France 5

Presentation

France 5 is a public television network in France, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring educational programming, the channel's motto is la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir (the knowledge and science network). In contrast to the group's main channels, France 2 and France 3, France 5 includes neither entertainment nor dramas in its schedules, but concentrates instead on documentaries and discussion programmes.

France 5 is available round the clock on cable, but over the air its analog programming is replaced by that of Arte during the evening hours (both channels have distinct full-time scheduling on digital TV broadcast).

France 5 was called La Cinquième (The Fifth) until January 2002. It was born officially on February 1994, more than one year after the financial collapse in April 1992 of the channel La Cinq (which was the first free private channel in France, but also the first channel in the world which died in live), reusing its past analog broadcasting network. La Cinquième started broadcasting in December 1994 with a mix of small educational programs, during the hours not used by Arte (that was founded just a few days after the death of La Cinq).

It was renamed France 5 later, when it was integrated in the new France Télévisions public holding which already grouped Antenne 2 (renamed France 2), and FR3 (France Régions 3, renamed France 3). Since then, France 5 broadcasting hours have been extended to 24 hours a day (initially available only on cable and satellite, and since spring 2005 on air within the new digital broadcasting multiplex "R1" network that supports all national public TV channels and that will replace the existing equivalent analog broadcast channels).

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