Television in France
Digital terrestrial television
The digital terrestrial television platform was launched on 31 March 2005 after a short testing period. Like Freeview in the UK, it provides many new channels, as well as the current terrestrial television stations. Like the rest of Europe, France uses the DVB-T transmission technology.
The 13 first digital free channels were launched on 31 March 2005. In October, 4 additional free channels were added: the 24h news channels
.Regional channels started to launch on the TNT in 2007.
Due to the unsuccess of the pay-DTT, the terrestrial broadcast was abandoned by AB1 in October 2008 and Canal J on 30 April 2009.
On 14 December 2010, the CSA selected CFoot to relaunch a pay terrestrial channel. This channel was owned by the Ligue de Football Professionnel, to raise the stakes of French football leagues, and was launched in July 2011 on the LCN 34 of the TNT (formerly assigned to AB1). With the arrival of BeIN Sports, CFoot closed on 31 May 2012. In addition, TPS Star closed in the same month.
TF1 and M6 closed their pay channel
By 2012, the digital terrestrial television services were expected to cover at least 95% of the French metropolitan population. Five
DTT transition
By 2008, 34% of the French population was using analogue TV as an only reception mode. The next year, the city of Coulommiers switched to digital-only TV, serving as a test city for TDF. By the end of 2009, analog TV was shut off in the Nord Cotentin, and TDF reported no major reception problems. Citizens in DTT test zones were informed that analog TV would shut down by early 2009, and consequently they adapted their installation.
For the rest of the country, the shut-off progressed by regions, more precisely France 3 regions. It means that every transmitters broadcasting France 3 Méditerranée Provence-Alpes went digital-terrestrial on the same date, another date for those that broadcast France 3 Bourgogne Franche-Comté. The analog shut-off occurred in 2010 in the north; the south was the last to phase out analog television broadcasts.
For three months before shutting down an analogue transmitter, it transmitted the DTT
Elderly people and those with restricted financial conditions, received help from the French government; so that they could switch to DTT easily.
The most common adapters sold in the market only decode MPEG-2 and have only one
On 30 October 2008, the TNT HD was launched with four national channels: TF1, France 2, M6 and Arte.
On 8 June 2010, the overseas France dedicated channel France Ô became available nationally on TNT channel 19, taking the vacant frequencies of the pay channel AB1 which left the pay-DTT. Before, it was available locally in Île-de-France starting from 24 September 2007.
On 30 November 2010, the digital terrestrial television launched in Overseas France, with 8 public channels: La Première, France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5, France Ô, Arte and France 24 (replaced by France Info on 8 April 2019). Most territories also have up to three local private channels.
On 12 December 2012, six new HD national channels were launched (
On 5 April 2016, the Metropolitan France fully transitioned to
On 1 September 2016, France Télévisions launched its news channel France Info on channel 27. France Ô was downgraded to SD to make place for France Info.
France Ô closed on 24 August 2020. France Info was upgraded to HD in Metropolitan France, and La Première were upgraded to HD in Overseas France.
On 1 February 2021, France Télévisions launched
DTT on satellite
TNT channels are also available for reception by satellite, broadcast from the
During the
Other technologies
Most
.French cable providers France Telecom Cable, Noos SA and UPC France SA and
Digital satellite television in
Media groups
Dominant groups
Four companies dominate the French TV market :
- 's shares
- Groupe M6 (owned by RTL Group), which owns M6, W9, 6ter and Gulli
- Groupe Canal+ (owned by Vivendi), which owns Canal+, C8, CNews and CStar
Other important groups
- Altice Média (owned by Altice): BFM TV, RMC Story, RMC Découverte, and many BFM regional declensions
- NRJ Group: NRJ 12, Chérie 25
Minor group
Yearly viewing shares in 2022 (not including subscription channels):[1]
Canal | Channel | Position | Owner | Theme(s) | Share of total viewing (%) in 2022 |
Evolution in
comparison to 2021 (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | TF1 | 1 | TF1 Group | General programs | 18.7 | -1.0 |
2 | France 2 | 2 | France Télévisions (state-owned) | General programs | 14.8 | +0.1 |
3 | France 3 | 3 | France Télévisions (state-owned) | General programs, Regional | 9.4 | = |
6 | M6 | 4 | M6 Group | General programs | 8.4 | -0.7 |
5 | France 5 | 5 | France Télévisions (state-owned) | General programs, Culture, Family | 3.6 | +0.3 |
