RMC Story, formerly known as Numéro 23 and initially as TVous La télédiversité, is a French independent TV television channel founded by Diversité TV France. It launched its broadcasts on 12 December 2012 and is the 23rd national television in France.

History

Origin and beginning of broadcasts

When process was announced for the addition of six new national channels in France on TNT (

Télévision Numérique Terrestre Television in France was introduced in 1931, when the first experimental broadcasts began. Colour television was introduced in October 1967 on La Deuxième Chaîne. Digital terrestrial television The digital terrestrial television platform ...

en France), 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 ...

(CSA) accepted the application of société Diversité TV France on 8 March 2012 as the 23rd national channel with La télédiversité, URb TV et TVous La télédiversité combined as one entity on TNT HD, on condition of incorporating the programming of URb TV under the umbrella of TVous La télédiversité. On 5 June 2012, TVous La télédiversité signed the convention with the CSA but requested change of name of the licensed channel from TVous La télédiversité to Numéro 23. Official broadcasts started on 12 December 2012. Facing competition by HD1 (20th channel),

L'Équipe 21 ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, c ...

(21st channel),

6ter 6ter () is a French television network which is available free-to-air through digital terrestrial television, satellite and DSL, owned by Groupe M6. The name's wordplay represents its positioning as M6's little "sister", and (via the '' ter'' suf ...

(22nd channel),

RMC Découverte RMC Découverte is a French television channel broadcast on channel 24 and owned by RMC BFM. Created in 2012, it mainly broadcasts documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture in ...

(24th channel), Numéro 23 could sustain increasing audiences from 0.2% initially in 2014 to almost 0.7% in March 2015.

Sale of the channel and threat of revocation of license

On 2 April 2015, Pascal Houzelot, owner of the channel announced he was negotiating sale of the channel now estimated at 88.3 million euros to

NextRadioTV RMC BFM is a French media company, division of CMA CGM. History In 2000, the NextRadioTV company was founded by Alain Weill, who was chairman and chief executive officer. In 2021, NextRadioTV becomes Altice Média to accentuate the group's multi ...

that already owned

BFM TV BFM TV (, stylized as BFMTV) is a French news broadcast television and radio network, wholly owned by RMC BFM. The flagship property of the RMC BFM division of CMA CGM, its headquarters are located in Paris. As the country's most-watched new ...

and

both on TNT as well as BFM Business. Controversy arose about the sale as being a contradiction of the stated objectives in the allocation of transmission authorization given by the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA), the authority entrusted with distribution of French broadcast channels. Also opposing the deal that would consolidate substantial broadcasting rights in one corporation were made by managements of

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 ...

, M6 and

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

amongst many. Olivier Schrameck, president of CSA, described the sale deal as shocking and troubling. In July 2015, a partnership of Alain Weill and Altice bought shares of NextRadioTV. On 9 December 2015, CSA announced it was referring the matter to the Conseil d'État alleging

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

by the original owners of Numéro 23 in acquiring the licence under false pretexts. It also announced its revocation of the broadcasting license to Numéro 23 on TNT effective 30 June 2016. On 30 March 2016, the Conseil d’État reversed this decision by CSA also saying fraudulent representation alleged by CSA on behalf of the owners of Numéro 23 could not be established. On 16 April 2016 Numéro 23 officialized NextRadioTV's capitalization at 39% of the shares of Numéro 23.

Ownership and key people

Pascal Houzelot founder of Pink TV is its presidentTeleObs: Numéro 23 : comment une petite chaîne de télé peut rapporter gros
and Damien Cuier its director general. The channel is headquartered in 17 rue du Pont-aux-Choux in 3e arrondissement in Paris.

Selection of programming

Popular series included rebroadcasts reality television series from USA, Canada, Germany, Australia etc. in addition to a string of French programming like ''Baie des flamboyants'', ''B.R.I.G.A.D.'', ''Crimes en série'', ''Fortunes'', Les Bleus'', ''

Les Vacances de l'amour ''Les vacances de l'amour'' (lit. ''The holidays of love'') is a French TV series, the continuation of the series ''Le miracle de l'amour'' (lit. ''The miracle of love'') which is the continuation of the successful series ''Hélène et les garço ...

, ''Les Tricheurs'' and ''PJ''. Popular series also included ''

America's Best Dance Crew ''America's Best Dance Crew'', often abbreviated as ''ABDC'', is an American competitive dance reality television series featuring both national and international dance crews. The show was produced by singer, record producer, and former ''Ameri ...

, ''

Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...

'' USA, the tattooing programme ''

Best Ink ''Best Ink'' is an American reality competition series on Oxygen that judges tattoo artists. The series ran for three seasons, the first in 2012, the second in 2013, and the third in 2013–2014. The show was hosted by Kimberly Caldwell during S ...

'', X Factor USA, X Factor UK, You Can Dance USA etc. In 2016, due to the involvement of Altice in NextRadioTV, the channel began to broadcast a weekly

English Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

match.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Numero 23 Television stations in France Television channels and stations established in 2012 2012 establishments in France Mass media in Paris French-language television stations