TF1

TF1
TF1 (Télévision Française 1)
Launched	13 February 1935
Owned by	TF1 Group
Audience share	24.0% (May 2010, [1])
Country	France
Language	French
Formerly called	Radio-PTT Vision (1935-1939) RN Télévision (1939-1943) Fernsehsender Paris (Paris-Télévision) (1943-1944) Télévision Française (1944-1945) RDF Télévision Française (1945-1949) RTF Télévision (1949-1963) La première chaîne (1963-1964) La Première Chaîne de l'ORTF (1964-1975)
Sister channel(s)	Eurosport LCI TF6 TMC TV Breizh
Website	www.tf1.fr
Availability
Terrestrial
SECAM	Channel 1
TNT	Channel 1
Satellite
Atlantic Bird 3	Channel 1
CanalSat	Channel 1
Bis	Channel 1
Cable
Numericable	Channel 1
MC Cable	Channel 3
Cablecom	Channel 107 Channel 302 (digital CH-D)
IPTV
Orange	Channel 1
SFR	Channel 1
Freebox TV	Channel 1
DartyBox	Channel 1

TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 25-35% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is the largest European television channel by its audience. Flagship shows include Star Academy (Endemol's international competitor to the X Factor franchise), CSI and House, M.D..

TF1 originally stood for Télévision Française 1 (French Television 1). Since its privatisation in 1987, the abbreviation is no longer expanded, so as to avoid confusion with the government-owned channel France Télévisions.

The channel is part of the TF1 Group of mass media companies, which also includes the news channel LCI and Eurosport, the largest European sports network. Together with France Télévisions, TF1 co-managed the international French news channel France 24 but has since sold its share.

TF1 is a supporter of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) innitiative (a consortium of broadcasting and Internet industry companies including SES Astra, OpenTV and Institut für Rundfunktechnik) that is promoting and establishing an open European standard for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface.

Programmes

• French TV Shows now airing:

• • Julie Lescaut
  • Diane, femme flic
  • Alice Nevers, le juge est une femme

• These French TV Shows were shown on TF1 : Les toqués, Rose et Val, Soeur Thérèse.com, Mes amis, mes amours, mes emmerdes..., Commissaire Cordier, R.I.S Police scientifique, Les Cordier, juge et flic ; Extrême limite ; La Vie devant nous.

• American TV Shows now airing (in French):
  • Surface (Surface)
  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (New York unité spéciale)
  • Walker, Texas Ranger (Walker, Texas ranger)
  • Life (Life)
  • Monk (Monk)
  • CSI: NY (Les experts : Manhattan)
  • CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Les experts)
  • Wild Card (Méthode Zoé)
  • The Young and the Restless (Les feux de l'amour)
  • Crossing Jordan (Preuve à l'appui)
  • House (Dr House)
  • Close to Home (Close to Home)
  • The Mentalist (Mentalist)
  • Law & Order: Criminal Intent (New York section criminelle)
  • CSI: Miami (Les experts : Miami)

• These American TV Shows were shown on TF1: Grey's Anatomy (Grey's anatomy), Ghost Whisperer (Ghost whisperer), 7th Heaven (7 à la maison), Strong Medicine (La vie avant tout), Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Terminator : les chroniques de Sarah Connor), Law & Order (New York police judiciaire), Bionic Woman (Bionic woman), One Tree Hill (Les frères Scott), Private Practice (Private practice), Las Vegas ; Will & Grace ; What About Brian ; Yes, Dear (Oui chérie!) ; Joan of Arcadia (Le monde de Joan) ; American Dreams (Mes plus belles années); Dawson's Creek (Dawson) ; Felicity ; Baywatch (Alerte à Malibu) ; Angel ; Beverly Hills, 90210 (Beverly Hills) ; Melrose Place ; Silk Stalkings (Les dessous de Palm Beach) ; MacGyver ; Mad About You (Dingue de toi) ; Providence ; Strong Medicine (La vie avant tout) ; Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Hercule) ; Xena: Warrior Princess (Xena, la guerrière) ; The Invisible Man (L'homme invisible) ; Sunset Beach ; Law & Order: Trial by Jury (New York cour de justice) ; Threat Matrix (Agence Matrix) ; L.A. Dragnet (Dragnet) ; Karen Sisco ; North Shore (North Shore: hôtel du Pacifique) ; Point Pleasant (Point Pleasant, entre le bien et le mal) ; Conviction ; Tarzan (Jane et Tarzan) ; The Mountain (La famille Carver) ; Cover Me: Based on the True Life of an FBI Family (FBI family) ; General Hospital (Alliances & trahisons) ; Passions ; One Life to Live (On ne vit qu'une fois) ; All My Children (La force du destin) ; Guiding Light (Haine et passions) ; Search for Tomorrow (C'est déjà demain) ; Parker Lewis Can't Lose (Parker Lewis ne perd jamais) ; Hunter (Rick Hunter) ; Knight Rider (K 2000) ; Hart to Hart (Pour l'amour du risque) ; Columbo ; Starsky and Hutch (Starsky et Hutch) ; Eight is Enough (Huit, ça suffit !) ; Knots Landing (Côte Ouest) ; Dallas; Santa Barbara ; The A-Team (Agence tous risques) and Diff'rent Strokes (Arnold et Willy).

