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Participa-
tory
platforms
provide
users with
additional
ways of
consuming
news
“
”
This said, the challenges we face
are quite different from one media
to the other in terms of distribution
opportunities, multimedia
developments, etc. RFI is really
strong in Africa, MCD in Arabic‐
speaking countries, especially in
the Middle East whereas France
24’s scale is more global.
Nevertheless, since September, in
collaboration with all the
journalists here during corporate
workshops, we agreed on a
redefinition of our worldwide
presence and our programme
offers. We’ve just revamped the
media schedules, redefined France
24 distribution in Asia and in
America for example and
redesigned part of the multimedia
environment for all the media. You
can already see major differences,
in our media schedules and
websites.
Looking at France 24, what are
your priorities for getting and
retaining audiences?
Over the last seven years, our
distribution base has more than
tripled and we currently have a
loyal audience of over 40m TV
viewers a week and 14m internet
users a month. The Arabic channel,
our latest [launched in 2010], has
become one of the Maghreb’s
leading international news
channels in less than three years.
On December 12th, the channel’s
birthday, we launched a new,
enriched programme schedule with
several novelties; a brand new
visual design with a very “French
touch” and a redesigned website.
This new website focuses more on
video content, sharing and
interactivity. We also have a new
baseline for France 24 which is a
play on France’s national motto.
“Liberté, Egalité, Actualité” – these
three words give you France 24 in a
nutshell. They spell out the values
the channel strives to defend.
Though the word “Fraternité”
(fraternity) has been removed from
the motto, it is ever‐present. For
France 24’s teams, providing news
means being “fraternal” with their
viewers by allowing them to be
informed freely, delivering facts
that are as close as possible to the
reality on the ground and making
the human dimension central to
their programmes.
For its seventh anniversary, as
well as reinforcing its editorial line,
France 24 has implemented new
programme schedules in order to
reduce the parallels between its
three channels as and when
required, so that it addresses
certain audiences more specifically
according to the language they
speak and the regions they watch
us in. They also take into account
the different time zones, as it is
always 8pm somewhere! For
example, we have launched news
segments in French and English
specifically aimed at Asia,
reinforced our African offer and
launched an hour‐long news
programme in Arabic devoted to
current affairs in the Maghreb plus
a debate programme that
broadcasts from a different Arab
capital every week.
In terms of distribution, where are
you making headway?
Today France 24 tops audience
rankings in French‐speaking Africa
and several Arab countries. We are
currently increasing our
distribution in Asia and North
America. For example, we recently
signed an agreement that gives
access to our programmes in one
out of every four TV households in
India. Another agreement in
California means the channel is
available to a large number of
viewers in that region. We continue
to expand in South East Asian
countries such as Thailand,
Cambodia and Laos, where we are
currently available on DTT.
What about South America?
We are well represented in Latin
America, notably through RFI’s
Spanish and Portuguese
programmes, which are broadcast
by partner radio stations, and
through France 24’s French channel
which is part of several cable and
satellite offers. In order to increase
France 24’s presence in Latin
America, we are currently thinking
of launching next year a Spanish
version for all Hispanic audiences
and particularly for Latin American
viewers who appreciate and await a
French perspective.
In Africa, competition is growing…
Competition encourages us to
further assert our unique, signature
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