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LL
London Lite Founding member
Kunst posted:
It's a slightly messy state of affairs when your company has the same name as the main channel, therefore probably they should have left the "Canal" branding alone

Another strange thing is that Canal+ has its FTA channel (C8; akin to something like Pick), but still has the main Canal+ channel as a paying TV channel at channel 4 in virtually almost all platforms


C8 is slightly more than a French version of Pick. They commission their own output such as William a Midi and TPMP and also joint commissions with other Canal pay channels such as Comedie+.
KU
Kunst
Yeah, you're correct, it's not as "cheap" and poor as Pick

Pick is also unlike TV8 (which is free) owned by Sky Italia in Italy, which has much more money spent on it, and is full of Sky Uno Italia shows, sport events etc.
Last edited by Kunst on 9 September 2019 5:20pm
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LL
London Lite Founding member
Also worth noting that C8 was previously Direct 8/D8 which was sold to Canal in 2012.

Voyage au bout de la nuit is one of those old Direct 8 shows that has continued to be commissioned to this day, thanks to being cheap as chips to produce and fills the bulk of the overnight schedule.
WH
whoiam989
Is it a time for an in depth comparison between Sky in the UK and Canal+ in France, from their flagship channel and other linear channels to their set top boxes, FTA offerings, etc.?
KU
Kunst
https://zonehightech.com/2015/02/canalsat-tout-en-hd-en-juin-2015-des-details-interessants-a-savoir-sur-cette-strategie-floue/
I can only say that after the change of Canal+ change to "HD" (MPEG-4) , now Canal+ is in a much better position when it comes to the number of HD channels (just look at the number of France 3 services available in HD).. Sky is actually getting worse, somehow

But I suppose it's much easier; less subscribers to Canal+, less channels available, less problems with the switch of older top box to HD ones etc.

But I feel Sky should still do "something"


The FTA offering is higher in the UK (also in Italy I'd say), but it's not completely absent in France . But in the UK you don't get CSA having a say about which channel should launch on DTT (and that the channel should have a French company behind it)
KU
Kunst
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_cha%C3%AEnes_de_Canal%2B_(France)

List of channels available on Canal+
TR
TheTravelcard
https://www.francetvpro.fr/guadeloupe/programmes/31955811

From Monday 23/09, Guadeloupe 1ère's lunchtime news ( 13h Guadeloupe ) will see a new format - 20 mins each weekday presented live from the location of the top story by Alex Robin (presenter of interview programme Droit dans les yeux and sports). Laetitia Broulhet (previous presenter) will now be the deputy presenter of the evening news hour, which has been rebranded Guadeloupe Soir : https://twitter.com/lbroulhet/status/1166113160841125888 . In the interim, at 1pm local time, Franceinfo is being simulcast.

Also Catherine Gonier Cléon (currently 12/13 national presenter) will replace Serge Bilé as lead anchor for Martinique la 1ère after 25 years when she returns. It was somewhat of a shock that the rival commercial station lead with the story on their news bulletins: https://viaatv.tv/serge-bile-25-ans-dans-vos-ecrans/
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LL
London Lite Founding member


Also Catherine Gonier Cléon (currently 12/13 national presenter) will replace Serge Bilé as lead anchor for Martinique la 1ère after 25 years when she returns.


So it looks like Émilie Tran Nguyen is returning to 12/13 National as I was surprised that Catherine has stayed on since doing the summer cover.

Edit: Going by her Instagram, she's going on maternity leave.

13 days later

QN
Quatorzine Neko
On Wednesday the 24th of October, the French government unveiled the reform project for the public radio and television.

Among the announcements made by the Minister of Culture, Franck Riester: the creation of a holding company, which would gather Radio France, France·TV, France Médias Monde (RFI + MCD + France 24) and the INA (the radio and television archive repository) starting from 2021.

Riester stated that each of these four entities will keep its editorial power of decision; the holding company would only be in charge of allocating the budget to each entity (I'd argue that budget can actually have an impact on content, though) and of other mutualizeable functions such as formation and advertising management.

The proposed holding company's name would be "France Médias". The French state would hold a minority stake in France Médias' board of directors. It would be the first time that French public radio and tv would be placed under the same umbrella since the dislocation of the ORTF in 1975.

Arte France, La Chaîne Parlementaire, Public Sénat and TV5 Monde will not be part of this holding company. In the past few weeks, Arte employees and executives, who are attached to the channel's independent stance and French-German perspective, had expressed their fear of being integrated into a French public media group.

Another announcement was the change in the entity presidents' designation process. Whereas they are currently designated by the CSA (the French equivalent of Ofcom when it comes to tv and radio), they would be chosen by the entities' boards of directors under the proposed reform (it is possible that the CSA will keep a right of vetoing).

The reform project will likely be submitted to the Parliament in the first half of 2020.

News articles, in French:
https://www.lesechos.fr/tech-medias/medias/audiovisuel-une-holding-rassemblant-france-televisions-et-radio-france-est-sur-les-rails-1134383
https://www.cbnews.fr/medias/image-audiovisuel-public-seule-holding-france-medias-46257
https://www.lemonde.fr/actualite-medias/article/2019/09/24/le-gouvernement-veut-reunir-l-audiovisuel-public-au-sein-d-une-meme-holding_6012916_3236.html
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BR
Brekkie
I guess "reform" is as generally the case meaning cutting budgets and making it easier for their commercial competitors.
LL
London Lite Founding member
You only have to look at the way Franceinfo TV is operated to show how confusing it is with some of those PSB providers mentioned above having a share in the channel and providing some of the output, yet the radio station is wholly managed by Radio France.

I'd go further and axe the existing PSB company names for the France Médias brand. I don't see an issue with having for example France Médias TV, France Médias Radio, France Médias INA etc.

Our French members may disagree, but there's no issue with having BBC TV, BBC Radio, BBC Online, BBC Archives etc, all different organisations, but share the same umbrella provider.

13 days later

LL
London Lite Founding member
Earlier this year, I noticed that France 3's Nord Pas-de-Calais regional bulletins are in HD. However the rest of the playout continued to be in SD. Local playout of the VT's during the bulletin and the weather forecast are now in HD too. Commercials are still in SD.

Worth noting that the Nord PDC studio appears to be fully automated with cameras fixed across the set.

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