Television In Monaco
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TMC (; originally short for Télé Monte-Carlo) is a
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Monégasque entertainment television channel, owned by
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
media holding company
Groupe TF1 TF1 Group () is a French media holding company. Its best-known property is the broadcast network TF1. The group was formed after TF1 was privatized in April 1987 in which the channel was launched back on January 6 1975 twelve years prior. It is ...
.


History


The genesis

In 1939, Charles Michelson obtained concession to operate Radio Tangier. The project was, taken over by French authorities after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
to create Radio Impériale. On February 6, 1948, Michelson obtained a compensational five-year management contract for
shortwave radio Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the High frequency, high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30& ...
at Radio Monte-Carlo. The management is majority owned by Sofirad and through it, by the
French State Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against G ...
. The failure of technical experiments with this mode of retransmission led
François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...
, then Minister of Information, to make a concession to Michelson. On October 22, 1949, he benefited from a “sub-concession option” for television in the Principality of Monaco, from the company owning Radio Monte-Carlo. The opportunity is significant as on October 12, 1949, Sofirad president Jacques Meyer announced the French government was giving up on deploying RTF television. in Marseille. The decision gave the Monegasque station a de facto television
monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...
in the South-East of France. Michelson created the Image et Son company under Monegasque law, aiming to create a network of private television stations in France. To mollify
Pierre-Henri Teitgen Pierre-Henri Teitgen (29 May 1908 – 6 April 1997) was a French lawyer, professor and politician.Johnson, Douglas (9 April 1997) ''The Independent''. Retrieved 21 January 2016 Teitgen was born in Rennes, Brittany. Taken POW in 1940, he played ...
, the new Minister of Information, who opposed this cut into the RTF monopoly, Charles Michelson ceded all rights on August 20, 1951, to
Prince Rainier III Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to Funeral of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 year ...
of Monaco. The
monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...
became a shareholder and invested in Image and Son. On February 11, 1952, the creation of Monegasque television was confirmed by the French public authorities, implementing the Télé Monte-Carlo option on March 21, 1953. The French State, however, removed the right of extension on French territory by relays installed on its soil, limiting the development of this new television channel. At the beginning of 1954, Michelson brought RVB Radio-Industrie, an audio-visual equipment manufacturer, into Images et Son. This company supplied television equipment conforming to the new French high definition 819 line standard, invented by
Henri de France Henri Georges de France (7 September 1911 Paris – 29 April 1986 Paris) was a pioneering French television inventor. His inventions include the 819 line French standard and the SECAM color system. On December 6, 1931, De France founded the ...
, son-in-law of company director Armand Vorms.


The beginning: Image et Son (1954-1957)

On the Monegasque national holiday, Télé Monte-Carlo was inaugurated on November 19, 1954, by
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years. Rainier was born at the Prince's Pal ...
, in the presence of Charles Michelson and
Henri de France Henri Georges de France (7 September 1911 Paris – 29 April 1986 Paris) was a pioneering French television inventor. His inventions include the 819 line French standard and the SECAM color system. On December 6, 1931, De France founded the ...
. TMC was the second private television channel in Europe after
Telesaar Telesaar is the designation of the first German private television station. It was brought in 1954 by the European Broadcast and Television AG, which also operates the transmitter of Europe 1. It broadcast on VHF channel 7 in the French standard un ...
, beginning programs in Saarland in February that year. Antennas are joint property of the Prince's company and Images et Son. The channel's headquarters was temporarily located at 16, Boulevard Princesse-Charlotte in Monte-Carlo, occupying a TV studio with
telecine Telecine ( or ), or TK, is the process of transferring film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in this post-production process. Telecine enables a motion picture, captured origi ...
designed by Henri de France. It broadcast from a 50 kilowatt panel antenna at
Mont Agel Mont Agel is a mountain in the Maritime Alps on the border between France and Monaco. The summit of this mount, at above sea level, is on the French side, but the highpoint of Monaco, lying on a pathway named Chemin des Révoires, is on its slo ...
oriented towards the Principality. The VHF channel 10-H at the 819 line standard assigned by the EBU could be received by the
Côte d'Azur The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...
from Saint-Tropez to
Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...
, parts of
Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...
,
Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
's northern coast, and upper districts of
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
. Coverage went far beyond initial studies. It allowed these French territories to receive television, well before the arrival of French Radio and Television. In to reach the deep valleys in which band I (41-68 MHz) passes better than the higher frequencies of channel 10 in band III, the principality obtained authorization from the EBU to carry out tests on channel 2-H French (41.25-52.40 MHz) with the same power (50 kW) but these tests were inconclusive. The 1960 commission RTF's Bastia transmitter on the same channel, risking interference from TMC's Mont Agel transmitter, ended double broadcasting of TMC in bands I and III. In 1956, TMC produced its first
Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...
broadcast, the
wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...
of Prince Rainier III and American actress
Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...
, and the 13th Monaco Grand Prix.


