frfilmtv1-8, Exercise 2: Private television

Model answer:

Three developments: Canal+ began in 1984 as a subscription channel with a scrambled signal and decoders; La Cinq and M6 started in 1986 as private commercial channels (La Cinq failed, M6 survived); TF1 was privatised in 1987 and became the most-watched channel.

Canal+ matters to the film industry because it became a major funder of French cinema, and broadcasters are now required to invest in French and European films and show a quota of them. This ties television directly to film and to the "cultural exception" (Chapter 10).