Métropole Télévision S.A. (MMT) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good evening to all. Thank you for having connected for this meeting for the presentation of our annual results 2021. Before I present our results with my colleagues, I propose we very quickly look at a 2-minute video for those who are connected. [Presentation]

So the year 2021 was a happy year for the group, which was marked by the continuation of the health crisis. We've had several lockdowns, the closing of theaters for 4.5 months, remote home office. But as you will see, we've seen a rebound of the advertising activity. We have had a number of movie successes as MT has become the first distributor -- French distributor in 2021. We've solidified our subsidiary, Stéphane Plaza Immobilier by becoming -- by taking a majority stake. This has had a very good success in 2021. The progression of all strong brands of the group, L'amour est dans le pre. We've seen it yesterday with the [indiscernible], Top Chef, I hope we will see that tomorrow with the first issue of 2022, incroyable talent information has been doing very well. We are often leaders from under 50 of TV news in the -- both -- we've had a lot of success with our magazines. l'Islam radical that has been talked about by Zone interdite. And we have continued, as Rajesh will tell you, with the development of synergies, notably in the Radio division, that has become the first private division in radio, and the youth TV channel with the progressive integration of Gulli. So this has been a satisfactory year with satisfactory figures, with a highest record high regarding advertising revenue with a growth of 16% this year, more than in 2019. The boss of the sales house will give us more figures. We've had operating expenses that have increased because of the euro. But also, if we compare, we had a more favorable comparison in [ 2021 ]. We've had a record high regarding the consolidated EBITA at EUR 346.7 million and an operating margin of close to 25%. If we remove the exceptional elements, the government support in 2021, if we remove, indeed, the compensation we've received in the dispute with Molotov, if we remove also the exceptional charges related to the merger with TF1, and -- our operating margin is 23.7% in 2021. Regarding the net profit, it is a record high at EUR 280 million outside of the year. In 2005, when we sold TPS with a big capital gain, so a margin of 20%. Last year, we had, had a strong capital gain because of the contribution of GSG. We are -- it's a couponing group. This year, we have had a capital gain because of the consolidation in Plaza Immobilier. So much for the financial results, but I will tell you more about it in a minute. You see that over all of the quarters, we've improved our performance notably versus 2019. We've compared with 2019 where, regardless of Q1, which was stable, we've increased our operating margin, 2019 being the baseline year. I'm going now to give the floor to Thomas, who is going to tell us quickly about the trend for 2021 and the beginning of 2022. And [ Ellen Jose ], in charge of Markets, and who will tell you about the audience rating.

Just one word to tell you that last year for the group was a record year. Record year for the audience under 50 and the WRP commercial target, so a very sustained activity and a very good beginning of the year for each channel, be it for free TV or pay-tv like Téva, Paris Première. The results are quite exceptional. We're going to go into the detail with Ellen Jose, who is in charge of the studies in the group, to show you the environment of TV today, the good results of M6 and the environment for TV consumption. So Ellen, I'll give you the floor.

