network in the French-speaking world. M6 is the head channel of the M6 Group media empire that owns several TV channels, magazines, publications, movie production companies, and media-related firms. It is owned by RTL Group.

On 20 May 2021, it was announced that M6 Group, owners of the channel, has proposed a merger with TF1 Group, which owns competing commercial network TF1. On 16 September 2022, it was announced that the merger was officially abandoned, citing concerns from French antitrust regulator, the Autorité de la concurrence, regarding competition in the advertising sector; the combined entity was likely to have been required to sell either primary channel (M6 or TF1) for the merger to proceed.

01History

M6 launched on 1 March 1987, at 11:15 am CET, taking the place of TV6.

M6's current on-air brand image, introduced in May 2020, suggests that it tailors its service to teenagers and young-adult demographics. Its current programs lineup include:

In 2001, M6 became the first national French television network to broadcast reality programming. Its first program of this genre was Loft Story, and was highly watched. The president of TF1 at the time, Étienne Mougeotte, promised that TF1 would never air any reality programming. However, several months later, TF1 signed a contract with Endemol to air such programming. Endemol is the same company that created Loft Story for M6.

M6 is one of the only television services in France to have science-fiction programming as part of its regular schedule. Most supernatural dramas were shown on Saturday nights in what M6 called "la Trilogie du Samedi" (The Saturday Trilogy)

M6+

On 19 March 2008, M6 launched a new website, in addition to its official site. This TV Catch-up called M6 Replay allows French Internet users (metropolitan France only) to view all M6 programs in the 6 p.m.-midnight slot (excluding films) one hour after their broadcasts, for one week. On 4 November 2013, M6 Replay was replaced by 6play.

On 27 March 2014, M6 launched 4 new thematic channels, "100% online", on 6play: 6play Comic (Humor), 6play Crazy Kitchen (Cooking), 6play Sixième Style (Fashion/Beauty), and 6play Stories (TV films). On 9 February 2015, M6 launched 6play home time (Universe de la Maison).

On 1 December 2015, a new version of 6play was launched. A new 6play design is launched for the occasion and 6play now uses a personalized recommendation system under the "My selection" section similar to that of Netflix.

From 14 May 2024, 6play became M6+.

In its first-quarter 2026 financial report, released on 28 April 2026, M6 Group reported that the M6+ platform had reached 31.7 million unique users, a 14% increase over the previous year. The group also confirmed its position as the exclusive free-to-air broadcaster for all matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in France, anticipating that the tournament would drive record digital engagement for the streaming service.

M6 headquarters, 89 avenue Charles-de-Gaulle in Neuilly-sur-Seine
M6 headquarters, 89 avenue Charles-de-Gaulle in Neuilly-sur-Seine

02Programmes

News

  • Le 12:45 (national edition) and 19:45 (national edition), afternoon and evening news.
  • Zone Interdite, France's most influential Newsmagazine
  • 66 Minutes weekly news magazine.
  • Capital, Economy-oriented newsmagazine.
  • Enquête Exclusive, Investigation magazine.

Show and reality show

Series

M6 Kid

03Past programs

Watch videos about M6 (TV channel)Explainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article M6 (TV channel), written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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