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France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public
television broadcaster A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...
. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and
France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...
(formerly France Régions 3), later joined by the legally independent channels France 4 (formerly Festival), France 5 (formerly La Cinquième) and France Info. France Télévisions is currently funded by the French Treasury and the revenue from commercial advertising. The new law on public broadcasting will phase out commercial advertising on the public television channels (at first in the evening, then gradually throughout the day). France Télévisions is a supporter of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) initiative that is promoting and establishing an open European standard for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface, and has selected HbbTV for its interactive news, sports and weather service, and plans to add catch-up TV and social media sharing capability.


History

From 1964 to 1975, French radio and television was monopolized through an organization known as the
Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française The (; ORTF; , or French Radio and Television Broadcasting Office) was the national agency charged, between 1964 and 1975, with providing public radio and television in France. All programming, especially news broadcasts, were under strict cont ...
. In an effort to stimulate competition, the organization was split in 1975 so that France's three television channels—
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
, Antenne 2, and FR3, would still be owned by the French government, but be operated independently from each other. However, the sale of TF1 to
Bouygues Bouygues S.A. () is a French engineering group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on the Euronext, Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip (stock market), blue chip in the ...
in 1987 and increased competition from other new private broadcasters (such as Canal+ and
La Cinq La Cinq (, ) was a French free-to-air television channel. Created by politician Jérôme Seydoux and Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, it existed from 1986 to 1992. The contract for France's fifth terrestrial network, which was suppos ...
, the latter having been replaced by public channel La Cinquième after it ceased transmissions in April 1992) led to a decline in viewership for the two remaining public channels, which lost 30% of their market share between 1987 and 1989.Rigourd, Serge. "France", in ''Western Broadcasting at the Dawn of the 21st Century'', pp. 255, 270. Eds. Haenens, Leen; Saeys, Frieda. Walter de Gruyter, 2001. The channels were however saved when a single director-general was appointed to manage both Antenne 2 and FR3, becoming part of a joint entity known as France Télévision. They were renamed in 1992 as France 2 and France 3, respectively. In August 2000, France Télévisions S.A. was formed as a holding company for France's public television channels, absorbing control of France 2, France 3, and La Cinquième (later renamed France 5). In 2004,
Réseau France Outre-mer The term réseau derives from a French word meaning "network". It may mean: *a network of fine lines on a glass plate, used in photographic telescopes to make a corresponding network on photographs of the stars: see Réseau plate *a system of weat ...
was absorbed by France Télévisions. Beginning in 2008, the
President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...
took the duty of naming the presidents for the French public broadcasters; they were previously nominated by the
Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel The (, ), abbreviated CSA, was a French institution created in 1989 whose role was to regulate the various electronic media in France, such as radio and television. The creation of the (High Authority for Audiovisual Communication) was a measure ...
. In 2013, under Francois Hollande, the previously adopted law was modified to return the power to nominate the presidents or French public broadcasters to the
Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel The (, ), abbreviated CSA, was a French institution created in 1989 whose role was to regulate the various electronic media in France, such as radio and television. The creation of the (High Authority for Audiovisual Communication) was a measure ...
.


Services


National

* La Première – A network of radio and television stations operating in
French overseas departments and territories Overseas France (, also ) consists of 13 French territories outside Europe, mostly the remnants of the French colonial empire that remained a part of the French state under various statuses after decolonisation. Most are part of the Europea ...
around the world (formerly known as RFO - Réseau France Outre-mer, Outre-mer 1ère). * France 2 – The company's flagship channel with the second largest viewing audience. *
France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...
– The company's secondary channel, consisting of a network of regional stations. * France 4 – Previously named "Festival" (1996–2005), and specializing in theatre, opera and French-language and other European originated drama, it is now a channel containing children's programmes, sports, arts, music and theatre. The two programming blocks are: ** Okoo (5:00–21:00) – A children and junior channel. The brand started from 9 December 2019. ** A cultural block on France 4 (21:00–5:00) — Dedicated to cultural programming. It replaced Culturebox on the 6th of June 2025 when France 4's DTT placement changed from the 14th to the 4th network. * France 5 – Focuses on societal issues (health, education, politics etc.) with talk-shows and culture with documentary films. * France Info – Non-stop news channel, with support from
Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...
, France Médias Monde and Institut national de l'audiovisuel. It simulcasts
France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb ...
at night.


