French regional press group Sipa Ouest-France has launched Novo19, its first all-genre channel on the national FTA DTT network as well as on all telco and OTT platforms (Bouygues, Orange, SFR, Free, Molotov).Broadcast on channel 19, following regulator Arcom’s rejigging of the DTT offering caused by the departure of NRj12 and C8, the new service is based in Rennes, Britanny (western France) and aims to connect more closely to the French people compared with other national channels based in Paris and often considered as far removed from the nation’s preoccupations.Launching initially with two original productions, including a daily 15-minute news edition established from Monday to Friday and a 75-minute talk show coproduced by Brut. and france.tv studio, Novo19 will also offer a library of reruns, films, dramas, documentaries specifically. Three entertainment formats, including a reboot of BBC Cash in the Attic and Belgian Radio Gaga are in the pipeline for 2026.With a €50 million annual budget, the channel will invest €30 million in content and is aiming to reach a 2 per cent audience share in the 25-49 demographic within three years, when it is set to break even.As the main and majority shareholder, Sipa Ouest-France says it will additionally assume a €60 million deficit over the next three years to achieve its goals: growing in the digital environment, scaling up and multiplying its video revenues tenfold.With almost 630,000 newspapers sold daily and more 700 in-house journalists, its key title Ouest France attracts 200 million monthly visits to its website. To meet this objective, Novo19 OTT service Novo+, which will offer replay and additional content, is to be integrated to Ouest-France website.Novo 19 advertising sales are handled by the TF1 ad agency.
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