Media and multimedia
A street newsagents in Paris
Ministerium dür Auswärtiges und Europäische Anlegenheiten, C. Stephan
Newspapers
27% of the French read a daily newspaper every day.
There are 10 national newspapers and 109 regional papers (dailies and weeklies).
Total annual circulation: 4.7 billion.
Periodicals
Eight of the top 100 periodicals in France have a circulation of over one million, and ten of them have a circulation of over 500,000 copies.
With 460 copies sold for every 1,000 residents, France ranks first in the world for magazine readership.
Television
Watching television remains the favourite leisure activity of the French, with an average viewing time of 3 hours 24 minutes per person per day.
There are several hundred television channels.
- Five national public channels: France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 (educational channel) and France ô (first multicultural French channel)
- Arte (Franco-German cultural channel)
- France 24 is a French international news channel broadcast 24 hours a day in French, English and Arabic.
- Three national private channels: TF1, M6 and Canal Plus (pay channel with 5.14 million subscribers in France and 6.8 million abroad)
- 6 million households were connected to TNT at the end of 2006 (5 million by cable network and ADSL
- Multichannel satellite packages (Canal Satellite, TPS).
- TV5 and Canal France International (CFI) are the two operators in France's overseas radio and television network.
Radio
Radio France is the umbrella company for the country's public service radio stations: France Inter, France Info (24-hour news), France Culture, France Musique, France Bleu, FIP and Le Mouv' (aimed at a younger audience).
The private sector is represented by the general interest stations RTL (France's most popular radio station), Europe 1 and Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) and a host of music, specialist, community and regional stations broadcasting on FM.
Radio France Internationale (RFI - 44 million listeners worldwide), RMC-Moyen Orient aimed at the Middle East and Medi 1 aimed at North Africa, the Maghreb, form France's overseas radio broadcasting network.
Information technology and multimedia
While computers are viewed primarily as tools for work used by 80% of the French, more and more households are investing in them: 55% have one and 46% are connected to the Internet (80% with high-speed connections).
As a new form of access to information, the internet has rapidly conquered the French, with over 20 million using it at school, work or at home. Internet use in France has spread incredibly quickly in just a few years: every institution, daily newspaper, government department and business now has its own website, covering a broad spectrum (sport, education, services, films, etc.). The most visited sites are those of access providers (such as France Telecom's Orange) and service sites.
- Sources: Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
- Updated: 18.06.2008
