INTERVIEW – New official broadcaster of the Betclic Elite, the paying platform Skweek intends to systemically promote the championship. Cyril Méjane, Oleg Petrov and Lilian Baudard Guillot detail their project.
Can French basketball (finally) sleep soundly? Two weeks ago, the thorny issue of the next Betclic Elite broadcaster, (often) arousing criticism from the French public for its lack of readability, came to an end. The Betclic Elite will be broadcast on the Skweek platform and on The L’Équipe channel until 2030, from the start of the 2023 school year.
With the acquisition of the French championship, Skweek wants to be a player in the development of basketball in France. “We believe that basketball, in France, must seek the place it deserves among other sports», justifies Oleg Petrov, general manager of the platform. “There is no or very little readability of the Betclic Elite. There is not this effervescence that we find for Ligue 1, for example“Explains the former vice-president of the AS Monaco football club. The latter goes on to explain that French basketball “missing a lot of things».
And to change things in the right direction, Cyril Méjane, editorial manager of the platform plays the card… of continuity. “For the Betclic Elite, we will continue to do what we did in the European cups.“Méjane advances:”We will also have content with additional filming in order to tell stories, we will go to clubs, with players, staff and managers for the purpose of promoting French basketball.In addition to all this new content, a new website (in addition to the already existing platform) will be launched at the start of the school year. Add this, a “big show». «There will be a real evolution in the proposal of editorial content“says Cyril Méjane who mainly hears”maintain the quality of what has been done».
“We imagined a match broadcast grid never seen before”
The challenge remains daunting. After the departure of the nugget Victor Wembanyama from the Metropolitans 92 to the NBA, the Betclic Elite lost the biggest media asset in its history. Audiences, up 20% overall over the season (between the free league platform “LNB TV” and France 3 Regions, beIN Sports having not revealed its figures), are not a source of concern for Skweek: “You have to expect the bestsummarizes Lilian Baudard Guillot, marketing manager of the Monegasque media. “We take LNB TV as a comparison: they had between 200,000 and 250,000 free users. We can say to ourselves that there is this windfall to be sought. The whole goal is to offer them an ultra-interesting offer with the LNB and the Euroleague“, he explains, aware of the difficulty of charging for a subscription to a (new) platform.
The arguments to attract fans to the platform are multiple. First, the matches will be divided into “silver label” and “bronze label”. Per day, there will be 3 “silver label” matches (5 cameras and 2 commentators), and 6 “bronze label” matches (3 cameras, 1 commentator). And who says several cameras says… the end of the famous “keemotion”, the automatic camera of LNB TV, which has become the standard bearer for the poor visibility of French basketball. “This has been our will from the start“, assures Cyril Méjane. A strong message sent to the clubs who were all delighted with the production changes, according to the editorial director.
With this new device, a new grid will change the habits of the French public. “We imagined a match broadcast grid which has never been done for the French championship and which will make it possible to highlight all the matches and all the clubs.“, adds Cyril Méjane. Exit the Friday evening match, the first match of the day will start on Saturday at 4 p.m. Then, a multiplex of 4 matches will follow from 6:30 p.m. and Saturday will end with a match at 9 p.m. Sunday afternoon: two matches, one at 2.30 p.m., the other at 4.30 p.m. to end the day on the weekend schedule at 7 p.m.
Social networks, the cornerstone of the platform
With all these novelties, Skweek changes dimension while Oleg Petrov describes the latter as a real “ecosystem“. An ecosystem that intendspropose, develop and organize a show and a good storytelling in French basketballaccording to the general manager.
Social networks will play a central role in the operation to seduce the French public, in the broad sense. “Skweek is not only the platform for matches“Summarizes Oleg Petrov before detailing:”it is the platform that should ideally include all “groups” of people: those who love basketball, those who follow matches, young people who follow fashion, basketball culture, urban culture and music and all the interest that develops around the world of European and American basketball.»
Lilian Baudard Guillot resumes: “On the basketball culture side, we have a desire to conquer a younger target through content that fits into the basketball culture, which is very present in France. For example: sneakers, clothes, music, gaming…“And to add:”Whoever, in the street, wears his LeBron James or Michael Jordan jersey, you have to go get him. He won’t necessarily watch Betclic Élite matches, but he will watch the content we offer on our media.»
In less than two months, the Betclic Elite will resume its rights. Cholet and Roanne will open the ball for the first match of the 2023/2024 season, but also (and above all), the first of the Skweek era.
