| France 24 | |
| Logosize: | 150px |
| Country: | France |
| Language: | French, English, Arabic |
| Network Type: | Broadcast television |
| Terr Serv 1: | DVB-T (FTA) |
| Terr Chan 1: | Only in Italy on Mux RETE A (LCN 10) |
| Sat Serv 1: | HotBird 7A |
| Sat Serv 2: | Atlantic Bird 3 |
| Sat Serv 3: | Sky Digital |
| Sat Chan 3: | Channel 513 (English) |
| Sat Serv 4: | SKY Italia |
| Sat Chan 4: | Channel 538 (French) |
| Sat Serv 5: | TV Vlaanderen Digitaal |
| Sat Chan 5: | Channel 55 (English) Channel 56 (French) |
| Sat Serv 6: | ZON TVCabo |
| Sat Chan 6: | Channel 208 (English), 209 (French) |
| Sat Serv 7: | Yes |
| Sat Chan 7: | Channel 104 |
| Sat Serv 8: | Freesat |
| Sat Chan 8: | channel 205 (English) |
| Cable Serv 1: | KDG |
| Cable Chan 1: | Channel 836(French), 849(English) - only in upgraded networks |
| Cable Serv 2: | UPC Romania |
| Cable Chan 2: | Channel 143 |
| Cable Serv 3: | Naxoo |
| Cable Chan 3: | Channel 65 (French), Channel 227 (English) |
| Cable Serv 4: | MC Cable |
| Cable Chan 4: | Channel 88 (French), Channel 236 (English), Channel 321 (Arabic) |
| Cable Serv 5: | Cablecom |
| Cable Chan 5: | Channel 114 |
| Cable Serv 6: | ZON TVCabo |
| Cable Chan 6: | Channel 208 (English), 209 (French) |
| Adsl Serv 1: | Alice Home TV |
| Adsl Chan 1: | Channels 538 and 871 (French), Channel 590 (English) |
| Online Serv 1: | Livestation |
| Online Chan 1: | Watch (Free, 502 Kbit/s, English & French) |
| Online Serv 2: | Yalp.alice.it |
| Online Chan 2: | English French (Available only to Italian IP addresses) |
| Owner: | Groupe TF1 and France Télévisions |
| Key People: | Alain de Pouzilhac |
| Launch: | 2006-12-06 |
| Former Names: | Chaîne Française d'Information Internationale (before July 2006) |
| Web: | www.france24.com |
France 24 (pronounced France vingt-quatre [fʁɑ̃s vɛ̃tkatʁ]) on all three editions) is an international news and current affairs television channel. It started broadcasting on 6 December 2006.
Funded by the French government and based in Paris, the channel gives a French perspective on world news. Currently it offers variants in English and Arabic in addition to French.
It is run by a partnership between Groupe TF1 and France Télévisions (including France 2 and France 3), with some programmes sourced from Agence France-Presse, Radio France Internationale, TV5MONDE, Arte, Euronews, and La Chaîne parlementaire. It is funded by France with an annual budget of approximately €80 million, and is based in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris.
President Nicolas Sarkozy announced on 8 January 2008 that he was in favour of reducing France 24's programming to French only.[1]
France 24 is broadcast on three channels: in French, in English, and in Arabic from 4pm to 8pm (the rest of the time being in French or English depending on the viewer's location).[2] [3]
France 24's programming is divided more or less equally between news coverage and news magazines or special reports.
Along with 260 journalists of its own, France 24 can call on the resources of the two main French broadcasters (Groupe TF1 and France Télévisions) as well as partners such as AFP. The CEO of France 24 is Alain de Pouzilhac.
The media's perception was that the channel was a brainchild of former president Jacques Chirac, famous for defending the position of the French language in the world, specifically versus the English domination in this media category.[4]
France 24 intends to give a different view of the news than the Anglophone BBC World News and CNN International. France 24 wants to put more emphasis on debate, dialogue and the role of cultural difference. It will also be competing with Deutsche Welle TV and the recently launched Al Jazeera English, Russia Today and Press TV news channels. The Arabic programming competes with Al Jazeera's and Russia Today's Arabic channels.
The French government allocated around €100 million for the project. The European Commission gave the green light to France 24 in June 2006, saying it did not breach European Union state aid rules.
France 24 is available by satellite to most of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, as well as by cable and antenna to New York and Washington, DC. The French, English and Arabic channels are all available live on the France 24 website, broadcast en direct in Windows Media format. On 1 April 2007, the Irish terrestrial channel TG4 began carrying retransmissions of France 24 overnight. Previously, it had retransmitted Euronews.
In 2007 France 24 started a VoD service on Virgin Media, allowing customers to access weekly news updates and programmes to watch when they choose.
A free application means that France 24 is also available live and VOD on mobiles phones throughout the world. A specific website has also been designed for iPhone users.