• Reality Shows now airing:
  • La ferme célébrités en Afrique

• These Reality Shows were shown on TF1: Survivor (Koh-Lanta), Fear Factor (French version) ; Je suis une célébrité, sortez-moi de là! (French "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!") ; Greg le Millionaire (French "Joe Millionaire") ; Marjolaine et les Millionnaires ; Nice People (French Big Brother) ; 1ère Compagnie (French "Celebrity Bootcamp")  ; Mon Incroyable Fiancé (French "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé") ; Queer : Cinq Experts dans le Vent (French "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy") and Le Royaume (French "The Riket").

• Game Shows now airing:

• • Attention à la marche !
  • The Dating Game (Tournez Manège !)
  • Le Juste Prix

• Famous historic programs:
  • L'Île aux Enfants
  • 1, rue Sésame (French Sesame Street)
  • Club Dorothée (With Dragon Ball Z, Knights of the Zodiac, Sailor Moon and other shows). Replaced with TFOU TV.

• Animated television series: Pokémon ; Dora the Explorer ; Sonic X , among others

In 2005, TF1 launced TF1Vision, a video on demand service.

Criticism

Some commentators accuse TF1 of being an excessively populist, commercialised channel. There is a clear emphasis on "light" entertainment programmes over more serious content, and the channel's success is sometimes seen as being founded on the ménagères de moins de 50 ans (housewives under 50) audience segment. Certainly, a large proportion of the schedule consists of gameshows, sensational documentaries and dubbed versions of US teen-drama series (e.g. Gossip Girl). The channel's news service is perceived as consisting of more celebrity news and human-interest stories than its public-sector competitors.

On April 16, 2009, the employee responsible for the "Web innovation" department was fired for criticizing the Hadopi law in a private email (on February 19) sent to a Member of Parliament. The management of TF1 was notified about the e-mail by the Ministry for Culture and Communication, whom Ministry Christine Albanel is also one the authors of the Hadopi law.^[1][2][3]

In 2004 Patrick Le Lay, CEO of TF1 made the following statement about the channel's aims:

"There are many ways to speak about TV, but in a business perspective, let's be realistic: 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." ^[4]

Critics of TF1 also 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 favour of former French president Jacques Chirac, who campaigned on a law and order platform.

Key figures within TF1 are close friends to some of the most powerful politicians in France, and the relationship between Bouygues and the public-sector contracting system often raises suspicions. Nicolas Sarkozy (current president of France) is a frequent guest of the channel, and is seen as being given an easier ride than on other networks. Immigration and violence are arguably conflated in the channel's news programmes. 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 the problems of competitors (such as VINCI).

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

Trivia

• James Bond villain Le Chiffre uses a fictional page on the website to keep updated with the daily news. (Casino Royale)
• The 1980 jingle for the news report was sampled by Mr Oizo for his song "Yves". The trailer, for Ed Rec Vol. 3 (the album the track is featured on) also uses clips from the 1980s-era TF1.

See also

• List of television stations in France

References

External links

• Official Site (French)

Television in France Terrestrial analogue (and digital) TF1 • France 2 • France 3 (national program plus 24 part-time regional programs) • Canal+ • France 5 • M6 • Arte (France) Terrestrial digital (free) Direct 8 • W9 • TMC • NT1 • NRJ 12 • La Chaîne parlementaire • France 4 • BFM TV • I>Télé • Direct Star • Gulli • France Ô Terrestrial digital (pay) TPS Star • Paris Première • Canal+ Sport • Canal+ Cinéma • Planète • TF6 • LCI • Eurosport Other free TV5MONDE • France 24 • EuroNews (France) • Guysen TV (France) • Équidia • Téva • L'Équipe TV • M6 Music Hits • M6 Boutique • Liberty TV • Tropik TV • Fashion TV • Art Channel • KTO • Demain! The Walt Disney Company Disney Channel • Playhouse Disney • Disney Cinemagic • Disney XD Other (pay) MCM • Mezzo • 13th Street • Planète • Jimmy • RTL9 • Comédie! • XXL • Canal J • Orange Sport • AB1 • OM TV• C Music TV Media holding companies France Télévisions • TF1 Group • Métropole Télévision • Canal+ Group • Lagardère Active • AB Groupe