Behind the scenes of the program "Téléshopping", in the 107 television studios of Plaine-Saint-Denis, is like a big mess.
But a large, well-organized bazaar where the star “guests” stacked on top of each other waited before their appearance: fitness equipment, kitchen utensils and household accessories with enigmatic names, but evocative for insiders, such as Power Air Fryer (a multifunction oven), the Autoclean Mop (a mop) or the Dream Care (mattress toppers and pillows).
This Saturday morning, the TF1 team is filming a special “I wish” with “exceptional” discounts to celebrate the new year and the 34th season of this irreducible program.
Imported from the United States in 1987 by Pierre Bellemare, it is still resisting the new masters of online sales, such as the American Amazon or the Chinese Alibaba.
“We have to do this in France.
I'm sending you a tape "
The history of teleshopping in France began by chance of a meeting.
Pierre Bellemare is on a plane for Nice.
Sits next to him a Franco-American living in Chicago, on a business trip.
The discussion begins and the latter tells him about a company that has just gone public on the other side of the Atlantic, the Home Shopping Network.
" You do not know?
It's extraordinary!
They do teleshopping, this has to be done in France.
I'll send you a tape.
The idea is gaining ground.
A year later, in September 1986, Pierre Bellemare, a prolific television man and often a pioneer, co-inventor, among others, of the first game show, the "Télé Match", of "The Invisible Camera" or of the first reality television show, "In the name of love", is called to take care of the morning section on the front page.
At the time, only the second channel broadcasts in the morning, but TF1, on the verge of being privatized, will also open the antenna earlier.
The producer and host pushes logic to the extreme by creating on the channel, which has become commercial, a program that is itself commercial, the file of which he has had time to study: teleshopping.
In October 1987, "The Magazine of the object" was inaugurated, soon renamed "Téléshopping", which it presented with Maryse Corson for seven years.
Impeccable suit and striped tie for him, printed blouse with epaulets for her: installed in armchairs with improbable upholstery today, the duo, very considerate, articulating each syllable with care, is revolutionizing, the air of nothing, our way of consuming.
The know-how of cathodic hawkers
For the first time in France, innovative and unusual objects are offered to the famous housewife under 50, who is directly called from her television without having to move.
The Federal Consumers Union - What to choose screams at disguised advertising.
But the success is there and the audience validates the concept.
The exclusive articles are presented as essential to our daily lives.
Easily caricatured, but very effective, this cathodic show requires a lot of know-how, like the hawkers in the markets and the big fairs, like that of Paris, where inventors of all kinds subjugate visitors with more or less finds. less wacky or unnecessary.
Today, Alexandre Devoise is, with Marie-Ange Nardi, at the helm of the show.
Delphine Goldsztejn
At the helm, there are now Marie-Ange Nardi and Alexandre Devoise.
With them, the course has evolved in its form, but the fundamentals have remained the same.
The age of viewers has not changed - 50 on average - except that today's 50s are much more demanding than those of thirty years ago.
The confinement also revealed a new male clientele, young and urban.
Fitness articles, for example, have been very successful.
On stage number 4, shared between a kitchen area and its worktop, a sofa and a library for the living area, the two animators put their energy into it, smile tirelessly and play good humor by performing tasks that are rarely exciting. , like ironing.
This is of course all the magic of the presentation.
“We have to renew ourselves, show imagination,” confides Marie-Ange Nardi, who has presented the program on this set for thirteen years.
There is an important part of improvisation on a very structured background, like the price or the characteristics of the article.
»Having already presented 20 vacuum cleaners, how do you make the twenty-first desirable?
Only the (right) product matters
The success and sustainability of the show are based on three essential pillars: proximity, demonstration and the right product.
Broadcast every day of the week from 8:30 am to 9:20 am, and on Saturdays from 8:10 am to 10:35 am, "Téléshopping" accompanies people at home, when they wake up, helping them to solve their daily problems: keeping the line, saving space at home… Real life in all its simplicity, presented with connivance and confidence by animators who have become members of the family.
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"They live what they present", explains Rémy, loyal customer and television viewer since the beginnings, former butler at the Moulin-Rouge, now retired.
He no longer counts the utensils he bought via teleshopping - at least thirty, and often in several copies, for Paris and his country house.
“I like the TV show very much.
They try everything in front of people.
At least I see what I'm buying.
»Among his favorites, the Minci Cook (a blender for making soups), an electric screwdriver, pillows, a paint gun, a knife sharpener, a cleaning cream.
“No purchase is unnecessary, I use them all.
"
All that matters is the product, and the right one.
According to Jérôme Dillard, director of “Téléshopping” from 2010 to 2016, which he bought from TF1 in 2019, it must be original, innovative and lend itself to visual presentation.
The team unearthed many of them, before they were then copied.
Examples abound.
The glides slipped under the furniture to move them easily were a hit in the time of Pierre Bellemare, before being used in all the major DIY stores.
Ditto for microfiber or the first steamers, presented exclusively here.
Now essential, the insect barrier, the Eclair Freedom Plus, vacuum storage covers, memory foam pillows or the Revolution Tarte are among the best-selling products.
There are also those that did not work, such as a solar barbecue - too expensive and impractical - or an electronic fork to learn not to eat too quickly.
Each year, only 20% of new articles hit the mark, while the rest are quickly taken off the air.
More than 4000 parcels delivered every day
Behind the scenes, the logistics are well oiled.
Four product managers share the search for the rare pearl, travel around the world, negotiate and test before presenting their choices to the 60 employees at the head office.
A total of 200 objects are selected each year.
A first third comes directly from suppliers, the second is discovered in salons and the last is flushed out "nose to the wind", by searching on the Internet or in magazines.
Half of the products presented are retained after a collegial vote of the dozen people present, from management, production and marketing.
Then the members of the film crew take them in hand, in order to think about the way in which they will be presented on the air, in a way that is at the same time alive, playful and unstoppable.
To prove its strength, this fabric garden hose will be tied to a caravan to tow it, or these screws and nuts will undergo fruitless attempts to unscrew to show the resistance of a stove.
One and a half million packages are sent per year from the storage warehouse in Melun, in Seine-et-Marne, or more than 4,000 per day in all the cities of France.
A flourishing market, which Jérôme Dillard discovered twenty years ago.
Thinking of staying there only two years before resuming a “more serious” activity, he was seduced by this mixture of creativity and economic rigor.
At dinners in town, his job and the show make people smile, but before the end of the evening, there will always be two or three guests to ask him for a product they have seen on the air.