The countdown has started: the public channels France 4 and France Ô, broadcast on TNT, should stop broadcasting on August 9, their parent company France Télévisions said on Friday, confirming information from Le Monde .
The closure of the two channels by 2020 had been announced in June 2018 by the then Minister of Culture, Françoise Nyssen, on behalf of an acceleration of digital investments in France Télévisions.
The precise timetable for closing the two chains had not yet been announced. The group's management had previously mentioned a closure during the second half of the year. A stop in the middle of summer seemed the most plausible solution: this will allow the two chains to end their 2019-2020 season, without having to install new grids for a following season which would have been reduced to a few months at best.
A switch to digital platforms
The judgment of France 4, a channel devoted in particular to young people, and of France Ô, a chain of overseas territories, must be accompanied by a shift in their programs to digital platforms, and a strengthening of programs for children. and overseas on the other channels of the group.
This project has already started with the launch in December of Okoo, a new online offer for children from France Télévisions, which succeeds its old brands Ludo and Zouzou, and offers many new shows and cartoons.
The shutdown of the two channels generated concerns internally and externally, particularly within the French animation industry (France 4 broadcasting numerous cartoons "made in France"), which had argued in favor of a moratorium, and among the overseas elected officials, who fear less good visibility of their territories on the small screen.
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