Special status company under Sofirad (1958-1972)

In 1958, the Special Company (SSE) controlling Télé Monte-Carlo, became a 32% subsidiary of Europe No. 1 (controlled by Sofirad), distinguishing itself from Radio Monte-Carlo which belonged to the parent Sofirad. The SSE operated the Télé Monte-Carlo station under an agreement concluded in 1952 with Radio Monte-Carlo, the exclusive concessionaire of broadcasting rights in the Principality of Monaco. From its beginnings, Télé Monte-Carlo offered two 20-minute news bulletins (Télé-Soir, at 8:00 p.m., and Télé-Dernière, at 10:15 p.m.) and a program dedicated to children, Club Tintin.
Denise Fabre Denise Fabre (born 5 September 1942) is a French former television personality, best known for her role as an in-vision continuity announcer. She is now municipal advisor to the presiding mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi. Biography Fabre, born i ...
started her career in 1961 as an announcer on the channel and served until December 1963. In 1963, the channel
rebranded Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...
to TMC, with
Jacques Antoine Jacques Antoine (14 March 1924 – 14 September 2012) was a French creator and producer of game shows. His most famous creations include '' Treasure Hunt'', ''Interceptor'', '' Fort Boyard'', and ''The Crystal Maze''. Personal life Jacques Anto ...
becoming director of programs, a position he held until 1977. The gameshow creator installed several games including The Mysterious Object, precursor of the Schmilblick. The channel's schedule was made up of games, new series and evening films. Unlike French television, all advertising was permitted except tobacco and alcohol. From 1967, Jean Frydman administered the SSE controlling Télé Monte-Carlo before taking over the management of the channel two years later. In June 1970, having become boss of Télé Monte Carlo, Jean Frydman decided to create another private commercial television called “ Canal 10”, which should be a distinct version of the Monegasque channel. Although after the departure of De Gaulle, the new President of the Republic, Georges Pompidou, seems rather favorable to new television channels, the file will remain at the project stage. In 1969, Jean-Pierre Foucault, still a young radio host, made his debut on TMC to present a set show. Jean Frydman takes over the management of Télé Monte-Carlo and in order to supply the schedule, he becomes the owner of a rich catalog of films. He therefore wanted to create the first national commercial television channel in France at the beginning of the 1970s. The economic model consisted of exploiting the substantial television advertising market which was very little exploited by the public service ORTF; inspired by the British BBC-ITV television model. Thus, Frydman initiated the “ Canal 10” project consisting of extending the broadcast of TMC in 625 UHF lines over a large southern half of France up to Paris and received the support of the French Minister of Finance, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. However, this project will never see the light of day because President Georges Pompidou, a fierce supporter of the ORTF monopoly, is opposed to it. Likewise, in 1971, during the battle between the PAL and SÉCAM standards in Italy, French industrialists suggested to President Pompidou to authorize TMC to broadcast in Italian and in color using the SÉCAM standard towards Rome and the Italian coast, from the powerful ORTF transmitter in Bastia, to encourage Italians to massively purchase SÉCAM standard receivers and better penetrate this market. Once again, the President of the Republic refuses. Technical tests in SÉCAM color intended for Italy took place in June 1971 with the establishment of channel 35 UHF, broadcast to standard G with a power of 50 kW. After several tests, in 1973 TMC experimentally broadcast some programs in Italian on this channel, which subsequently became Tele Monte Carlo in 1974.


