Five
the Five was the first French Television channel free and deprived commercial general practitioner.
History of the chain
1985: Context of its creation
1985, at a little more than one year of the French legislative elections, the left fears a failure and then wishes to create a new space, out of the field institutional of public television, likely to touch many people (contrary with the encrypted private channel with toll Canal+) and to constitute a relay of opinion to its ideas if it had suddenly turned over in the opposition. The president of the Republic, François Mitterrand, lance then, as of January, the idea d'" an additional space of freedom " and asks the government Laurent Fabius to study the project. The lawyer Jean-Denis Bredin, charged by the Prime Minister with writing a report/ratio on the opening of " televisual space on television privée" , on January 14th gives to him. He recommends the creation of two private national chains in light financed by the publicity and whose frequencies will be conceded by the State in accordance with article 79 of the law of July 29th, 1982. The Minister of Transport, Georges Fillioud, then proposes the creation of two domestic networks deprived with the capital of which press groups, production companies and advertizing executives would be found.In November 1985, the government grants for 18 years to the company France Five a concession for a new terrestrial network to national diffusion. The High ranking authority of the audio-visual communication disapproves the schedule of conditions defined, but does not have any capacity to modify it.
2/20/1986 - 2/2/1987: The first Five
The Five starts to emit Thursday February 20th 1986 with 20:30 within the framework of the emission of presentation of the chain Voilà the Five recorded in the Milanese studios of the group Mediaset. Until midnight, Christian Morin, Roger Zabel, Amanda Lear, Elisabeth Tordjmann and Alain Gillot-Pétré will receive the large high-speed motorboats of the French variety (Johnny Hallyday, Serge Gainsbourg, Mireille Mathieu, Charles Aznavour) invited by Silvio Berlusconi to sponsor a show of which the effects do not have anything to envy the entertainments of TF1 or of Antenne 2.With its detractors who show it to want to manufacture a TV “Coca-Cola”, Silvio Berlusconi, which builds the programs of the Five starting from its catalogs, promises a TV rather “beaujolais wine” with “champagne saturdays”. The first weeks of programs then consist of plays ( Pentathlon , It is beautiful the life , Cherchez the woman ) and of shows inspired by the formats with success of the Italian chains of Silvio Berlusconi, like Canale 5. Innovation in the French audiovisual landscape, the programs are repeated every three hours and are intersected with several pages of publicities (up to three) within the same program.
As of April 1986, the American televised series, with some Japanese cartoons in morning and end of the afternoon, occupy all the grid of the day and the second part of evening. The essence of these series are not unknown televiewers, because not already diffused on other French chains in the years 1960 and 1970: Arnold and Willy , Happy Days , Mission impossible , the Fifth Dimension , Star Trek , Sheriff, frighten me! or Wonder Woman . Right before film of 20:30, the strategic box of 19:30 is occupied each day of the week by has bottom the case in which is diffused a new series aiming at a young and male public: Supercopter Monday, K2000 Tuesday, Riptide Wednesday, Chips Thursday and mechanical Thunder Friday. Every evening, a variable film of quality is diffused with 20:30. Among first diffused films the first week: the Fever of Saturday evening and mechanical Hell .
The first organizers are either of the defectors of TF1 (Christian Morin) or of Antenne 2 (Alain Gillot-Pétré, Roger Zabel), or of the defectors of the Italian chains of Berlusconi (Amanda Lear).
1986: Questioning
Following the legislative elections of March 1986, the line returns to the capacity. Jacques Chirac is Prime Minister: it is the Cohabitation. He asks his new Minister of Transport, François Léotard, to implement the audio-visual policy of the government: privatization of TF1 (FR3 was initially envisaged) and cancellation of the concessions of the two new private channels too quickly allotted (on pressure of the Elysium) without real invitation to tender. Immediately, the Five does not have any more the right to diffuse films of cinema, and this until December of the same year. The February 3rd 1987, the concession of the Five is thus cancelled by the National Commission of the Communication and Freedoms (CNCL) which replaced the High ranking authority of the audio-visual communication since September 30th 1986. Following the call for candidate by CNCL for the reallocation of the chain, the first candidate on the rows is the group Socpresse ( Le Figaro , France Soir ) of Robert Harrowing which, with the support of the government, seeks to be established in television. He is combined to the former owners of the chain, Silvio Berlusconi and Jerome Seydoux, to constitute as of on February 10th the Development company of the Five.Les only serious competitors at the time of this invitation to tender are Jimmy Goldsmith (General Western) and some associates, and CLT. The latter gives up its candidature finally on this network after having obtained the insurance of the government to recover the sixth chain. Hatchet, which concourre for the repurchase of TF1 in the course of privatization, does not present any project.
Le February 23rd 1987, CNCL thus allots for ten years the concession on the fifth national terrestrial network to the development company of the Five.
2/3/1987 - 10/22/1990: The second Five
Robert Harrowing enters to the capital of the Five as a main line operator of the chain. He names Philippe Ramond managing director. The two men misent on information and engage in spring 1987 Patrice Duhamel as director of information, charging it with constituting a drafting. This very new drafting settles with 241, boulevard Péreire with Paris in an old garage Renault become the seat of the chain. Around some already known figures of the televiewers, like Jean-Claude Bourret or Marie-France Cubadda come from TF1, a team of young journalists will endeavor to create each day, starting from September 14th, 1987, five editions with the resolutely direct and innovative tone. In its will to continue like a large chain general practitioner, the news Five discharges also the three organizers with success of TF1 in the course of privatization (Patrick Sebastien, Patrick Sabatier and Stephan Collaro). She also makes sure the services of Philippe Bouvard (stimulating of a very popular emission on RTL, the Famous persons , collaborator of long time of the Harrowing group) and of Michel Robbe (stimulating on TF1 of " The wheel of Fortune"). With the re-entry 1987, France is covered with posters where new organizers, in photograph, inviting the public to come on the chain, under the slogan of “ Five you Five! ”.However, in this period, the chain can be received only on one restricted part of the territory, especially in the cities, whereas the organizers propose programs moderately called “deep France” (expression replaced now by the term close but inaccurate “France of in-low”, popularized under the ministration of Jean-Pierre Raffarin). In addition, the new chains diffuse on a more modern alternative of the SECAM compatible with the Télétexte, appearing in black and white on a little old stations, and require a broad band antenna to be collected.
