Voyage

World Screen Weekly, November 30, 2006

COUNTRIES: France (Canalsatellite), Switzerland (NAXOO cable) Belgium (Bouquet, cable), French Speaking Africa (CanalSat Horizons).

LAUNCH DATE: May 31, 1996

OWNERSHIP: Voyage is wholly owned by Fox International Networks.

DISTRIBUTION: Cable and Satellite

HOUSEHOLDS: 4.1 million

DESCRIPTION: Registered as a local French factual channel, Voyage’s focus is on travel, culture and leisure, with a core demographic of viewers in the 25 to 49 age group. The channel aims to bring the places, peoples, arts and cultures of the world to its audience using a mix of reality, documentary and magazine programmes. On September 18, 2006 the channel launched a major rebrand, with a new tag, ‘Voyage, your departure point,’ and key new shows, Reves de Comptoir, Le Magazine de L’Ailleurs, Blog-Story, Les Enfants Du Rock, Dream Hotels, Big City Life, Les Bons Plans Voyages, Pilot Guides and Lonely Planet.

PRESIDENT, FOX INTERNATIONAL CHANNELS, FRANCE: Thierry Schluck

DIRECTOR GENERAL: Sabrina Azoulay

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: The recent revamp of Voyage was done “to attract a broader audience, and also one with a higher percentage of A and B demos,” explains the channel’s director general Sabrina Azoulay. Although at 1.4 million this group already accounts for 34 percent of the channel’s total audience of 4.1 million, which is split 48 percent female and 52 percent male.

One of the shows charged with attracting a still larger slice of A and B demos is Reves de Comptoir. Presented by adventurer, artist and writer, Philippe Gildas, formerly the presenter of the Canal+ show Nulle Part Ailleurs, Reves de Comptoir invites the audience to share Gildas’ memories of past travels, his dreams of future adventures and reports from his specially chosen destinations. The hour-long show is an in-house production, and airs Wednesdays at 8:50 p.m. and is repeated on Saturdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 6:15 p.m.

Presented by Pierre Didier, each week Le Magazine de l’Ailleurs takes its audience aboard the museum ship, Le Quai Branly and sets sail in search of foreign cultures. Le Magazine de l’Ailleurs premiered on October 20 and airs on Fridays at 8:50 p.m. with repeats on Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Wednesdays at 9:50 p.m.

Every week the half-hour show Les Bons Plans Voyages visits exotic locations. In addition to the world’s trendiest spots, whether a chic Viennese ball, a shopping festival in Dubai, or a Ninja restaurant in New York, Les Bons Plans Voyages also shows its audience how and where to get a Buddhist tattoo in Bangkok, and how to enter Beijing’s Forbidden City.

These, and the other new series, sit along side returning favorites such as Pilot Guides, which is stripped Monday through Friday during the day, such as Tresors du Monde, Decouvrir Le Monde, and La Route Des Vins.

Voyage’s schedule consists of 20 percent in-house productions, 40 percent commissioned shows from independents, and 40 percent acquired programs.

WHAT’S NEW: The channel recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, and has marked the occasion by a major overhaul of its schedule, look and presentation. “With a line up of new presenters, new shows, new magazines and new packaging, Voyage is a totally new channel, but also one which remains firmly rooted in its ‘raison d’etre’—travel,” says Azoulay.

WEBSITE: www.voyage.com