Good evening to all. Indeed, Thomas, we're going to talk about the environment of M6, which is going through a lot of changes. You see on this slide the part that corresponds to our main activity. In dark blue, you have the time the French people spend watching TV. In 2021, 3 hours and 24 minutes is the daily average spent in front of TV by the French people. This is a figure that is lower than in 2021, which was an exceptional year, but it's a very stable figure if we compare it to 2019. What we see is that increasingly, we have the competition of other actors apart from traditional media on other screens, and that is the gray part. A French person will also watch 1 hour doing other things apart from watching TV channels. So the figure is growing year after year. In 2019, we were only at minutes daily of using TV apart from watching TV, whereas today, we have 1 hour. This growth in the use of the TV set for doing other things apart from watching TV, this is because SVOD platforms that are increasing competitors for TV channels. TV is also suffering from the competition of other screens, smart phones, for example, laptops or iPads today. The French spend about 3 hours watching mobile screens as we call them. You see that in the bottom. The French spend about 2 hours a day surfing on the Internet, doing a lot of social gaming. They spend 30 minutes on YouTube every day on their digital screen. And on the digital screens, you can watch TV also, and the French spent about 6 minutes every day doing that. On digital screens, SVOD has been deployed, and we say that on -- in 2021, the average was 10 minutes. What's important here is that the M6 Group is deploying itself where the attention of the French is going. We're very strong in the dark blue part, i.e., linear TV. And also on catch-up TV, we are present there with 6play, for example. We're also present with -- on the gray area with other users that are not really TV-related. We have SALTO, for example. And on mobile screen, the group is deploying itself with 6play that is used on digital screens and also with SALTO. And on the networks, the M6 has signed important partnerships with Facebook and with Snapchat recently, so our contents are also broadcasted on mobile screen. We want to reach the French where they are, i.e., on the social media. In this part in dark blue, the French watching TV every day. The M6 Group is very well-positioned. In 2021, this has been a record year with an audience share of 22.8%. It's also a record for the under 50, which means that M6 is the second group on commercial targets behind TF1. The M6 Group is very strong on specific times, access prime time from 7 to 9 p.m. When you add the 4 free channels, the M6 group has never been that strong. That represents about 26% with the WRP target group has never been that. Same thing for prime time. We have been at a record level for WRP under 50, almost 25% market share on another very important period, the morning from 9 to 7. We have been at a record level for 11 years with a very strong position, thanks to Julien Courbet. So that is the situation for the daytime. Ça peut vous arriver is one of our big success because in the morning, it has a strong impact for the channel. We've seen increases of more than 50% in the audience thanks to Julien Courbet between 10 a.m. and 12:30. And the audiences of Julien Courbet on RTL are doing very well. RTL is a leader in its radio time slot at a record level. The access primetime has had a number of successes. We've had programs that have been there for a while that are doing extremely well. For example, in 2021, La meilleure boulangerie de France, every night, 2.3 million viewers. Same thing for the [indiscernible]. In 2021, we've had our best year. Same thing also for Scènes de ménages in the evening with an average, in 2021, 4 million viewers present between 8:30 and 9, that is the most watched daily drama in front of TF1 or France Television. Regarding primetime, M6 is at a very high level in 2021. That is really due to magazines and regular entertainment like Top Chef, L'amour est dans le pre, Pekin Express, La France a un incroyable talent. We also have Mariés au premier regard, Le Meilleur Pâtissier, all of those brands have been doing record figures in 2021. Top Chef is the best record season for WRP under 50 with 31%. Each Wednesday evening, it was 3.9 million. L'amour est dans le pre has recovered in the last few years. Last year, 4.4 million viewers every Monday for season 16 of the show. Same thing for Pekin Express, second best-ever season for WRP. Same thing for incroyable talent, best-ever season for WRP under 50 in 2021. In 2021, M6 has also been able to count on novelties. Chernobyl is a very demanding series that has been very successful at a very high level, on average, 3.7 million viewers in prime time and 40% between 15 and 34 years of age. We've also had Appel à témoins, a program presented by Nathalie Renoux and Julien Courbet live show, representing 21% of under 35 years of age. And a good success for Legacy last January, 2.7 million viewers and 19% market share for WRP under 50. With that -- for that kind of documentary, it's a good performance. And of course, in 2021, we've had football with excellent results for Euro matches on M6, 6.7 million viewers on average for Euro matches, a peak for France; Germany, 15.2 million; and the final with France and Spain, 8.1 million viewers for the final. Regarding DTT audience ratings, the results are very solid. Notably, we have W9 that remains the second most powerful DTT behind TMC with a very good level, 3.8%. We see that it is stable versus 2020. 6ter is slightly down on the commercial target, but it was marked by 2 parts of the year. First, difficult half of the year and a strong rebound in the second half of the year. And Gulli is maintaining at good levels, slightly down 4% plus because of the structure, very young audience. That explains the slowdown. But with the commercial target, 1.7% market share for WRP, very stable figures. What are the successful programs for W9? It is movies, TV reality, sports but also French drama. W9 has been doing a lot in this area. Escape has been doing very well. And of course, La Petite Histoire de France on W9 doing very strong audiences. For 6ter, we have the arrival of Desperate Housewives in the second half of the year, but also a number of new programs, notably with a program that worked very well, Les reines de la route in primetime that has confirmed, last January its excellent results with a season 2. Regarding Gulli, still #1 youth channel, 15%, for 4- to 10-year-olds. And in primetime in 2020, powerful movies for all and animated films you can find on Gulli that are doing excellent scores. One word about pay-tv, 2021 has been excellent for pay-tv. Paris Première was already on a record year. We've had a new record in 2021. The audience share have never been so high, almost 0.6% in 2021, 0.6% also for upper social professionals. Every month, it is a channel -- EUR 12 million French people spend some time on Paris Première. Regarding Téva, the indicators are very good. Téva is not as distributed, but figures remain very well, and Téva remains the first pay-tv channel in the cable side for women under 50 with a market share of 0.5%. And then the final slide on 6play, for live -- for TV on demand, there were 25 million viewers on 6play and 630 million hours on the platform viewed on the hours, which is a record high. 6play, of course, is mostly replays, but -- catch-up TV. But it's also the extended offer, with content that is 100% exclusive to the platform, including Or Noir, which was a platform exclusive program. Now, Regis.

