[matthieu1221]

A shame the bile that CNEWS pumps out has put them in second place.  Franceinfo viewers may be small, but they know what to expect from the channel.

Ukraine coverage clearly has helped LCI's share.  What I will say is that Les Matins LCI is some respite from the constant war coverage, I watched some of the content which is lighter in nature, however on Sunday I watched the midday show and it was two hours of Ukraine debate mixed with some mention of the coup in Niger.

CNEWS was no doubt boosted by the aftermath of the uprising against police brutality in early July with corresponding right-wing interest in coverage which reinforces their biases.

LCI has indeed been heavily covering Niger in the past few days, widening it to cover Prigozhin's activities in Africa and sometimes linking it to the war in Ukraine. Coverage has been excellent, with Darius covering for the 22h/00h weekday slot too now that he's back from his (very brief) vacation. People used to say that there was no demand for international news in France but LCI proves otherwise, the Niger coverage was very much not dumbed down for a domestic audience. There's also been coverage about the protests in Israel as of late. The typical formula is when there is a non-Ukraine/Russia international story of note, the first 15-30 minutes of the hour will be dedicated to it before reverting back to Ukraine-related stories. Niger having very much been the exception due to French interests in the country hence the extensive coverage.

What I also like with the summer formula of the channel is that the Carte Blanche segment in 24h (usually presented with dedicated editorialists like Robert Menard, Aphatie -- who'll be replaced by Ruth Elkrief) are done by the guests who are there for the rest of the program. As a result, they tend to pick out a wider array of international stories of note that they've found interesting than usual (the Mali/military email mix-up, footballers ending up in Saudi Arabia, China's FM disappearing for example).