In 1985, he presented the daily talk-show C'est encore mieux l'après-midi on the state-owned television channel Antenne 2.

In 1987, he went to work for the newly privatized channel TF1 : his first show, Panique sur le 16, was not a success, but he soon found his niche with the late-night weekly talk-show Ciel mon mardi !, a program which could be compared to Jerry Springer productions in United States.

Dechavanne's energetic public persona and the frequent heated arguments between his guests proved popular among audiences, despite attracting criticism from several French media outlets.

However, he was less successful with the prime-time show Tout le toutim, which was stopped after four weeks for lack of sufficient audience shares.

In 1997, he went back to state-owned television channels and presented Télé Qua Non and Du fer dans les épinards on France 2.