Well, thank you. By way of conclusion, if you -- if there was one figure to remember, the audience share -- the audience in -- for primetime has -- is on the rise. So for TV as a whole, the total number of viewers has sort of declined a bit. But M6, it's gone up in absolute numbers and also, of course, in audience shares. So that's the big take-home message. David, now. No, it's not, David. It's Regis. About radio -- good evening, everyone. This -- these are the audience ratings for the various radio stations that are part of the group. M6 is the #1 radio group in France. Private, of course, radio company. So we were slightly down in 2021, 0.6 percentage points, although that was -- it was NRJ and TF1 Publicité who are 2 independent companies. Lagardère now is -- is facing challenges, minus 0.8 percentage points and RMC is slightly down as well. Now we were slightly down ourselves not because of RTL2, because RTL2 is doing extremely well. It's reached a record high. But Fun Radio, which is intended -- directed at a younger audience, is experiencing some challenges, and RTL is back to its historic numbers. But the lack of mobility and the COVID crisis has made things a bit difficult because our listeners are mostly people listening to us in their cars. But when people started driving again, the ratings were up again. Fun Radio. Now, we are reformatting the station. We have a new visual identity and new sound -- station identification. And so we are redefining our identity, and I hope that plus, of course, new content will enable us to conquer the younger audience. Of course, the music stations have to compete with the music platforms, but we have good reason to believe will make it. RTL2 is a station very much prized by advertisers. and so we have lots of people listening through digital media and 45% listening in their cars. As RTL proper, we have new content, new programs that did very well on the generic audience, but also on the commercial audience. And let me just add that thanks to these good ratings, we were able to develop a very forceful digital strategy in 2021. We became the first podcast operator. This is significant because the podcast is tomorrow's radio. We have the #1, with the Les Grosses Têtes but also many others, which enable us to be the first podcast offer in the private audiovisual sector in France. And now it will be for David to take over.

Good evening, everyone. A few words about the advertising market. As Nicolas was saying earlier on, the revenue is -- well, it's a historic -- at a historic high for 2021. Well, there were 2 halves. The first 2 quarters were in line with the COVID crisis, and so they were very much impacted by that. But when you look at the growth numbers, significant growth here, we're looking at comparisons with 2020. But if you look at the half years compared to 2019, we're down in H1, down EUR 10 million. But then the second half of the year caught up, and indeed displayed growth compared to 2019 and 2020, about EUR 40 million improvement in the second half of the year compared to what we had 2 years ago. So this enables us to -- where we have this EUR 1.137 billion, so 16%, EUR 160 million more than in 2020. If you look at the split by line of business, TV bounced back better than radio, up EUR 45 million compared to 2019 on television, including 6play. And if you look at radio and indeed the rest of our digital activities, we find that there is a rebound compared to 2020, but we haven't caught up with 2019 yet. We're halfway there between -- at EUR 162.5 million. Now, we haven't got the final figures for the year 2021, but we do have a good order of magnitude here. An estimate of the market, which should stand at about 3.5 billion. Our own market share is expected to grow for 2021 to 27.5%, which was probably, it's the best performance ever. But if you look more closely, not just at the television market but also video as a whole, so including digital video, social media, and indeed, the standard digital video, we arrived at a market share of 20.6%, down 4 percentage points compared to 2019. But that is a very little compared in view of the growing number of competitors. We've held our ground pretty well. Let's move on then to the next speaker.

