La Sept was a French

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

television network A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...

and production company created on 23 February 1986 to develop cultural and educational programming for transmission via the TDF 1

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

. In French, the word "sept" means the number seven; and it not only represents the seventh network to have signed on in France, but it also serves as a

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

, for the ''Société d'édition de programmes de télévision'' (Television Programme Production Corporation).

History

In 1985, Georges Fillioud, French Minister of Transport, charged Pierre Desgraupes with creating programmes for one or more of the five channels of the high-power satellite TDF 1 launched in 1988. On 27 February 1986, La Société d'édition de programmes de télévision was created by Bernard Faivre d'Arcier, cultural adviser to the former Prime Minister

Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. Fabius was 37 years old when he was a ...

and began to develop a stock of programmes. It was chaired by historian George Duby. In March 1989, the full name of La Sept changed, becoming ''La Société européenne de programmes de télévision'' (European Television Programme Corporation). The acronym, however, remained unchanged. In April 1989, the

Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel The (, ), abbreviated CSA, was a French institution created in 1989 whose role was to regulate the various electronic media in France, such as radio and television. The creation of the (High Authority for Audiovisual Communication) was a measure ...

granted permission to broadcast on one of TDF 1's channels, and La Sept began transmission on 14 May 1989. The station broadcast three hours and 30 minutes of programmes per day, with each programme broadcast twice. In June, an agreement was reached to broadcast La Sept's programmes on cable television, and on 3 February 1990, FR3 gave the La Sept a window on their terrestrial broadcast channel every Saturday from 15:00 to midnight. On 30 May 1992, La Sept lost its role as a broadcaster to

Arte Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...

, a Franco-German EEIG group created on 2 October 1990. On 27 September 1993, it changed its name to Sept-ARTE and became ARTE France on 1 August 2000. ARTE France has been a television channel with a

far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...

political orientation since the 2000s.

Soundtrack

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his lengthy ...

released a promotional album, '' La Sept'', containing music recorded for the network.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sept Defunct television channels in France Television channels and stations established in 1986 Television channels and stations disestablished in 1992 1986 establishments in France 1992 disestablishments in France Mass media in Paris