''Soir 3'' (literally Evening 3) was the late-night

newscast News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televi ...

of the French

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network

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of regional television services prov ...

. The program, FR3's first national news bulletin, was launched in 1978 by its then head of news

Jean-Marie Cavada Jean-Marie Cavada (born 24 February 1940 in Épinal, Vosges) is a French politician and former journalist and media executive who last served as a Member of the European Parliament for Ile de France from 2004 until 2019. Since 3 December 2 ...

. The bulletin was shown at 10:30 pm for 60 minutes from Monday to Thursday, and was presented by

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and

Patricia Loison Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word '' patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United Stat ...

. The weekend editions, simply known as Soir 3 was broadcast at various times on Fridays and at weekends, when the regular anchor was Francis Letellier. The newscast was axed in a cost-cutting move in 2019 with a single-anchor replacement, "Le 23h", broadcast instead on the Franceinfo channel.

Format

Weekdays

For most of the year the weekday editions of ''Soir 3'' were broadcast at 10:30 pm from the set of the

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cultural discussion show ''

Ce soir (ou jamais!) ''Ce soir'' (English: Tonight), was a French daily newspaper founded by the French Communist Party and directed by Louis Aragon and Jean-Richard Bloch. History The newspaper was established on the initiative of the Communist Party general sec ...

'', which were broadcast immediately afterwards. During certain periods, such as over the summer break and on other holidays, the programme was however shown at various times and comes from the France 3 news studio. In addition to a summary of the day's news, the programme format included several regular features such as ''sans détours'' (''without detours'', an extended interview with a prominent figure or expert) and ''lu, vu, entendu'' (''read, seen and heard'', which highlights a

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor ...

medium such as a book, album or play). The latter of these were usually the last item in the bulletin. The show, Ce soir (ou jamais!), has since transferred to France 2 in March 2013, meaning that Grand Soir 3 was then broadcast live from the France 3 news studio. Stéphane Lippert has been the interim weekday host of ''Soir 3'' since September 2010, replacing

Carole Gaessler Carole Gaessler (born 23 February 1968) is a French television journalist. Since September 2010 she has presented the Monday to Thursday editions of ''19/20'', the main evening news bulletin of France 3. Biography After a preparatory literature ...

who left the programme after two years to become the anchor of France 3's main evening news bulletin, ''19/20''. Lippert was previously the host of the network's lunchtime news programme ''12/13''. Gaessler had succeeded Marie Drucker in September 2008 after the latter joined the news team of sister station

France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on ...

; Drucker had in turn held the position from September 2005 when she replaced the duo of Audrey Pulvar and

. Drucker stood aside for a spell in the run-up to the

2007 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 21 and 22 April 2007 to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France (and ''ex officio'' Co-Prince of Andorra) for a five-year term. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a ...

after details of her relationship with Minister of Overseas France François Baroin were made public. During the period Drucker switched positions with Laforge, now host of the documentary series ''

Des racines et des ailes ''Des racines et des ailes'' (meaning "roots and wings") is a French-language television documentary series, created by Patrick de Carolis and Patrick Charles in France in 1997. ''Des racines et des ailes'' is broadcast two Wednesdays per month ...

''. Other past hosts of ''Soir 3'' have included Christine Ockrent and Henri Sannier. From 25 March 2013, it was then known as ''Grand Soir 3'' and became an hour-long news and discussion programme, broadcasting from 10:30pm to 11:30pm. The ''Grand Soir 3s last anchors were

and

. Originally airing at around 11 pm, the weekday programme moved to 10:30 pm on 5 January 2009, as France 3 revamped its schedule to accommodate the government-mandated end of

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France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (forme ...

stations during prime time. A five-minute pre-recorded regional news opt-out was introduced as part of the revamp. However, the programme has since expanded to 60 minutes on weekdays, but the weekend editions remain unchanged.

Weekends

The weekend (Friday to Sunday) editions of ''Soir 3'', presented by Francis Letellier since June 2006, have several notable differences from their weeknight counterparts. Since ''Ce soir (ou jamais!)'' does not air at weekends, the programmes were broadcast year-round from the main France 3 news studio, which also houses the national lunchtime (12/13) and evening (19/20) news broadcasts, and do not possess a fixed slot in the schedule. Some segments, such as ''lu, vu, entendu'', do not feature in the weekend edition. In September 2010 the Sunday edition of the programme was lengthened by 10 minutes to include an extended political interview.

Ratings

The 2008

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claimed an average audience of 1.4 million viewers for ''Soir 3''. Figures from

audience measurement Audience measurement measures how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic on websites. Some ...

firm Médiamétrie put the programme's share of viewing at 16.3% on 29 July 2008, a night on which it recorded 2 million viewers, its best ratings of the year.

's average audience share for the month of July 2008 was 13.2%.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site at france3.fr
1978 French television series debuts 2019 French television series endings French television news shows 1970s French television series 1980s French television series 1990s French television series 2000s French television series 2010s French television series France 3