Thank you, David. How does this translate into financial figures? Let's look at television first, the first line of business. We find significant growth in revenue driven by advertising, as David pointed out, but also additional distribution revenue that was generated in 2021. One of the consequences is that there was significant investment in programming, and as Thomas and Ellen had pointed out, we have growing audiences in volumes, but also audience shares also have grown significantly, hence, the growth in revenue. Profit from recurring operations and TV displayed a significant growth, almost EUR 61 million. If you take out the contribution, what was known as the public help that was a tax credit and other COVID subsidies, we're still pretty good at EUR 271. So still a significant growth, 26.2% compared to 2.8 percentage points between 2019 and 2021. On radio now, we were able to turn the EUR 10.5 million of advertising revenue into EUR 10.5 million in profit from recurring operations. That was because we were able to optimize cost organization and overheads in our radio and TV -- radio channels. You have some subsidies for broadcast and some tax credit that were introduced during the COVID crisis to support the production and broadcasting of radio program, so that was -- that plus cost-cutting brought this remarkable performance. Regarding audiovisual rights, revenue is slightly down, minus 2.8%. This is because, of course, of the context described by Nicolas. We have cinema and movie theaters closing down, fewer movies coming out in the theaters. And nonetheless, we find that the numbers are pretty good. As many as 8 movies came out in 2021 compared with 9 in 2020 and 12 in 2019, so it's a slight decline. Then yet, we have EUR 6.2 million tickets purchase in France with the highest bidder. And with Kaamelott, we have the highest success for French moving in 2021, 2.6 million admissions. Regarding production, and that's still part of the same picture here, we refocused on drama and we restructured costs and that enable us to improve EBITA, EUR 16.4 million this year, up 19.6% compared to 2020. So revenue -- and yet, revenue was down. So operating profitability, 27.1%, 7.3 percentage improvement compared to 2019. Regarding Diversification, and so here, you have this in gray for the -- the scope effect is significant for the last 3 years, 2019, 2020. Because between 2019 and 2020, we deconsolidated iGraal through -- now, it's -- we now have a minority interest in GSG. This was completed in March 2020. In October 2020, we sold Home Shopping Services, and that meant a deconsolidation at that time, and that has an effect, of course, on revenue for that year but -- if you do not restate for scope effect. But if you do restate for scope effects, and that is what you have in dark red brown, we find in 2021 almost the same revenue as 2019 with a slight decline in 2020. And if you look at the EBITA, that is profit from recurring operations in 2019, it had been pushed on by M6 Mobile in Orange which made a difference in terms of the profit. But also you had iGraal and HSS, which also contributed. So on the stable scope, we had EUR 8.9 million in 2019, EUR 9.9 million in 2020 and EUR 11.1 million in 2020, up 12.2% year-on-year with significant contributions from M6 Digital Services, which covers all our digital portals. And in particular, spectacular audiences with Cuisine AZ, PasseportSanté and TURBO, the 3 great successes. That's for Diversification. Now all this is summarized in our consolidated financial statement. It is not for me to go through the income statement. Nonetheless, we have to look at operating -- well, profit from recurring operations. We find that this year in accounting terms, we recognize 50% of capital gains on the disposal of subsidiaries, but that was because of the reassessment of our stake in Stéphane Plaza Immobilier, when we took over that company at the end of December. And that will -- that will be included in the profits of the group as -- for the year 2022. Then we have standard operating profit related to the fact that a number of companies were brought together, 13 -- EUR 11 million instead of EUR 13 million. So EBIT stands at EUR 381 million, while revenue was EUR 1.453 million -- sorry, EUR 390 million for -- with the revenue, EUR 1.435 million. If you look at joint companies, we have the investment we have in Salto and Bedrock. These are 2 companies that are experiencing significant growth, and so require substantial financing. Profit before income tax is slightly down because the tax rate has come down, that's mostly that. The tax rate has come down. So net profit for the period is EUR 280.8 million compared with EUR 276.6 million the year before. Our balance sheet now has a simple, a straightforward change. Well, on goodwill, you have Stéphane Plaza Immobilier. On current assets, just like current liabilities, we have the positive effects of WCR, first, because of the sale of sporting assets that we had in 2020, which we spent in 2021, so we have them on the receivables. The inventory is stable, and then we have rights that are open that have been -- that are in the inventory and that have not been used yet, and then traditional current liabilities. So all in all, the cash position has changed by EUR 152 million, you find this on the next table. You have 2 different years. 2020 was a year of crisis, so the profit was down. Capital expenditure investment was down, but there was also no dividends. And so free cash flow, that is cash from current -- recurring operations minus CapEx, because there was no CapEx or there was less CapEx, and less use for borrowing. 2021 was a year of rebound. There was additional cash from recurring operations, EUR 400 million instead of EUR 210 million, so a 310 improvement. And of course, it was additional CapEx to the tune of about EUR 100 million. But that year, we also paid out dividends, EUR 1.5 per share, to catch up with the absence of dividend in 2020. And so all in all, you have the EUR 38 million in the current accounts that come for the investments that we have as a joint holding Salto and Bedrock. So for the 26th April at the AGM, we will propose a dividend of EUR 1 per share in line with the historic -- with the history of dividends. And that enables us to keep some cash for future developments, and Nicolas will tell you about the outlook.

