M6’s YouTube network: solid footprint, uneven focus
19 channels, 2.5M subs, nearly 1B views. But the real audience sits with only a few of them. Here’s what works and what’s idle.
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M6 Group’s YouTube presence looks broad on paper (with 19 official YouTube channels studied in today’s piece) spanning kids, news, music and entertainment but activity tells a different story.
In this edition, we’ll look at where M6’s channels stand today, how their performance splits between active and dormant brands, what the network could do next and we’ll have look at a concrete example of what it means for broadcasters to start from scratch on YouTube in 2025.
Today at a glance:
The M6 portfolio
What works/What to fix
Playing catch up on YouTube
The IP vs Master brand dilemma
Disclaimer: All figures are public: subscriber count, total views and number of uploads. What matters most (CTR, retention, AVD, impressions, traffic sources) is locked behind YouTube Studio. So this analysis measures reach and volume, not watch-time depth or monetisation quality. For more details, read my previous piece.
The M6 portfolio
19 channels
2.49M subscribers
935M views
17,746 videos uploaded
Across several 7 distinct verticals:
🎬 Entertainment / Reality / Shows: M6 MediaBank, W9, M6+, Kaamelott, L’Amour est dans le pré, La France a un incroyable talent
📰 News: M6 Info
🎵 Music: M6 Music, M6 CLIPS, Cover Garden
👶 Kids: Gulli, TiJi, Canal J
🚗 Motors / Sports: Turbo
🎥 Movies & Trailers: M6 Video (SND)
🏠 Others (Lifestyle / Commerce / Education): M6 Boutique, 6ter, M6 Campus
For reference, the 17 YouTube channels operated by TF1 (studied in my recent TF1 piece) generated:
12.5M subscribers
6.7B views
35,096 videos
Out of the 19 channels studied, only 4 are IP led channels (no Top Chef, Le meilleur pâtissier and other top performers), the rest of the channels bear the name of a TV channel or speak to the genre they cater to.
Their Top 5 channels are: