France 24 to close

Old thread archived, so I will make a new one.

German and Mandarin services are apparently now in the pipeline for 2010.

What is happening with Spanish? That was meant to be in 2007, wasn't it? Unlikely they'll pull that off this month.

And why is programmes like Politics and The Week In The Middle East not being done in the studio but in front of a green screen?

Isn't there a re-organsation of France 24 and TV5 etc under way?

No. They are totally independent now. Merging TV5 and F24 will be a serious error...

That's my point - AIUI they are considering merging the news operations for the two channels... I'm pretty certain I read that somewhere - though I may be wrong.

Yeah, I think that would be a mistake too. Would a merge potentially mean a rebrand, some presenters from TV5 and perhaps a new channel objective?

On December 6th it's broadscasting 24 hours in Arabic to celebrate France 24's first anniversary.

http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=france24112707.htm

As to a merger with TV5, see the following article which suggest cooperation in another way.

http://www.rapidtvnews.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=2288&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1966&hn=rapidtvnews&he=.com

So 24hr Arabic not a permanent feature?

Actually it will become soon 24hr.
There is only an 8 hours stream a day from the English Network to the Arab zone.

I remember French being simulcast on English a few hours a day - they don't do that anymore do they? Oh! And when Arabic programming stops, what happens next, do they go to French or English simulcasts? What is the Arabic broadcasting times Parisian time?

Apparently Sarkozy wants to replace the English version with subtitles:

http://adrianmonck.blogspot.com/2008/01/adieu-france-24.html

Sarkozy says 'non' to France 24

President Nicolas Sarkozy has said his country will stop broadcasting its English- language 24-hour news channel, France 24.
The French premier has called for a French-only network to replace it.

"With taxpayers' money, I am not prepared to broadcast a channel that does not speak French," he said.

Launched in December 2006 by Mr Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, France 24 now broadcasts around the world in French, English and Arabic.

The channel aimed to challenge the dominance of English-language market-leaders BBC World and CNN.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7178158.stm