Well, thank you. So the year 2021 was an outstanding year for the company. All the teams made that possible, not just the programming teams that have remarkable results. Radio also were able to show robustness in what was a challenging year for all 3 radio stations. We overperformed the advertising market thanks to David Larramendy's teams. And so -- and plus Diversification, in particular, in film, but also real estate that also brought in some results. Having said all that, significant challenges lie ahead. First, to keep up the performance by making the content as attractive as always, and we know that we are challenged by the platforms. The audience of platforms are getting more aggressive in terms of acquiring talent. It then becomes impossible to purchase movies or series internationally, especially in the U.S., so that competition is tough. It's difficult to meet it. We have to have our own means to do this. We also have the on-demand services through Salto for the pay per view or 6play for free VOD. We also have our own production for drama and movies. And there, we will be working with producers with whom we are used to working. We have trusting relationships with a number of producers, especially movie producers. We had, again, an exceptional year, and the year is starting pretty well. In 2022, we had some good theater successes, but that needs to be reinforced especially as regards movie production. And then, of course, and that's what makes us unique, we want to have entrepreneurs in the various departments. Very autonomous, but we also have synergies within the company. And as Regis Ravanas pointed out, for radio, we were able to achieve these synergies initially a few years back when we started the Radio department as it -- where we didn't know whether that would fit in with -- dovetail with the rest of our broadcasting business, that is with TV. But that -- it happened extremely well to the benefit of both radio and TV and that's what we're doing also now for digital following the same trend. So -- but we are facing new competition, and we have 2 companies that are doing well, TF1 and M6. Our respective shareholders have accepted this -- well, this merger, which is a huge project with enormous issues. We are discussing this with the competition authorities, [ Acon ] in particular. So of course, that will change the deal, especially as regards to some of the economic rents that were achieved here and there, but we can -- we want to become a major French player. But consolidation is happening everywhere, particularly in the production business in France. The production business is consolidating at a rate of knots. Likewise, internationally, not just production, distribution, Fox and Disney, look for -- as a case in point, and so we have to respond. If France is to keep its position, we have to consolidate our positions also in the production of content. On DTT, you had the opposite effect and the results were pathetic. In fact, we are paying taxes left, right and center on DTT. Why? Because there were newcomers that took advantage of the position to sell their licenses to broadcast but there was no effort in creation, which is only based on Canal Plus, France Télévisions, TF1 and M6. I mean we are holding -- we are the also creators of content, but the only way for this to continue is to remain powerful when we're facing such a violent competition. If you just look at radio listeners, I mean -- and TV, the new users and advertising revenue is going elsewhere. So we can invest in streaming but we can only make things happen if we have this merger. We had to dispose of 3 DTT frequencies. That's because of the law of 1986. That makes us weaker, but what can we do? I mean this is one of the first synergies that we have, but we have to stick with the regulation, which means that we have -- but there's less we can do. But whatever we can through the merger, we have to do. Otherwise, it would be all in vain. Now if you have any questions, this is your chance to put your questions to myself and my colleagues about this year, the year 2021 and the outlook for 2022.

[Operator Instructions] We have our first question, Annick Maas, BNP Paribas.

I have 2 questions. Regarding the advertising market, what about the first few months of 2022? Could you give us an order of magnitude for programming costs this year?

David? Be careful.

Yes, we're going to be conservative. The year is off to a good start, but 2021 was split in 2 years, not too good in the first half then very good. So the initial activity of the first quarter is rather good, higher than what we had last year. But once again, it's more in the second half of the year that we will have the real challenges and a real view of the situation. Regarding the programming costs, we have a programming cost that should be about the same to what it was last year. We have no major sporting event contrary to last year, but we will have investments in the area of drama. Given the good results we've had, that will be higher than what they were last year. We have bonds that are in percentage, so creation is benefiting from the good financial performance because be it for animation as a percentage, same thing for cinema, same thing for audiovisual production, same thing for independent production, so it's a percentage. So we're really glad that the good advertising result can benefit creation. And we will see tonight, you have an excellent show tonight, and we will see in production this year. So a certain stability of our grid programming, less activity in sports, which will mean that we will have more programs. Thank you very much.

We have another question from Julien Roch from Barclays.

First question for Nicolas. Based in your remark, TV -- nothing can replace TV. So clearly, the merger shouldn't take place. What do you respond to UDM as really TV as something that you cannot replace? That's my first question. Two small questions. To go back to Page 22 of your presentation, the 530 million hours on 6play in '21, how many hours views on M6 in a linear fashion? So that we can have your total consumption and the split between linear and nonlinear? Page 30, you've given your market shares on the in-stream and out-stream video market. And if you take the figures of the observatory, you do have EUR 693 million in 2021.

Thomas?