If the data transmission of the Five meets a certain success around the newspapers of Jean-Claude Bourret with 13:00, which calls on the televiewers via a survey by minitel at the end of the newspaper, or gives the debate to the honor in its Duel on the Five of before newspaper, or the 20:00 of Guillaume Durand crowned better newspaper by a 7 of gold in 1989, or the emission of great report of Patrick de Carolis Reporters , the other emissions of the chain do not go well and the organizers high-speed motorboats end up regaining TF1 at the end of one year. The Five then will live two years centered on information (Rumanian revolution in 1989), the sport (Paris-Dakar) and films resulting from the catalog Berlusconi (“Cinema or television, the Five, every evening a film! ”), successfully.
The poverty of certain French series diffused at the time on Five, like the Close one Neighbor , inspired with Tonino Benacquista its novel Saga . Another series, also created in order to satisfy the legal requirements of quota of French creation was Tendresse and passion , placed in the medium hospital and putting in the high-speed motorboat Pascale Roberts. The episodes of the two series filled the nights after the Club of Armchair shopping diffused itself after the Journal of the Night . However, one of the principal slogans of the chain, Cinema or television, the Five, every evening a film , is refused by the SCUMS because the diffused films Wednesday, Friday and Saturday are, because of the legislation, of the Téléfilm S.
10/23/1990 - 12/31/1991: The last Five
Under the weight of the debts, Harrowing Robert yields his share in the Five to the group Hachette, then directed by Jean-Luc Lagardere, unfortunate candidate with the repurchase of TF1 in 1987 and which dreams to acquire a national television channel. The October 23rd 1990, the Superior council of audio-visual the grants the chain to Hachette which promises " to save the Five ".Hatchet all will change while starting with the identity of the chain. Jean-Paul Goude created a new logo. Initially he imagines a " 5" knitting themselves and détricotant themselves or credits of closing of antenna putting in scene a breath extinguishing a candle but it is by seeing an animation made up of figures superimposing itself that he imagines the new logo of the chain and his animation (see photo below). Jean-Luc Lagardere gives freehand to its director of the programs, Pascal Josèphe, whom it has just discharged with high expenses of Antenne 2, for launching new emissions concoctées by Hachette and which must make of the Five a family large chain general practitioner able to compete with TF1. 22 new programs are thus put at the antenna as of April 1991 which stop all at the end of a few weeks or a few months without managing significantly to increase the market shares except for the sports of engine (the Formule 1 (torn off with TF1), motomondial , the Paris-Dakar), the evenings Disney cinema of Tuesday evening, the series Mystères in Twin Peaks , and the information, which have success.
Instead of trying to reduce the expenditure and to make up the existing deficit, Hachette multiplies the expensive expenditure (new preparing, repair of all the buildings, creation of too many new programs). The Five completely changed and places it devoted to information is reduced. Not only its new programs do not attract new televiewers, but these upheavals déboussolent somewhat certain faithful. Audience remains stable and chain remains third chain national in terms of audience, but if it is considered that new transmitters diffuse the program of the Five then, it can consider that the audience was packed at that time. It is located in fact at the neighborhoods from 11 to 14%.
Here the example of one of the grids of the Five: Wednesday, April 17, 1991
6:00: The permanent-7h15 newspaper: Tomorrow aujourd' hui-7h20 decides: Youpi! - 8h30: The man of the <
One year after its recovery by Hatchet, the deficit of the chain amounts to 1 billion Francs. Its chairman, Yves Sabouret, must then force himself to lay off 576 paid, that is to say the three quarters of the personnel of the chain. The evening of the advertisement, old historical credits of the newspaper (Earth, the satellite and the music " Thus Zarathoustra" spoke; and the old logo) will be diffused at the end of the newspaper. A few days, interviewed later by Jean-Claude Bourret at the time of the 20 hour old newspaper, the chairman will intend himself to answer by the presenter that the action undertaken " resemble a racing stable of Formula 1 which would sell the tires to buy the essence". With the screen, the logo " 5" is posted in black during 24 hours while a streamer indicating that " The 5 will not be the Matra-Racing" is held up in the buildings of the drafting. The flags of the chain, which raised the new logo on the building of the Péreire boulevard are torn off by the personnel. The December 31st 1991, the Five is placed in file for bankruptcy.
1/1/1992 - 4/12/1992: Decline and death
January 3rd, 1992, the defense association of the Five east creates by Jean-Claude Bourret.Le 16, Silvio Berlusconi proposes a rescue plan of the Five. Unfortunately, Silvio Berlusconi withdraws it because of the government (Treasury also), and especially because of the coalition which form the concurrent chains which proposes to create together a chain of information which would take the place of the Five. This project is not accepted but the coalition carries it all the same. The Five dies on April 12th, 1992 at midnight.
4/12/1992 - 1997: The return of the chain?
Until 1997, the defense association of the Five (currently TV Freedom) left a small hope re-examine to reappear the chain either on the cable, or starting from a diffusion since the Principauté of Andorra, but it was not the case. Then, the president Jean-Claude Bourret seemed to give up by suspending his association while waiting to make the final decision. But association still exists.
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