TV5MONDE, a global French-language entertainment TV network, is set to grow its presence in the UAE hotel sector.
Recent studies show that over 66% of newly opened international 4 and 5-star hotels in the UAE offer TV5MONDE in their channel line-up, while over 72% of local 4 and 5-star hotel groups are airing it, with a total of over 22,000 rooms airing the channel in 4 and 5-star hotels opened between January 2017 and December 2019. To gain an even bigger presence in the country’s hotel sector, TV5MONDE is organising targeted campaigns to raise awareness of the global French-language channel.
As Ingrid Gressier, senior VP sales & marketing – Out-of-Home explains, “The majority of the hotels our team has approached to add TV5MONDE to their channel line-up have responded positively. We usually meet IT managers who are mostly English speakers and aren’t familiar with TV5MONDE, but as soon as we introduce the channel, and show them that it’s multi-national and offers varied programming such as cinema, series, news, sports, lifestyle, and cartoons, they understand why it’s added value for the general offering of their hotel. As the channel is free-to-air and available on Arabsat, NileSat and both local IPTV service providers, it’s easy for them to include it in their channel line-up.”
In the UAE, in local households, from among the 12 French-language TV channels available through local UAE IPTV provider DU, TV5MONDE is the most watched, representing over 50% of the French-language segment market share. Though not commonly known, worldwide, 40% of the audience of TV5MONDE are not native French speakers, but speak French as a second language or are Francophile.
“The UAE has always been a hub for world travellers. At the moment, travel has been restricted because of the pandemic, but it will start anew in the future and people will be eager to visit and enjoy the hospitality of the region,” adds Gressier.
“With Africa becoming a key partner of Gulf countries and a large percentage of Africans speaking French as their native language, we’re confident that our channel will attract more and more regional hotels. All the more so, as the UAE is fast becoming a regional centre for the French language in close relationship with TV5MONDE; the Café TV5MONDE opened at the Alliance Française Abu Dhabi in April 2019 and the Librairie Francophone TV5MONDE, the only French-language bookstore in Abu Dhabi, opened in the same cultural centre on November 22, 2020. All of these initiatives embody TV5MONDE’s aim to support the growing presence of the French language in the region.”
Two TV5MONDE channels are available in the region; general entertainment channel TV5MONDE Maghreb Orient offers its main programmes subtitled in Arabic and the thematic channel TV5MONDE Style HD, focusing on the French “Art de Vivre” – subtitled in Arabic and English. Both are free-to-air and are available in HD on Arabsat. TV5MONDE Maghreb Orient is also available in HD on Nilesat.
Launched in 1984, TV5MONDE reaches more than 364 million households and 60 million viewers every week in 198 countries and territories, making it the largest distributed French-language network in the world being broadcast via 10 separate feeds.
Programming originates from five different countries, including France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada and French-speaking Africa. There are eight regional channels: TV5MONDE France-Belgique-Suisse, TV5MONDE Europe, TV5MONDE Maghreb Orient, TV5MONDE Afrique, TV5MONDE Asie, TV5MONDE Pacifique, TV5MONDE Amérique Latine and TV5MONDE Etats-Unis.
Worldwide TV5MONDE is available in over four million hotel rooms, broadcasting to more than 50 million francophone travellers.