Regarding whether the advertising marketing replace, I don't know whether you have to take the statement of Le Figaro or the other journal regarding UDM, but regarding -- I would like to refer to what the boss of the media agency said, it's already the case for children advertising. We see it for children with Gulli. We do see that children advertising is -- can be substituted and replaced by what you see on the social media, and the same boss of the union said that within the next 3 years, it would be the same for adults. So we are in a process. The merger is supposed to take place next year, not this year, so we are in the process of having total substitution of TV advertising by video advertising. We've been saying that for a number of years. It's up to us to be better by offering programs, by providing specific prices for our screens. By our context, we want to remain on that market, but we are being challenged by an increasingly important substitution on this market by the digital economy. We're being replaced. When you see the growth pace of advertising on YouTube, YouTube is video advertising. The growth rate of advertising on YouTube is 45% -- was 45% last year. That was announced by Google. I'm talking about video advertising on YouTube. If you watch advertising on YouTube, it is the same customer as in TV. So there is substitution because the 45% did not -- was not genuine. That comes from announcers calculating their ROI, so TV is fighting to keep a significant share in that market, but it is being replaced by video advertising, especially digital video advertising.

Thomas, regarding your question, 530 million hours viewed on 6play. What about the figures for linear?

We cannot calculate that figure. But what I can tell you is that the global audience of M6 channels is 90% of the audience is linear and 10% is catch-up. That is the ratio you should have. The situation are very different because there are programs you cannot watch in catch-up TV. But you have sometimes a distribution of 80%, 20%. Access prime time programs is 50%, linear; 50%, nonlinear. But it's 90%, 10% on average. Your other question was about the calculation of total video, yes, EUR 693 million you were talking about. But in that, we have about EUR 200 million of catch-up TV, which you also find in the EUR 3.5 billion estimated for digital and linear TV. So you have to subtract EUR 200 million for catch-up TV to have the figure on Page 30.

We have another question from Thomas Coudry from Bryan Garnier.

First question. If I want to play the devil's advocate, don't you think that these excellent results may, in fact, not be good in the context of your merger? Why a merger while TV at TF1 and you are doing so well? Regarding video, you're alluding to video market share. Is that the relevant market to be taken into account by the competition authority? Another question about the new chronology of media. I would like to have your feeling. I think this is being done at the detriment of your group and TF1. I would have liked to know what do you think this new situation could have on -- the impact this could have on you.

Do you think that the fact that TF1 and M6 are doing so well, is that a handicap given the merger project? No, it should be an advantage. It is -- when you're merging in good conditions, you can build a project that would be in everybody's advantage for creation, for the French ecosystem. We're not going to wait if some groups that are not doing well, they're not going to merge to create a relevant ensemble. So I don't think our -- the good results are a handicap for our merger project. I would just say that you need to look at a given moment. And also, you need to look at the move of the group today. Digital advertising is such that you have 2 considerable challenges for all TV groups. It's the same in all of Europe, by the way. First challenge, the receipts. When you live mainly off advertising, the dynamic is for digital, and the figures show it. Second challenge, audience. Today, the dynamic is in favor of nonlinear. And in the nonlinear TV, the main thing comes from U.S. platforms that keep their production for themselves. So if we don't want -- if we see that we do not have companies that are able to meet the challenges if decisions are taken outside of France, some platforms have already refused the chronology of media. You were talking about it is not insignificant that some protests -- because of production, we have a group of producers who complain about the conditions in which platform produce, claiming all rights. So we are hugely regulated, sometimes too much. As French actors, we have frequencies in France. We're perfectly regulated and totally regulated. International actors are not as much regulated. Some progress has been made in this area. But when you compare, they have advantages we don't have. It would be extremely detrimental to let French actors become weaker. The profit of international actors, which do not have the same constraints and objectives as we have. Regarding the chronology of media, you're right to say that the counterpart has a few obligations, platforms have few obligations. The chronology of media would like to advance the windows of pay TV for platforms, and this is not good for free TV. We have accepted to sign la chronologie des médias given that our windows are protected. Our slots are protected. We didn't want to have co-broadcasting for the movies we have funded. We believe in movie. We've become the first distributor in France. We have good relationship with the cinema sector. We will keep investing in this sector, which shows that production and broadcasting are not enemies, contrary to what some people might want to think. So I think this merger is a wonderful opportunity to develop creation. Just one word about la chronologie des médias. There was -- just to show that the market and platforms and free TV is the same, la chronologie des médias allows and forces platforms to fund French films, and Netflix has committed to produce 10 French movies a year. This is about what M6 does. TF1 is between 15 and 20. We have about 25 movies in prime time for France, so we have the possibility of putting the movies for [ 50 ]. So we have the same movies on slots that have been protected. That's why we've accepted to sign. After the 22nd month, it should be withdrawn from platforms, but the platforms will be able to broadcast their movies before. So we are on the same market. One word on the relevant market. Yes, we think if there's no difference between YouTube advertising and TV advertising, the announced results are the same for us. It had explains the figure of 20.4%, we think it goes even further. Two facts to illustrate that. If you take the overall market of the whole display, this market share drops to 14%, from 20% to 14%. Most of those spaces that were display or becoming video. So the share of display, this fixed share of display is going to go down, and the part of video is going to rise. So we think both markets can be considered as a comment. Secondly, when we speak to advertisers, they consider their advertising investments on the basis of their ROI. They calculate their ROI of the different media, and they choose the one for which the ROI is best, and they do not care whether it is on M6, TF1, TikTok or even such. So for all of those advertisers, the only relevant market is the overall advertising market.