10 | TMC | 7 | TF1 Group | General programs | 3.0 | = |
8 | C8
|
9 | Canal+ Group | General programs, Entertainment | 2.8 | +0.2 |
7 | Arte | 8 | Arte (state-owned) | Culture | 2.9 | = |
9 | W9 | 10 | M6 Group | General programs, Music | 2.3 | -0.2 |
15 | BFM TV | 6 | NextRadioTV
|
24/7 news | 3.3 | +0.4 |
24 | RMC Découverte | 12 | NextRadioTV
|
Documentaries | 1.9 | -0.1 |
11 | TFX | 17 | TF1 Group | Entertainment, Reality TV | 1.5 | = |
20 | TF1 Séries Films | 14 | TF1 Group | Fiction, Movies | 1.7 | -0.2 |
22 | 6ter | 16 | M6 Group
|
Family | 1.6 | +0.1 |
14 | Culturebox
|
- | France Télévisions (state-owned) | General programs, Entertainment, Youth (France 4) /Culture (Culturebox) | Uncounted | - |
12 | NRJ 12 | 22 | NRJ Group | General programs, Reality TV | 1.1 | -0.1 |
18 | Gulli | 20 | M6 Group | Family/Children | 1.2 | = |
21 | L'Équipe | 18 | Amaury Group
|
Sports | 1.5 | +0.2 |
23 | RMC Story | 13 | NextRadioTV
|
General programs, Diversity | 1.9 | +0.3 |
4 | Canal+
|
21 | Canal+ Group
|
General programs, Movies | 1.2 | +0.1 |
17 | CStar
|
23 | Canal+ Group
|
Music | 1.1 | = |
25 | Chérie 25 | 19 | NRJ Group | Women, Movies | 1.3 | +0.1 |
26 | LCI | 15 | TF1 Group | 24/7 news | 1.7 | +0.6 |
16 | CNews | 11 | Canal+ Group
|
24/7 news | 2.1 | +0.1 |
27 | franceinfo: | 24 | France Télévisions, Radio France,
INA, France Médias Monde (state-owned) |
24/7 news | 0.9 | +0.2 |
19 | Vacant (formerly France Ô) | - | - | - | - | - |
13 | LCP-Public Sénat | - | French Parliament | Politics, News | Uncounted | - |
French programming
Universal Channel
- 30 Rock
- About a Boy
- Batwoman
- Burn Notice
- Cardinal
- Chicago Fire
- Chicago Justice
- Chicago Med
- Chicago P.D.
- Chuck
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
- Dexter
- Eureka
- Fairly Legal
- Flipping Out
- Flashpoint
- Grimm
- Haven
- House
- In Plain Sight
- Law & Order
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent
- Law & Order: Los Angeles
- Law & Order: Trial by Jury
- Law & Order: UK
- Mercy
- Monk
- Murder in the First
- Nurse Jackie
- Outsourced
- Parenthood
- Psych
- Rookie Blue
- Royal Pains
- Sea Patrol
- Sherlock
- Smash
- Shattered
- Stalker
- State of Affairs
- The Big C
- The Closer : L.A enquêtes prioritaires
- The Event
- The Office
- The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
- The Real Housewives of Orange County
- The Real Housewives of New York City
- The Real Housewives of Potomac
- The Real Housewives of Toronto
- The Pretender
- The Shield
- The Unusuals
- Top Chef: All-Stars
- Top Chef Junior
- Top Chef Masters
- True Blood
- Veronica Mars
- Walker, Texas Ranger
- Warehouse 13
France 2
- Agatha Christie's Poirot
- Broadchurch
- Castle
- The Closer
- Grounded for Life
- Major Crimes
- Minuit, le soir
- The O.C.
- Private Practice
- Rizzoli & Isles
- Water Rats
- Without a Trace
13ème Rue
- 100 Code
- Against the Wall
- Aquarius
- Bates Motel
- Battlestar Galactica
- Burn Notice
- Candice Renoir
- Cape Town
- Castle
- Catching Milat
- Chance
- Cherif
- Chicago Fire
- Chicago Justice
- CHiPS
- Chosen
- Condor
- Coyote
- Cracked
- Departure
- Dig
- The Disappearance
- EZ Streets
- F/X: The Series
- Fairly Legal
- Ghost Stories
- Hannibal
- High Incident
- In Plain Sight
- Joan of Arcadia
- Karen Sisco
- Kindred: The Embraced
- Knight Rider
- Kojak
- L.A. Heat
- Law & Order
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent
- Law & Order: Los Angeles
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Law & Order: Organized Crime
- Law & Order: Trial by Jury
- Law & Order True Crime
- Life
- Lucifer
- Magnum
- Major Crimes
- Mammon
- Mannix
- Miami Vice
- Midnight Caller
- Midsomer Murders
- Missing (2012)
- Modus
- Motive
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith
- My Life is Murder
- Mysterious Ways
- Navarro
- New York Undercover
- Night Visions
- Perversions of Science
- Played
- Players
- Psych
- Quantum Leap
- ReGenesis
- Rookie Blue
- She Spies
- Shoot the Messenger
- Shooter
- Sliders
- State of Affairs
- Tales from the Crypt
- Tequila and Bonetti
- The A-Team
- The Burning Zone
- The Bridge
- The Chicago Code
- The Fall
- The Family
- The Hunger
- The Listener
- The Outer Limits
- The Shield
- The Twilight Zone
- Third Watch
- True Justice
- Veronica Mars
- Wicked City
- Zen
See also
- List of television stations in France
- List of French language television channels
- List of French television series
- List of years in French television
References
- ^ "Audiences annuelles 2022 : TF1, historiquement faible mais leader devant France 2, M6 à son plus bas depuis 1992". ozap.com (in French). 2023-01-04. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
- ^ "Culturebox : la chaîne éphémère de France Télévisions qui soutient la culture est prolongée". www.service-public.fr (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-18.