Thematic

France Télévisions took an interest in a number of thematic cable/satellite channels in France: France Télévisions holds 100% of France Télémusique SAS. The thematic channel Planète Juniors (formerly ''Ma Planète'') ceased operations in March 2009, and Planète+ Thalassa closed on 31 December 2015.


France.tv

France.tv is France Télévisions'
streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
platform. Launched in 2010 as the catch-up service Pluzz, it offers live feeds of the France Télévisions channels, as well as on-demand streaming of their programmes, and acquired programmes from other broadcasters (such as a 2019 agreement with Canadian broadcaster
Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (stylized as ICI Radio-Canada Télé, and sometimes abbreviated as Ici Télé) is a Television in Canada, Canadian Canadian French, French-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by the Can ...
). The service was relaunched in 2017 under the France.tv branding, as part of an effort to promote it as the main digital platform of France Télévisions.


International

France Télévisions holds 45% of the Arte France holding company together with the French state (25%),
Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...
(15%) and INA (15%). ''Arte France'' and ''Arte Deutschland'' form the
Arte Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...
Consortium that manages the
bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...
French- German channel (Arte shared its analogue channel with France 5, but both channels have separate full-time services on cable, satellite and digital broadcasts). France Télévisions also controls the new R1 digital multiplex that currently hosts France 2, France 3, France 5, Arte and La Chaîne parlementaire. France 4 was originally on the R1 multiplex but was moved to R2 to allow space for regional channels on R1.


Subsidiaries

* France.tv Publicité – Advertising department of the group. * France.tv Distribution – Edition and commercial distribution of the programs of the group's channels on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD. * France.tv Studio – Production company composed of three labels: ** France.tv Access – Responsible for subtitling for deaf and hard of hearing of all the programs of the channels of the group (quality charter recognized by AFNOR). ** France Doublage – Responsible for dubbing, audio description and subtitling of multilingual programs. ** Histodio - Creation of sound works. * France 2 Cinéma and France 3 Cinéma – Films production and support for French cinema.


Slogans

* 7 September 1992 to May 2001: « Ça fait du bien quand ça s'allume », « Aucune hésitation, c'est France Télévision » / In English : "It does you good when it lights up", "No hesitation, it's France Television" * May 2001 to September 2006: « Donnons de l’imagination à nos images » / In English : "Let's give imagination to our images" * September 2006 to August 2008: « Vous avez tous les choix » / In English: "You have all the choices" * August 2008 to September 2011: « Le choix de la différence » / In English: "The choice of difference" * September 2011 to September 2012: « Créer pour partager » / In English: "Create to share" * September 2012 to 2018: « Bien différents, bien ensemble » / In English: "Very different, well together" * Since 2018: « Plus rien ne se fera sans vous » / In English: "Nothing more will happen without you"


Logo gallery

File:France Télévisons logo 1992.png, France Télévision's first logo from 1992 to 2000 File:Logo von France Télévisions.png, France Télévisions' third logo from 2002 to 2008 File:France Télévisions (ab 2008).svg, France Télévisions' fourth logo from 2008 to 2011 File:France télévisions 2012 logo.svg, France Télévisions' sixth logo from 2012 to 2018


See also

*
Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...
* Television in France


Notes


References


External links


Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:France Televisions Publicly funded broadcasters Government-owned companies of France European Broadcasting Union members French-language television networks Television networks in France 1992 establishments in France Television channels and stations established in 1992