France 24

Well, I don't think so.. It will be totally different.

Yes, sadly it will probably be very different.

TF1 has a fantastic, plush set and ultra confident presenters. I'm guessing France 24 is going to be presented by second rate presenters in a ramshackle 'newsroom' set.

In many ways TF1 is the French ITV, so given that France 24 is a news channel a comparison with BBC World or CNNI would be more relevant.

France 24 is going to launch in the evening of December 7th/

http://france24.wordpress.com/2006/11/29/france-24-live-dec-7/

Some more info on France 24 from the Independent newspaper.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2035201.ece

Some more info on the launch.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/05/europe/EU_GEN_France_News_A_La_Francaise.php

Un petit vidéo ici. Apprécier!

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2006/12/06/france3272.jpg

There is a good round-up of information on the channel available from Guardian Unlimited.

That has to be one of the dullest, most boring sets I've ever seen. As predicted

It's the first time I've ever seen a conference table style desk used on a news channel. Makes it look authoritative, which I like.

It certainly looks very French - especially the round table debate studio (which is a hallmark of French telly)! Liking that a lot.

The newsroom seems absolutely tiny, though, from all the shots I've seen. I believe the French news bulletins will come from one end, and the English from the other - so probably not that far away from each other.

Here's some info on the France 24 schedule.

http://france24.wordpress.com/