France TV Distribution is celebrating a major win — 'Curious by Nature' brings the feel-good procedural format to international audiences with A-list talent Florence Pernel at the helm, proving French content can compete globally.
Insiders know this isn't just any French export — the show's unconventional release schedule of only two episodes per year signals a premium production model, and with ratings slipping from 24.1% to 18.1%, France Télévisions needs those international buyers badly.
Walter Presents/Global Series Network closed U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland deals. The series premiered December 2023 with 4.5 million viewers (24.1% share), dropping to 18.1% by its fourth episode. Tele-Loisirs gave it four out of four stars.
Florence Pernel's return to television is a calculated coup for France Télévisions — but with viewership on the decline, landing these four major English-speaking territories could be the lifeline this procedural desperately needs.
Florence Pernel — the actress who starred alongside Juliette Binoche in Krzysztof Kieślowski's iconic Three Colors: Blue — is heading up a French procedural that's now going global in a major way. France TV Distribution has locked down deals with Walter Presents and Global Series Network for the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Ireland on "Curious by Nature" (Enquête parallèle), marking one of the most significant French TV exports in recent memory.
The series, which originally aired on France 3, follows Fred — a former war correspondent turned local TV journalist portrayed by Pernel — who stumbles onto a murder case in rural France and refuses to let it go. The show distinguishes itself as what Variety calls a "singular feel-good procedural," with Pernel's tenacious performance earning praise from critics. Tele-Loisirs awarded the series four stars out of four, calling her work "tenacious." That's not faint praise — that's a full-throated endorsement from one of France's toughest entertainment critics.
But here's where the tea gets interesting. While the distribution win is being celebrated as a victory, the viewership trajectory tells a different story. The December 2023 premiere pulled in a staggering 4.5 million viewers with a 24.1% market share — top of its slot, no question. But the subsequent episodes saw shares drop to 21.3%, then 19.1%, and finally 18.1%. That's a decline of six percentage points across four episodes, and for a public broadcaster like France Télévisions, that's the kind of slide that gets executives nervous.
The production model is also notably unusual — only two episodes being shot each year, with the first four episodes released across December 2023 and January 2025 before two more dropped this past January. That's a glacial pace in the streaming era, even for prestige television. NBCUniversal also picked up the series for Calle 13 in Spain and 13 Ulica in Poland, with additional deals from Basque Country pubcaster EiTB, Aragon Swisscom's Blue, and TV3 Group Latvia. With crime and thrillers still dominating the international TV market, "Curious by Nature" enters a crowded playing field — but with Pernel's star power and that Tele-Loisirs seal of approval, France Télévisions just bought itself some serious breathing room.
