Died Wednesday evening, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was President of the Republic from 1974 to 1981. A term during which he upset the media, in particular by putting an end to the French Broadcasting Office (ORTF).

It is one of the greatest upheavals that the French audiovisual industry has known.

At the end of 1974, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who died Wednesday evening at the age of 94, marks the end of the French Broadcasting Office (ORTF) and the beginning of television as we know it. .

He then marked his time with his modern vision of the media.

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Birth of TF1, Antenne 2 or FR3

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing decides at the end of 1974 to abolish the ORTF.

The French Broadcasting Office, whose logo had been hijacked by the posters of demonstrators in May 1968, was then the symbol of the control of the French State, and therefore of the President of the Republic, over the media.

It is with this end of the ORTF that TF1, Antenne 2, FR3 or even Radio France and INA (the National Audiovisual Institute) were born, the first milestones of television as we still watch it today. hui.

But if the ORTF was dismantled, state control over programs remained substantial until 1981, when the airwaves were liberalized.

The audience of viewers begins to be taken into account

At the same time, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing also tries to take into account the opinion of viewers as to the quality of the programs, in his desire to modernize the media.

"I believe that specifications [of the French audiovisual] will have to be put in place and periodically reviewed to see if the quality of television meets the expectations of the public authorities, and moreover also the expectation. viewers, "he explained in July 1974.

This attention to the views of viewers seems the norm today, at a time when television audiences are scrutinized daily.

In 1974, it was extremely innovative.