TMC in color, still under Sofirad (1973-1987)

On December 24, 1973 (Christmas Eve) TMC finally offered to its viewers, its first color broadcasts to the French standard SÉCAM L/L', both on channel 10 of the VHF band converted from the 819-line standard, in the 625-line format, receivable from Saint-Tropez to Menton and on the new channel 30 of the UHF band, whose reception area is much smaller, from Cannes to Menton. Officially created to meet the needs of the strong Italian community living in the Principality, an Italian version of Télé Monte-Carlo was put on the air on August 5, 1974, broadcasting from Monaco. On January 15, 1975, the board of directors of Télé Monte-Carlo under the aegis of Jean Frydman decided to broadcast TMC in Italy, in the Milan region, from a transmitter located in Corsica. The signal must comply with the French “L” standard and the Sécam color standard. According to the press, this project is very close to the “Canal 10” file, already developed by Frydman in 1970. From 1976 to 1980, Henri de France participated in the establishment and operation of the Télé Monte-Carlo retransmission network in Italy. In December 1976, Europe 1 (Images et Son company) acquired 22% of the shares in the Société Spéciale d'Entreprise (S.S.E.) which operated the station Télé-Monte-Carlo, previously held by the magazine Jours de France. Thus, Europe 1 controls the majority (54%) of the capital of Télé Monte-Carlo, the other participants being Publicis S.A. (27.5%) and the Principality of Monaco (18.5%). In May 1981, the political change in France significantly modified the audiovisual context. The French law of July 29, 1982 on audiovisual communication establishes a prior authorization regime for broadcasting on French territory. In 1983, following the definitive shutdown of the 819 black and white line network of TF1 converted by TDF to the "L" standard 625 color lines for the upcoming broadcast of the pay channel
Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
, the broadcast of VHF channel 10 of TMC was also replaced by channel 8 with the “L” standard, much more compatible with the majority of color televisions marketed at the time. On October 1, 1984, as a result of an agreement between Prince Rainier III and the
French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...
François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...
, TMC was able to be broadcast as far west as
Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
, France, tripling its coverage (2,7 million potential viewers from Montpelier to Menton). On December 18, 1985, the channel was distributed on French cable networks, upon their launch in Cergy-Pontoise. Gradually, its network is extended in certain French cities and on the cable networks of French-speaking Switzerland. The game shows, variety and information shows with multiple hosts and journalists, officiating both on RMC and TMC, confirm the channel's local and entertainment treatment throughout the first half of the 1980s, notably with Michel Daner, José Sacré, Carole Chabrier, Alice Jordi, Max Lafontaine and Nicole Cimadoré. However, the upheaval of the French audiovisual landscape following the arrival of the private national commercial channels Canal+ in 1984, then La Cinq and TV6 the following year, affected the Monegasque channel. This new competition directly affects TMC and RTL Télévision, who are now forced to share an inextensible advertising cake with their national competitors. Following the French legislative elections of March 1986, the government of Jacques Chirac began a policy of privatization that François Léotard, the new Minister of Communication, was responsible for implementing in the audiovisual sector. One of these files concerns the sale of state assets held by Sofirad, part of which concerns the radio station RMC and its television subsidiary TMC. François Léotard appoints his former chief of staff, Pierrick Borvo, to the general management of RMC, who enlists the services of Patrice Duhamel, to quickly create a more powerful, more competitive radio and television station in the “great South”, which would extend its coverage area. distribution as far as Bordeaux and Lyon, via Toulouse and Auvergne. Four buyers are interested in TMC: Jean-Claude Decaux and his partner Compagnie Générale des Eaux who are favored by Jacques Chirac, Claude Douce and his partners Mr. Leven, boss of Perrier and Mr. Descours, boss of André shoes, which are favored by François Léotard, James Goldsmith and Editions Mondiales and finally the Luxembourg Television Broadcasting Company. The last two, who are also applying for the takeover of La Cinq and the sixth channel whose transmitters in the south of France are almost non-existent, are interested in TMC for its broadcast coverage in this area and wish to make it a channel affiliated with a national network which would offer a supplement program through drop-out. According to this project, TMC would live on local and regional advertising revenues as well as a share of the national revenues of the network to which it would be affiliated. The Hachette group, which is competing for the takeover of TF1 in the process of being privatized, sold in February 1987 for a symbolic franc to RMC, the 30% held by its subsidiary Europe 1 Communication in the capital of TMC, refusing to pay for a year already. its share of the chain's deficit. From then on, Sofirad can auction this network, by completely withdrawing. The price of RMC and TMC is set at 600 million francs by a firm of independent experts. However, the Principality of Monaco was slow to approve the privatization specifications, as well as the complexity of RMC's capital and the interdependencies linking RMC, the principality and the French State, this operation did not take place. It remained sine die for the first time in 1988.


