La Cinq
| La Cinq | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | 20 February 1986 |
| Closed | 12 April 1992 |
| Owned by | Mediaset |
| Picture format | SECAM 576i (4:3 SDTV) |
| Audience share | 13% (1989, Mediametrie) |
| Slogan |
"La Cinq, votre nouvelle amie" (1986) |
| Country |
 France
|
| Language | French |
| Replaced by |
Arte La Cinqième (1994) |
"La Cinq, votre nouvelle amie" (1986)
"Cinq you La Cinq!" (1987)
"Cinéma ou télévision, La Cinq, tous les soirs un film" (1988)
"La Cinq, la télé qui ne s'éteint jamais" (1989)
"L'information sans concession, c'est sur La Cinq!" (1990)
"La 5, c'est 5 sur 5" (1991)
La Cinq (The Five) was France's first privately owned free terrestrial television network. Created by politician Jérôme Seydoux and Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, the network broadcast from 1985 to 1992.
The contract for France's fifth terrestrial network, which was supposed to have been in effect for an 18-year term, was granted to Seydoux and Berlusconi in November 1985. Programming began on 20 February 1986 at 8:30 pm; the first program on La Cinq was Voilà la Cinq, which was taped at Mediaset's studios in Milan, Italy.
On 20 November 1985, the government granted an 18-year concession to France Cinq, allowing them to operate the fifth national television network. This decision was criticized by the Minister of Culture and some of the President's advisers, who wanted to see cultural programming, and by the Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle, which did not approve of the conditions but had no power to change them. At a press conference on 22 November 1985, Jérome Seydoux and Silvio Berlusconi presented the focus and style of the programs that would be broadcast on the future fifth television channel. In response to critics who accused them of wanting to create "Coca-Cola" TV, Berlusconi, who developed La Cinq’s programming from his catalogs, replied that the channel would be “neither Coca-Cola TV, nor spaghetti TV, but rather Beaujolais TV, a Saturday champagne. He also promised to feature well-liked TV or film stars.
Determined to block this project, 60 senators had the Constitutional Council declare "The Eiffel Tower Amendment" (fr: amendement Tour Eiffel) unconstitutional on 13 December 1985. This forced the government to draft a new bill, which was accepted by Parliament on 21 December. On 16 January 1986 the Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion (CLT) unsuccessfully attempted to have the Council of State cancel the concession agreement; instead the government gave the CLT the right to use one of the two remaining free channels of the future TDF 1 satellite. On 20 January 1986 Silvio Berlusconi presented the programs of his future commercial channel, officially known as La Cinq, to journalists, industrialists and advertisers in order to convince them to buy advertising airtime to finance the channel. The next day, the police were forced to intervene in order to allow TDF technicians to come install La Cinq’s transmitters at the top of the Eiffel Tower, after the City of Paris refused to do so for security reasons.
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