France's biggest commercial broadcaster is shopping its production arm. TF1 has quietly put Studio TF1 on the market and hired the investment bank Rothschild to oversee an early-stage sale process, Variety reported on 3 August 2026. Reuters first broke the news, citing a source who valued the business at around 400 million euros.

TF1 told Variety it does not comment on rumours or market speculation. The sale process is still in its early stages, meaning no buyer has been identified and no deal is guaranteed.

Studio TF1 is no small asset. The group encompasses more than 50 production companies and labels across 12 territories, producing and distributing dramas, movies and documentaries across Europe. It produced 3,750 hours of programming in 2025. Its long-running French soap operas Demain Nous Appartient (Tomorrow is Ours) and Ici Tout Commence (Here It All Begins) air on TF1's own channels. Studio TF1 America, a separate arm, makes television films for the U.S. and international markets.

The business was previously called Newen. TF1 acquired it in 2015 and rebranded it roughly 18 months ago. Pierre Branco, the former head of Warner Bros Discovery in France, Benelux and Africa, now serves as CEO. Under his watch, Studio TF1 launched theatrical distribution operations at the start of 2026 and pledged to double its film output to 10–15 films annually by 2027. Its first full theatrical release, Reem Kherici's comedy Good Vibes Only, sold more than 700,000 tickets in French cinemas. Four more films sit on the slate, including Laszlo Nemes' period drama Moulin, starring Gilles Lellouche, which competed at Cannes.

The sale talks land against a difficult financial backdrop. TF1's first-half results showed group revenue dropping 9.9 percent to 993 million euros, with the media division down 10.8 percent to 869 million euros. Current operating profit fell to 77 million euros. Studio TF1 itself posted an operating loss of 4 million euros, which TF1 attributed to the absence of major Netflix deliveries and a television delivery schedule concentrated later in the year.

What gives the move broader context is TF1's wider strategy. Rodolphe Belmer, who previously ran Canal+ Group, has chaired TF1 since 2023 and repositioned the group around streaming and aggregation — bundling content into platforms rather than relying solely on traditional broadcast. TF1 launched the ad-supported streaming service TF1+ and struck a partnership with Netflix under which, starting in summer 2026, all Netflix members in France will be able to watch TF1's five live channels and on-demand content. Reuters also reported that TF1 is rumoured to be eyeing a renewed bid for rival commercial network M6 — a combination TF1's parent company Bouygues previously explored in merger talks with M6 Groupe in 2021.

For now, the sale process is exploratory. A 400-million-euro production group with a Cannes-competing film slate and thousands of hours of annual output is on the table. Whether a buyer steps forward, and at what price, will shape who owns a significant slice of European television production.