Thank you, David. Two more questions.

We have another question from Christophe Cherblanc from Societe Generale.

In fact, I had several questions. Number one, on the distribution policy. Historically, you have a high payout -- dividend payout. TF1 pays -- has a lower payout policy. Have you thought about this? I mean, we're not there yet. But I mean, what will be the dividend policy when you merge? And especially also, both partners have got sound cash positions. Might you buy back shares? Is that a possible scenarios -- a possible scenario, knowing that the shareholder shape will have changed considerably? That's question number one. Number 2 is on radio. TV is back to its 2019 levels, but radio is still a far cry from that. Do you believe that -- I mean, this is -- I feel good, especially the market has slumped since the -- with the Lagardère effect. So what's your view on the radio? And then number -- question number 3 on Stéphane Plaza. Their own business model have -- include commissions on franchise and entry rights on franchises. I mean, it's a complicated mix. What's your view on that? And how do you see the outlook for 2022, 2023 because the property business, the real estate business has reached -- reached a new high? Do you think this is going to -- this is also going to stay? Or can you sort of hedge against the volatility in the property market?

Well, thank you. Three questions. First on Plaza Immobilier, the real estate business. That was the French's -- the favorite brand of the French. I mean, Stéphane Plaza is a great professional, very popular, and the network we have with their group is working extremely well, and so -- especially because the property business is still buoyant, there's no reason to believe that this will not continue in 2022. That's for real estate. Regarding the payout policy, we are back to EUR 1 per share because that's the agreement we have between TF1 and M6, to keep the payout ratio the same as in 2019. But the future payout policy, we'll have to consider later. But the purpose of making money is to reinvest that money, and so we will invest, in particular, in streaming because you have to make it clear. We are not giving up on the digital sector to stay in the traditional TV. No, we will be investing even more in digital and streaming, especially streaming platforms, so as to take a -- get a share in digital advertising because when we have agreements with the advertisers on the segmented offer, it's to take advantage of the digital offer to -- so that's the reason we're going there. And we are not going to stick to a sector that is declining, which is live TV or linear TV, so we have to diversify. But the payout ratio will depend, of course, on the performance. And of course, we will have to put this to the shareholders, but what we will invest our money in is programs in streaming in particular and digital. Having said that, we will develop synergies. And of course, synergies are absolutely indispensable. Just like we did, by the way, with radio. Very effectively, by the way. You had a proof of that. So we'll have similar synergies between our television groups and our streaming services for us to be cost effective. For radio, of course, 40 million listeners listen to radio throughout the day, throughout the week, year in and year out. Of course, as Regis Ravanas said, because of the COVID crisis, people drove less and so listening -- because most people listen to the radio in their cars, so if people are not driving, they're not listening as much. So there's that. The other challenge is to turn around radio, digitalize radio, and so people listen to radio through not just standard radio but off of podcast, the Internet and we have to be able to turn that into cash, podcast into cash. But we are going the right way. We are finding a way to turn that into a profitable proposition. RTL is a leader brand -- leading brand. RTL2 is a leading brand as well. And the strength of these brands is what will enable us to drive that change into the digital. But it's not just digital, it's multimedia. Once again, as Regis said, when we have Julien Courbet both on radio and TV, that enables both TV and radio to take a leaf out of it -- to take advantage of each other. This sort of -- they reinforce each other, as it were. So vis-a-vis traditional media now, we have to look into multimedia. And as I said -- and go digital for part of that activity. That's how we will survive. In fact, that's the plan we had laid out. We announced the road map when we bought back the 3 radios of RTL, the 3 radio stations. Maybe a final question then.

We have a question from Mr. Bruno Hareng from ODDO.

