The end of an era: on air for 37 years, "Questions pour un champion" will no longer be broadcast on weekdays.

The show will no longer be broadcast daily at the start of the school year... The France 3 game show "Questions pour un champion," created in 1988, will no longer be broadcast daily during the week next season, but only on weekends, we learned on Saturday from a source inside the show.

Currently, "Questions for a Champion" is scheduled from Monday to Sunday at 6:10 p.m.

This change was revealed on Saturday morning by Europe 1 media journalist Thomas Isle on the social network X.

A format “too expensive” for FTV?

According to the newspaper Le Parisien/Aujourd'hui en France , this choice is "linked to the high cost of the program for the channel in a context of significant savings" for the public group France Télévisions.

An adaptation of the British game show "Going for Gold," "Questions pour un champion" was created in France in 1988. Contestants must answer general knowledge questions (often challenging) in several rounds, and the winner returns the next day.

The show was presented for over 27 years by the iconic Julien Lepers, who was succeeded by Samuel Étienne in early 2016.

Julien Lepers had contested his dismissal in court, but the industrial tribunal and then the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that it was not abusive.

1.1 million viewers

Over the years, the show has made its mark on French popular culture, thanks in part to the whimsical personality of Julien Lepers. Michel Houellebecq, one of the most influential French novelists in the world, has cited it several times in his novels.

"You generally get the impression from the show that people are happy, and you yourself feel happier and better," he had the (depressed) narrator of "Platform" (2001) say.

In 2022, France Télévisions decided to stop programming another of its iconic game shows, "Des chiffres et des lettres," created in 1972, during the week. After two seasons where it was only broadcast on weekends, it was finally discontinued at the start of the 2024 school year.

"I don't know what the future holds for 'Questions pour un champion'. But if the game is threatened, we won't be able to use the ratings argument," Samuel Étienne said on the social network X on Saturday.

In recent days, the show has been watched by some 1.1 million viewers , according to its producer, Fremantle.