TF1 to Split Chairman/CEO Functions

PARIS, February 21: Nonce Paolini has been nominated as the
new CEO of TF1, with longtime chief Patrick Le Lay relinquishing that function
but remaining as chairman of the French broadcaster.

The succession, due to be approved at the AGM on April 17,
is expected to occur in May. Paolini is currently the CEO of Bouygues Telecom,
the telco division of TF1’s parent company, Bouygues. He previously served as
the deputy director of human resources at TF1 from 1993 to 2001.

The news came as the market-leading broadcaster reported a
2006 net profit of 452 million euros, a 91.5-percent increase on the prior
year. Revenues gained 5.8 percent to 2.65 billion euros. TF1’s strong profit
improvement partly stemmed from a gain of 253.6 million euros from the merger
of TPS and CanalSat.