Mediawan Thematics

Mediawan Thematics is French media company owned by Mediawan. The company have sixteen television channels and satellite operator.

History[]

AB Productions is originally a record and performance production company. It was created by Jean-Luc Azoulay and Claude Berda in 1977 with 25,000 francs. In 1978, the meeting with Dorothée and the specialization in the discs intended for children, allows them to make a fortune. In 1980, Groupe AB produced for Antenne 2 (now France 2) his first TV program, which is the TV adaptation of a musical of the singer: Dorothée au pays des Chansons.

In 1981, Groupe AB produced the program Discopuce as part of Récré A2. The group also produces a first-night show for Christmas 1983 titled Dorothée: Le Show, still on Antenne 2 (now France 2).

Dorothée became the company's main financial engine by selling 4,000,000 records between 1981 and 1984, including Rox et Rouky, Hou la Menteuse and Les Schtroumphs. She will sell, during her career, 17,000,000 records.

AB Productions then launches the singer Emmanuelle Mottaz, successfully, since the single Premier Baiser, released in 1986 will run to 850,000 copies and will rank second in the Top 50.

In 1987, with a certain opportunism, Jean-Luc Azoulay tries to take advantage of the new notoriety of Vanessa Paradis, who is known with his song Joe le Taxi, to bring out cartons, his very first attempt in song at the age of 10 years: La Magie des Surprises parties produced by AB Disques. However, the family of the young singer is opposed and AB Productions will not market the title. Some copies of the press will however be distributed to radio stations for promotion.

In September 1987, it was the birth of the Club Dorothée on TF1, showcase show that will make AB a major company in the French audiovisual landscape. Club Dorothée's market share is considerable (up to 65%) and allows the company to make substantial profits. In 1993, AB declared a turnover of 1 billion francs and became the leading French and European producer, in volume of productions. This show remained cult more than twenty-five years after its creation, as evidenced by the success of the special evening dedicated to it by D8 (now C8) in December 2014, with more than a million viewers.

Alongside the Club Dorothée, AB produces other programs: Jacky Show, Terre, Attention, Danger, Club Sciences, Des Millions de Copains and six prime time for Dorothée: Dorothée Show in 1987, Le Cadeau de Noël in 1991, Le Cadeau de la Rentrée in 1992 and Dorothée Rock'n'roll Show in 1993 and 1994.

From 1991, it is the intensive production of sitcoms: Salut les Musclés, Premiers Baisers, Le Miel et les Abeilles, Les Filles d'à Côté, L'École des Passions, Studio des Artistes, but especially Hélène et les Garçons in 1992 that will beat all records. 25 sitcoms constituting 2,000 episodes will be produced with, overall, a great success. In 1991, AB also produced its first series for a channel other than TF1: Case de Divorce, but the bankruptcy filing put an end to the adventure.

In 1991, AB created the music label AB Disques and edited his own songs for Dorothée, Les Musclés, Christophe Rippert, Emmanuelle Mottaz, Anthony Dupray, Manuela Lopez... In all more than 1000 songs. The company culminates with the success of the singer Hélène Rollès who became, between 1992 and 1995, a real social phenomenon, selling 4 000 000 discs and squatting the covers of magazines.

AB is also associated with Camus Coullier shows and produces the concerts of his "house" singers, including the Bercy de Dorothée.

In 1995, AB produced its first sitcom for a channel other than TF1: Un Homme à Domicile for France 2, but it's a failure. In 1996, it is the production of Extra Zigda for M6 but which does not meet the success either.

In 1996, AB bought Hamster Productions, the company of Pierre Grimblat (Navarro, L'Instit...) and thus adds a little more its catalog which becomes very important.

That is why in 1995, AB Productions decided to become a broadcaster and created its first television channel: AB Channel 1. AB launched its satellite channel of 18 channels, AB Sat, in December 1996 via the Eutelsat satellite. This is a failure in direct marketing, but the two bosses do not give up. They succeed in the following years to broadcast their channels on the competing Canalsat and TPS packages. AB becomes a large audiovisual group.

But, by launching its own satellite bouquet, AB entered the industrial war with TF1 (which is a shareholder of TPS) and the contracts with TF1 are revised downwards. When Club Dorothée (showcase show for AB) stops in August 1997, it is the end of a ten-year collaboration with TF1 and it is the beginning of a dark period for AB. After hiring up to 1,300 people, the company has to make a huge social commitment and only has 300 people.

In March 1998, AB bought the channel RTL 9 for 65 million francs, which is a master stroke because the channel is No. 1 cable and satellite.

In 1999, Jean-Luc Azoulay and Claude Berda decide to separate professionally and AB Productions disappears and splits into two companies:

JLA Holding, managed by Jean-Luc Azoulay, who buys the production rights in AB.
AB Groupe, managed by Claude Berda, which focuses on television channel management and catalog management.

Today, AB Groupe is the leading French publisher of thematic channels and holds the largest catalog of programs in Europe.

On March 31, 2017, AB Groupe became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mediawan 7 for € 280 million.

On 11th October 2018, AB Groupe is renamed Mediawan Thematics