France 2

**France 2** is a French public national television channel since 18 April 1964. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3,

## France 2

### Headquarters

France Télévisions 7, esplanade Henri de France 75015 Paris

### Language(s)

French

France 4, France 5 and France Info. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews.

Since 3:20 CET on 7 April 2008, all France 2 programming has been broadcast in 16:9 widescreen format over the French analogue and digital terrestrial television. An HD simulcast feed of France 2 has been broadcasting on satellite provider CanalSat since 1 July 2008 and on digital terrestrial television since 30 October 2008.

## History

Originally under the ownership of the RTF, the channel went on the air for the first time on 18 April 1964 as *RTF Télévision 2*. Within a year, ORTF rebranded that channel as *La deuxième chaîne* (The Second Channel). Originally, the network was broadcast on 625-line transmitters only in preparation for the discontinuation of 819-line black & white transmissions and the introduction of colour. The switch to colour occurred at 14:15 CET on 1 October 1967, using the SECAM system. *La deuxième chaîne* became the first colour television channel in France. TF1 would not commence colour broadcasting on 625-lines until 1 September 1975. Such technology later allowed the network to air programming in NICAM stereo (compatible with SECAM).

The present channel is the direct successor of Antenne 2, established under a 1974 law that mandated the breakup of ORTF into seven distinct organisations. Three television "programme corporations" were established on 6 January 1975 – TF1, Antenne 2 and FR3, now France 3 – alongside Radio France, the Société française de production, the public broadcasting agency Télédiffusion de France and the Institut national de l'audiovisuel (INA). Antenne 2 and the other corporations were constituted as limited companies with the state controlling 100% of their capital. Although the three channels were set up as competitors vying for advertisers, they retained a collective monopoly over television broadcasting in France that was not repealed until 1981. Privately owned channels such as Canal+ and La Cinq (now superseded by France 5) soon became major competitors to the state-owned channels after the state monopoly was lifted. The breakup of ORTF had been intended to stimulate competition between the public channels but failed in this aim; both TF1 and Antenne 2 came to rely on a diet of popular entertainment shows alongside cheap American imports, seeking to maximise ratings and attract advertisers.

TF1 was privatised in 1987, radically affecting the balance of the French television market. The remaining state-owned channels came under severe pressure from their private competitors and lost 30% of their market share between 1987 and 1989. In an effort to save them, a single director-general was appointed to manage both Antenne 2 and FR3 and the two channels merged to form the France Télévisions group. They were renamed on 7 September 1992 as France 2 and France 3 respectively.

In 1995, the combined audience share of the two state-owned channels was 41%, with France 2 in particular being heavily dependent on advertising and sponsorship revenues, which comprised 43.8% of its budget by 1996. The focus on ratings led to strong rivalry with TF1, for instance prompting the two channels to broadcast popular shows and news programmes in the same timeslots. TF1 and France 2 compete for the same demographics; dramas (including American imports), game shows and light entertainments form the dominant mix on both channels.

## Climate issues

### Information about climate change in weather forecasts

In February 2023, 2 state TV channels, France 2 and France 3 have begun to enter information regarding climate change in their weather forecasts. This will make the forecasts 1.5-2 minutes longer. The climate related information will rely on experts. The channels will also provide information about climate change and the ways stopping it to their workers. In France, except in case of breaking news they will ask reporters to take the train instead of a plane.

## Logos

Logo used from 1963 to 1964.Logo used from 1964 to 1967.Logo used from 1967 to 1972.Logo used from 1972 to 1975.Logo used from 1975 to 1982.Logo used from 1977 to 1986.Logo used from 1983 to 1986.Logo used from 1986 to 1987.Logo used from 1987.Logo used from 1987 to 1990.Logo used from 1990 to 1992.Logo used from 2002 to 2008. (Secondary 2008-2018)Logo used from 2008 to 2018.Logo used from 2018 to Present.Logo used from 2018 to Present. (Icon)
## Controversy

### Lebanese Civil War kidnapping of Antenne 2 news team

In March 1986, an Antenne 2 news team was kidnapped in Beirut while reporting on the Lebanese Civil War. Philippe Rochot, Georges Hansen, Aurel Cornéa and Jean-Louis Normandin were four of many Western hostages held by terrorists during the conflict. During the opening sequences of Antenne 2 news bulletins, the headlines would be followed by a reminder of the French hostages held in Lebanon, including others such as Michel Seurat and Jean-Paul Kaufman, with names, photos and the length of their captivity. Within a year, most of the news team had been released and returned to France, but the reminders continued until all the hostages had been freed.

### Muhammad al-Durrah shooting

On 30 September 2000, France 2 aired the famous footage of the shooting of Muhammad al-Durrah, in the Gaza Strip. The scene was filmed by a Palestinian journalist, Talal Abu Rahma, who worked for the station. The voiceover, blaming the killing on fire from the Israeli Defence Forces, was provided by the channel's reporter Charles Enderlin. Subsequently, that account was put in doubt, with others suggesting that the fatal shots could not have come from the IDF position. France 2 later launched libel actions against commentators who alleged that the incident was staged. France 2 won a case against one of those critics, Philippe Karsenty who was eventually and definitely fined €7,000 by the Court of Appeal of Paris in 2013. Karsenty had been convicted in 2006, acquitted in appeal in 2008, a decision that was overturned in 2012 by the Cour de cassation.

### 2013 report on weapons smuggling from Serbia to France

France 2 has been accused of knowingly producing and airing a news item whose key part it fabricated and staged.

On 7 March 2013, France 2 aired an eight-minute investigative report purporting to expose a weapons smuggling channel from Serbia to France. The report authors, journalists Franck Genauzeau and Régis Mathé, traveled to Serbia in February 2013 where they filmed a story claiming that Serbia is a hub for international weapons smuggling. Among its footage, the report showed two masked men – identified as Serbian weapons smugglers – who talked about their supposed illegal activity while showing off some of the weaponry: in particular two hand guns and one AK-47 Kalashnikov. They're also shown firing off rounds in the woods.

After the report aired, the Serbian police's criminal department (UKP) conducted a month-long investigation, revealing its findings in May 2013 that parts of the French news story were staged with full knowledge of the two France 2 journalists.

According to the police report, Genauzeau and Mathé arrived in Belgrade where they hired a local media fixer named Aleksandar M. who was employed at a Serbian news agency, giving him the task of finding weapons smugglers willing to go before a camera. Aleksandar M. apparently contacted his cousin Nenad Mirković and told him that the French were willing to pay €800 for weapons smugglers. At this point Mirković decided that he himself will appear on camera and also contacted his friend Žarko Blagojević to do the same. In order to make their act more credible, they then obtained two handguns – Zastava 9mm and 7.56mm – from Blagojević's father-in-law and father respectively. They also decided to get an automatic weapon by buying it from certain Milorad Novaković, a resident of Umka. Apparently, the two first offered him €200, but Novaković wanted €350, at which point they went back to two French journalists asking for more money and getting it.

Coached by Genauzeau and Mathé, the footage featuring masked Blagojević and Mirković was shot at a house owned by Blagojević's friend in Umka. Afterwards, they went into the nearby woods in Duboko near Umka where they fired off a few rounds for the cameras. They then returned the two handguns to Blagojević's father and father in law before selling the Kalashnikov for €100. According to the Serbian police report, Aleksandar M. was paid €300 by the French journalists while Mirković and Blagojević split the €800 between themselves.

Serbian foreign minister Ivan Mrkić reacted to the police report by "seeking explanations from France as the ministry looks to make sure the untruths from the report are clarified".