Virgin 17 was a French music video and TV show television network owned by the

MCM Group MCM Groupe (french: link=no, Groupe MCM) is a French television company, owned by Groupe M6, one of the largest media companies in Europe. Television channels Current channels MCM Group manages all the music television channels of M6 Group: ...

, a subsidiary of

Lagardère Active Lagardère Active SAS, also known as Lagardère Media, is the media activities arm of the French Lagardère Group. Its subsidiaries include Lagardère's radio operations, television networks, and book and magazine publishers. In 2018, Arnaud Lag ...

. It was available through

digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...

(DTT). The channel was created for the launch of DTT and modeled after MCM, another channel owned by Lagardère Active. It initially had the working title "iMCM", but before launch it was named after the radio station

Europe 2 Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and was then renamed Virgin 17 on 1 January 2008 (along with the radio station which became Virgin Radio France) From 1 September 2010, Virgin 17 changed its name to Direct Star. This change was intended by the Bolloré Group "for the sake of the uniform group" . The TV channel had been broadcast free-to-air via satellite Hot Bird 8 (13°E) up to 2007-11-21. Now it's Viaccess encrypted and available to TPS subscribers as well as on

Internet television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

. Virgin 17 was replaced on 1 September 2010 by Direct Star.

History

Created by

, a subsidiary of

for

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

on the model of its music channel MCM

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

and

Canalsat Canal+ is a French subscription provider associated to the channel of the same name. It is owned by Vivendi (owner of Canal+) with a hundred percent share. History In 1992, Canalsatellite was launched, the shareholders were Canal+ Group (66 p ...

. It is initially presented under the name of MCM during the summer of 2002 because of the hearing of the MCM Group before the Superior council of audio-visual to obtain a frequency on TNT. The project was then renamed to be presented under the name Europe 2 TV during the second hearing before the CSA on 14 December 2004. This choice aims to capitalize on the fame of the eponymous music radio

, better known to the general public than MCM. Although bearing the same name, its musical editorial line is totally different from its radio format. 19 years after the TV6 experience, the CSA chose a free musical channel and retained the Europe 2 TV project on 19 July 2005 for broadcasting on

. The channel began broadcasting on TNT channel 17 on 17 October 2005 at 5:17 pm. It targets an audience aged 15 to 34. Its specifications require it to devote 75% of its antenna to musical programs (clips, concerts, variety shows) with a few documentaries. Reality TV does not take long to make its appearance with ''

Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

''. Regular meetings are scheduled with themed evenings: "Live" on Mondays, "Kidding" on Tuesdays, "Sexy" on Wednesdays, "Girls" on Thursdays, "SF" on Fridays, "Animated" on Saturdays and "Hit " Sundays. New and older series are also on the air. Ranked last of the TNT channels in terms of audience and wishing to reach a wider audience to compete with

NRJ 12 NRJ 12 is a French private public-state general-interest television channel belonging to the NRJ Group, created on 31 March 2005 on DTT. The channel is available on DTT, cable, satellite and ADSL. History of the channel Originally called NRJ T ...

decided in the summer of 2007 to rename its brands Europe 2 in radio and television by the emblematic brand of the publisher British musical

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

with whom he is already associated in the

Virgin Megastore Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by Richard Branson as a record shop on London's Oxford Street. In 1979 the company opened their first Megastore at the end of Oxford Street and Tottenha ...

stores in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. On 17 July 2007, the

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

gave its agreement to change the name of Europe 2 TV to Virgin 17, but the authorization is subject to several conditions: the chain's logo must not be confused with those of products or services which include in their name the

brand and the ban on advertising for the Virgin group and any references to Virgin products on the air. However, the CSA authorizes the use of the Virgin international logo.. Europe 2 TV changed its name on 1 January 2008 at midnight by ending its programs with the title

Happy Ending A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which almost everything turns out for the best for the main protagonists and their sidekicks, while the main villains/antagonists are dead/defeated. In storylines where the protago ...

Mika Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footbal ...

, followed by a video message from Richard Branson, the boss of the

Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding co ...

, celebrating the birth of Virgin 17. Virgin 17 is broadcast in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

from January 4, 2010 to replace MCM Belgique which disappeared on December 31, 2009 on

VOO VOO (/vuː/) is the commercial name of the Belgian cable company, created by the Economic Interest Group ( EIG) of Brutélé GIE in (Brussels Region and Charleroi Region) and Association Liégeoise d'Electricité (A.L.E.- Télédis), currentl ...

and

Numericable Numericable was a major French cable operator and telecommunications services company. Numericable was originally created in 2007 from the merger between former competitors Noos and NC Numericable networks. Numericable Group SA was founded in Aug ...

. On 18 March 2010, Bolloré group, already owner of

Direct 8 Direct 8 was a national French TV channel, owned by Vincent Bolloré. It was available through digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial televisi ...

, announced that it had entered into exclusive negotiations with

for the purchase of Virgin 17. On 10 June 2010, the two groups signed a final agreement to sell the channel at a price of €70 million, excluding the takeover of staff (20 people) and part of the programs. July 12, 2010, the

gives its agreement for this repurchase.

Yannick Bolloré Yannick Bolloré (born 1 February 1980) is a French businessman, currently the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Havas, the fifth largest global communications company, and chairman of the supervisory board of Vivendi, a global entert ...

, future

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the channel, indicates that it will be called Direct Star and announces its intention to keep the musical format of the channel and even to "strengthen the place of music in the first and second part of the evening" in a "more urban and contemporary" universe. Bolloré group appoints Christophe Sabot (former manager at NRJ and Virgin 17) as director of the channel and the Direct Star

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wi ...

goes live on August 16, 2010. Virgin 17 stopped broadcasting on 30 August 2010 at around 11:59 p.mm with highlights from the channel.

References

External links

* {{French television stations MCM Group Defunct French television channels Television channels and stations established in 2002 Television channels and stations established in 2005 Television channels and stations established in 2008 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2010 2002 establishments in France 2005 establishments in France 2008 establishments in France 2010 disestablishments in France French-language television stations