"I want to sign up for the long term at BFMTV": Julien Arnaud returns in 2025 with Le Grand Direct

It was from the Breton coast, where he was finally taking a vacation, that Julien Arnaud took the time to approach his 2025 return to school, which promises to be busy. A figure of the TF1 group for more than 27 years, the journalist had chosen to cut the cord last summer to try his hand at public service, presenting Télématin on France 2 in a duo with Flavie Flament . "I wanted to challenge myself, to do news but also the magazine because people knew less about me," Julien Arnaud rewinds. I wanted to see how my body would react physically to getting up at 3 a.m. too, I wanted to experience this morning atmosphere, this exciting intellectual exercise of being the first to discover and cover the news, and contrary to unfounded rumors, it was a mutual pleasure to work with Flavie Flament."

Alongside Télématin , Julien Arnaud is also discovering the 8pm news, which he presents as a joker, a role already held on TF1. "There are few of us who have had the chance to present the 8pm news on TF1 and France 2, it's enriching to discover two ways of working," he says. After cutting the cord with TF1 in the summer of 2024, his arrival on BFMTV, with two hours of live broadcasts between 10am and 12pm since August 25, was done with total serenity.

The key role of Fabien Namias

It must be said that the man doesn't just arrive from anywhere, since Fabien Namias, general director of BFMTV since October 2024, made his debut at LCI at the same time as Julien Arnaud. "Having confidence in your leaders is a cardinal value," Arnaud explains. "I practically started with him at LCI, we were two rookies and he contacted me last February to talk, but at the time, I hadn't had the idea of ​​leaving France 2. And then in June, we met again, things had changed a little and there was a stronger mutual desire and we began to build a common horizon, everything came together well and it went very quickly." This is how Julien Arnaud's Le Grand Direct was sketched out. The DNA of the segment? "A news talk show with lots of guests," explains Julien Arnaud. "We'll be a continuation of the morning show, but with more time, we'll make room for stories with lots of testimonies and expertise from specialists recognized by the public. I want people to leave this slot having learned things, we'll be factual with an editorialized perspective to assert our point of view while being able to adapt to current events." The famous "BFM reflex" that the channel's new executive wants to further strengthen. Fond of politics, Julien Arnaud should also work during political evenings since the upcoming deadlines are plentiful: municipal elections in 2026 and the presidential elections the following year.

Register for the long term

Under the CMA CGM and Rodolphe Saadé umbrella since 2024, BFMTV is in the hands of a solid shareholder who intends to build a substantial news group. "We want to plan for the long term; there's something exciting about being at the beginning of an adventure," Arnaud explains. "Obviously, there's a kind of pressure when someone comes looking for you; you have to be up to the task, but I have the experience, and my time at France 2 has helped me grow. I've realized the expertise I've acquired, and I feel more solidly grounded. I can't wait to share this with the BFMTV editorial team, which is agile and can rely on a lot of resources. It's up to us to move the news forward differently, with an intellectual effort to approach subjects from a new angle, to break out of comfort zones."

Leaving his comfort zone has almost become routine for someone who could have spent his entire career at TF1, where he felt fulfilled, before trying his luck at France 2 in 2024. "I needed something new, excitement, to challenge myself to progress, and as a result, I had a calm summer in 2024, which was a new beginning. Once you've freed yourself once, you live better the following times, you have more confidence in what comes after. I want to sign up for the long term at BFMTV because the challenge of a daily show is exciting, people now have to identify with this new channel and forge this path, but I like this excitement, this intellectual questioning that newness imposes," he concludes before enjoying the last moments of calm before the start of the school year.

, Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., on BFMTV.