I had a question about address TV. After the agreement you signed in 2021, how -- what will be the change compared with 2021 and 2022? I mean, how much could that generate in terms of revenue, address TV? That's -- and then the working capital requirements. You mentioned seasonal effects, some of which is nonrecurring compared with 2021 regarding the generation of cash. But is that to say the WCR will be down next year? Or are there some effects that will recur? And that will mean that the cash position and WCR will be, in fact, stable? I know it's difficult, but I'm trying to see what's recurring -- what are recurring and what are nonrecurring effects because we have a similar phenomenon at TF1. And then finally, what you said, Nicolas, about the over-the-top and CapEx there. I know that there's a plan with Salto and things might change there. But the strategy that you announced or that RTL announced with the medium-term guidance, is that a good proxy for the market -- French market as a whole?

Thank you for these questions. Well, regarding WCR, let me just say that there were a few positive items this year. Well, the advanced payments of sporting rights that we had to pay, so there are a few effects like that. The more -- the lasting effect is the fact that the American output is down and that required a high WCR because at the time -- well, the good thing is that as these output deals are out, well, they're using less cash or less WCR than other broadcasting rights that are more segmented. So there are some savings there. In a way, a silver lining. So there's some improvement on WCR, but no reason to fear any major disruption. Regarding address or targeted advertising, we had indeed agreement with operators with 2 types of advertising. Digital advertising on OTT, and that's doing well. That is direct advertising that is between us and advertisers. And then you have advertising through managed networks, and that's called addressed advertising, and that's the agreement we have with the 4 operators. This addressed advertising will be marginal in 2022. There won't be much of it because it requires technical equipment for operators to be able to provide this, and then not all set-top boxes are compatible to receive that kind of advertising. Then there are levies to be paid, so it's not free of charge. And then you have to remember even though -- because there's high demand, we need to have the wherewithal, the technical wherewithal to make it happen. So in 2022, there won't be much of it. It will be marginal on our income statement. However, if you want to be able to compete with the digital advertising, you have to be there on all fronts. In particular -- but in technical terms, we have to have the technical wherewithal. We have to be able to learn certain -- seek other customers more scattered all over the country. And then we have to work with partners, the Internet access providers. And so, well, but once we do this, it will grow. But initially, it will be a small portion of our advertising revenue. It will be less marginal on OTT advertising on our replay sites because there, we have full control. Is there another question? Salto. Salto. What was it again?

Now what developments for Salto?

Well, there is what we have full control over. That's 6play in the catch-up TV, and then we will develop this in 2022. Regarding subscription VOD -- SVOD, that's pay OTT. There, we decided to have a partnership with our 2 main competitors because, as you saw, we were looking at EUR 100 million a year in capital expenditure. That's a significant amount for us. Now assuming the newborn project takes place, France Télévisions said they would want to look at a possible opt-out to not to have -- to face a majority partner in Salto. We could have talks with France Télévisions, but it depends on the success of newborn. By the way, let me just say something about the merger here. The SVOD, AVOD, catch-up TV, live TV, this is all the same ecosystem. We're talking about the same programs, being shown the same movies, the same series, the same content, the same live content that is offered either in an exclusive fashion, pay TV, non-live TV. The only difference is when the audience decides when they want to watch the show and to do their own TV schedule. So some of it will be live in any case. The news shows or sporting events, that remains live. But a lot of it is stuff that people want to watch in their own time. Now how to know ahead of time, 7 days ahead of time, including advertising or pay TV. This -- the organization of that schedule should become part of our own core business, and this is why we have to join forces. It is difficult for Salto because we have 3 competitors in the same room, and so you want to share your core business with 3 competitors is indeed something of a challenge, isn't it? Plus, of course, the audiovisual authorities added additional restrictions so that, in a way, ties up the hands of Salto, especially vis-a-vis such competitors as Warner, Disney and the like who do not have such constraints, such restrictions. And so of course, the merger here will -- digital TV will enable us to have streaming policies, and we're looking about EUR 200 million a year in CapEx in streaming that we will be able to generate, provided some synergies also on the other side are generated. We will do this, but of course, we'll look more carefully at this once the competition authority gives us the go ahead. But also the other thing is part of the synergies, the savings there will be reinvested so as to build a powerful streaming media which, in a few years, should account for as much as 50% of all TV consumption. So we have a pretty straightforward business model. It is enough for us to show the independent authorities that is useful, that is necessary, and it is the only way for a French competitor to be able to compete with the rest of global competition because we have one player, France Télévisions, which is bigger than TF1 and M6 put together, and then Canal Plus, which is very much -- very significantly present on that market.

Right. Well, thank you. Thank you for your attention. Thank you for attending this presentation. I believe that in 2023, we'll have more things to tell you. Many things will happen in the meantime. Good night. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]