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TF1
100px
Formerly Called Radio-PTT Vision (1935-1939), Fernsehsender Paris (1943-1944), Télévision française (1946-1963), La première chaîne (1963-1974, in RTF and ORTF times)
Launched: 13 February 1935
Audience Share in 2004: 31.9% Source: [Médiamétrie]
Owned By: TF1 Group
Web Address: [www.tf1.fr]
Availability
Terrestrial Analogue: SECAM, Normally tuned to 1 in France
Terrestrial Digital: TNT (Télévision Numérique Terrestre Française) Channel 1 in France
Satellite: Atlantic bird 3
TPS : Channel 1
CanalSat : Not available
Cable: Yes

TF1 is a private French TV network, controlled by TF1 Group, which major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's 35% average market share, achieved on the ménagères de moins de 50 ans audience segment (house-wives less than 50 years old) makes it the most popular domestic network. It is the crown jewel of the TF1 Group of mass media companies, which also includes Eurosport, the largest European sports network.

Together with France Télévisions, TF1 will co-manage the new French 24-hour international news channel, Chaîne française d'information internationale (CFII), known in English as the French International News Network.

TF1 originally stood for Télévision Française 1 (French television 1) but the abbreviation is no longer expanded, especially since the 1987 privatization and since this would introduce a confusion with France Télévisions. Patrick Le Lay is its actual CEO. In 2004, he declared:

"There is many ways to speak about TV. But, in a business perspective, let's be realist: at the basis, TF1's job is helping Coca-Cola, for example, to sell its product... What we sell to Coca-Cola is available human brain time... Nothing is more difficult than obtaining this availability. This is where permanent change is located. We must always look out for popular programs, follow trends, surf on tendencies, in a context in which information is speeding up, getting manifold and trivialized." Patrick Le Lay, in Les dirigeants français et le changement, 2004, ISBN 291411933X. French quote: « Il y a beaucoup de façons de parler de la télévision. Mais dans une perspective business, soyons réaliste : à la base, le métier de TF1, c'est d'aider Coca-Cola, par exemple, à vendre son produit. (...) Ce que nous vendons à Coca-Cola, c'est du temps de cerveau humain disponible. (..) Rien n’est plus difficile que d’obtenir cette disponibilité. C’est là que se trouve le changement permanent. Il faut chercher en permanence les programmes qui marchent, suivre les modes, surfer sur les tendances, dans un contexte où l’information s’accélère, se multiplie et se banalise.»

Contents

Criticism

Critics of TF1 contend that its news coverage is slanted towards supporting right-wing politicians — they were in particular accused of supporting Édouard Balladur in the 1995 presidential elections, and of overstating crime during the 2002 electoral campaign to tilt the balance in favor of incumbent president Jacques Chirac, who campaigned on law-strengthening proposals. Immigration and violence are still amalgamated in most of the channel's news programmes. Heads and famous journalists of TF1 are close friends to some of the most powerful politicians in France. TF1 gives them a hand before elections — Nicolas Sarkozy is a redundant guest of the channel — and expects from them a more liberal legislation on media matters, if not a bonus for Bouygues when a public contract must be signed.

In addition, it is occasionally alleged that news reports from TF1 tend to ignore issues yielding a bad light on their parent group (Bouygues), while stressing problems of competitors (such as VINCI).

They also contend that TF1's news coverage focusses on anecdotes and on sensationalism, and that their programming often deserves the trash TV name. Getting a 40% market share on every program is TF1's primary objective, dictated by the necessity of justifying advertising prices, so shows which fail this benchmark significantly get off air very quickly. France has no tabloid papers but that side of the media industry is widely overtaken by TV — and especially TF1 — there.

[Getting the highest market share on every program (and not just 40%) is TF1's goal, however, as of 2005/2006, the average actual ratings ranging between 30% to 35%, shows are more likely to get off air if failing these figures.]

Such criticism is heavy in the satirical show Les Guignols de l'Info, broadcast on rival private network Canal Plus. However, TF1 now competes inthis category with M6, which was initially a generalist channel focusing on musical programs, but now has programming more resembling TF1 (notably, reality shows that TF1 started running just after M6 introduced them).

Programs

References

External links

 

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