''Soir 3'' (literally Evening 3) was the late-night

newscast News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or telev ...

of the French

public television Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

network

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of regional television services provi ...

. The program, FR3's first national news bulletin, was launched in 1978 by its then head of news

Jean-Marie Cavada Jean-Marie Cavada (born 24 February 1940 in Épinal, Vosges) is a French politician and former journalist and media executive who last served as a Member of the European Parliament for Ile de France from 2004 until 2019. Since 3 December 2011 he ...

. The bulletin was shown at 10:30 pm for 60 minutes from Monday to Thursday, and was presented by Louis Laforge and Patricia Loison. The weekend editions, simply known as Soir 3 was broadcast at various times on Fridays and at weekends, when the regular anchor was

Francis Letellier Francis Letellier (born 19 December 1964) is a French journalist who works on France 3. Early life Letellier was born in Vire in Calvados. Letellier spent his childhood in Pont-Farcy Pont-Farcy () is a former commune in the Manche ...

. The newscast was axed in a cost-cutting move in 2019 with a single-anchor replacement, "Le 23h", broadcast instead on the

Franceinfo France Info (; stylized as franceinfo:) is a French domestic rolling news channel which started broadcasting on 31 August 2016 at 6:00 p.m. on the Web. TV broadcasting began on 1 September 2016 at 8:00 p.m. on most TV operators ( Bou ...

channel.

Format

Weekdays

For most of the year the weekday editions of ''Soir 3'' were broadcast at 10:30 pm from the set of the live cultural

discussion Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...

show '' Ce soir (ou jamais!)'', which were broadcast immediately afterwards. During certain periods, such as over the

summer break Summer vacation or summer break is a school break in summer between school years and the break in the school academic year. Students are off anywhere between three weeks to three months. Depending on the country and district, staff might be partia ...

and on other holidays, the programme was however shown at various times and comes from the France 3 news studio. In addition to a summary of the day's news, the programme format included several regular features such as ''sans détours'' (''without detours'', an extended interview with a prominent figure or expert) and ''lu, vu, entendu'' (''read, seen and heard'', which highlights a cultural medium such as a book, album or play). The latter of these were usually the last item in the bulletin. The show, Ce soir (ou jamais!), has since transferred to France 2 in March 2013, meaning that Grand Soir 3 was then broadcast live from the France 3 news studio. Stéphane Lippert has been the interim weekday host of ''Soir 3'' since September 2010, replacing

Carole Gaessler Carole Gaessler (born 23 February 1968) is a French television journalist. Since September 2010 she has presented the Monday to Thursday editions of ''19/20'', the main evening news bulletin of France 3. Biography After a preparatory literature ...

who left the programme after two years to become the anchor of France 3's main evening news bulletin, ''19/20''. Lippert was previously the host of the network's lunchtime news programme ''12/13''. Gaessler had succeeded

Marie Drucker Marie Drucker (born 3 December 1974) is a French journalist, author, television and radio personality. Early life The daughter of Jean Drucker, a French television executive, and a niece of Michel Drucker, a television journalist, she was educa ...

in September 2008 after the latter joined the news team of sister station

France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on 7 A ...

; Drucker had in turn held the position from September 2005 when she replaced the duo of

Audrey Pulvar Audrey Pulvar (; born 21 February 1972) is a French journalist, television and radio host and politician. Newsreader of the ''19/20'' on France 3 from 2005 to 2009, Pulvar has been commentator within Laurent Ruquier's show ''On n'est pas couch� ...

and Louis Laforge. Drucker stood aside for a spell in the run-up to the 2007 French presidential election after details of her relationship with

Minister of Overseas France The Minister of the Overseas (french: Ministre des Outre-mer) is the official in charge of the Ministry of the Overseas in the Government of the French Republic, responsible for overseeing Overseas France. The office was titled Minister of ...

François Baroin François Claude Pierre René Baroin (born 21 June 1965) is a French politician and lawyer who served as Finance Minister from 2011 to 2012, following a stint as Budget Minister in the government of Prime Minister François Fillon. A member of ...

were made public. During the period Drucker switched positions with Laforge, now host of the documentary series '' Des racines et des ailes''. Other past hosts of ''Soir 3'' have included

Christine Ockrent Christine Ockrent (born 24 April 1944) is a Belgian journalist whose career has principally centered on French television. She interviewed Amir Abbas Hoveyda, the former Iranian prime minister, in Evin prison after the Islamic revolution in 197 ...

and

Henri Sannier Henri Sannier (born 7 September 1947) is a French sports journalist and television presenter. Life and career Henri Sannier was born in Puteaux in the department of Hauts-de-Seine. He graduated at the École supérieure de journalisme de Paris ...

. From 25 March 2013, it was then known as ''Grand Soir 3'' and became an hour-long news and discussion programme, broadcasting from 10:30pm to 11:30pm. The ''Grand Soir 3s last anchors were Louis Laforge and Patricia Loison. Originally airing at around 11 pm, the weekday programme moved to 10:30 pm on 5 January 2009, as France 3 revamped its schedule to accommodate the government-mandated end of

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...

stations during prime time. A five-minute pre-recorded regional news opt-out was introduced as part of the revamp. However, the programme has since expanded to 60 minutes on weekdays, but the weekend editions remain unchanged.

Weekends

The weekend (Friday to Sunday) editions of ''Soir 3'', presented by

since June 2006, have several notable differences from their weeknight counterparts. Since ''Ce soir (ou jamais!)'' does not air at weekends, the programmes were broadcast year-round from the main France 3 news studio, which also houses the national lunchtime (12/13) and evening (19/20) news broadcasts, and do not possess a fixed slot in the schedule. Some segments, such as ''lu, vu, entendu'', do not feature in the weekend edition. In September 2010 the Sunday edition of the programme was lengthened by 10 minutes to include an extended political interview.

Ratings

The 2008 annual report of

claimed an average audience of 1.4 million viewers for ''Soir 3''. Figures from

audience measurement Audience measurement measures how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic on websites. Sometim ...

firm

Médiamétrie Médiamétrie, established in 1985, is a public limited company specialising in audience measurement and research into audio-visual and digital media usage in France. It is especially well known for its Audimat brand whose name is now part of ev ...

put the programme's share of viewing at 16.3% on 29 July 2008, a night on which it recorded 2 million viewers, its best ratings of the year.

's average audience share for the month of July 2008 was 13.2%.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site at france3.fr
1978 French television series debuts 2019 French television series endings French television news shows 1970s French television series 1980s French television series 1990s French television series 2000s French television series 2010s French television series France 3