Crossing the desert (partnership with M6, creation of MCM, 1988 - 1993)

From this period, TMC began five years of financial difficulties, with programs and investors becoming rare; this context forced it from the beginning of 1987 to reduce its original program schedule from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 6:15 p.m. to 8 p.m. Coming from RTL Télévision, Michèle Navadic was recruited as program director, to completely rebuild the schedule and launch new games and shows for the 6:15 p.m. - 8 p.m. broadcast time. Thus, we discover Musicolles, Téléphot', Des clips et des claps, Plein tube, Magasin Magazine, Via l'école, MC Monaco, Please show me our stories, Animalement Vôtre and TMC Sport. Many future star television presenters in France started on the Monegasque channel during this period: Marc Toesca, Valérie Payet, Caroline Avon and Nagui. From Ascension Thursday, May 12, 1988, at 9 a.m., TMC transmitters retransmitted from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. the new French national commercial channel M6. TMC programs broadcast from 6:15 p.m. to 8 p.m. only take the form of a daily break from the M6 schedule. Established for economic reasons, this partnership allowed the two competing channels to temporarily unify their resources22. Outside of Marseille, M6 did not have transmitters to effectively cover the entire south of France at the time. Thirteen months later, on July 1, 1989, M6 having been able to deploy its own transmitters in the south of France, the broadcast partnership with TMC ceased. Télé Monte-Carlo, whose own resources are henceforth limited to broadcasting only in the evening, put on the air from July 1, 1989, the new program “Monte-Carlo Musique” (or MCM Euromusique), a musical schedule created by Europe 1 Communication and Télé Monte-Carlo26. MCM is broadcast all day on its antenna, except in the evening when TMC broadcasts its own programs. This reformatting of the antenna allows TMC to increase its broadcasting via French cable networks, as the only French music channel, after the removal of TV6, supplemented by satellite broadcasting using the D2MAC standard, on TDF-1/TDF2. Lagardère SCA, which controls MCM through Europe 1 Communication, decided in 1992 to make this musical program a theme musical channel in its own right, broadcast on cable in France and from November 14, 1992, on the new bouquet broadcast on the Télécom 2 satellite entitled CanalSatellite, of which it is a co-shareholder with Canal+. From the end of the summer of 1992 and the end of the takeover of MCM, the TMC channel was once again confronted with the question of the cost of its program schedule in the face of an audience which collapsed following the departure of MCM . TMC then only broadcasts in the afternoon between 2 p.m. and 11 p.m. with a local newspaper at 6:55 p.m., two dramas at 8:30 p.m. and multi series broadcast in the afternoon (Derrick, Arnold & Willy, etc.). The rest of the antenna is a still image on a green background, announcing the day's upcoming programs, with Nostalgie radio on the soundtrack. In March 1992, despite three takeover proposals made by Havas, Alcatel and NRJ, the Monegasque government preferred to postpone indefinitely the privatization of RMC (and its television subsidiary TMC), for insufficient price.Monaco renouvelle le contrat de concession de RMC pour vingt ans, Les Échos n° 16782, 30 November1994
/ref> Since the beginning of the 1980s, RMC has made increasingly significant financial contributions to its television subsidiary, the cumulative amount of which reached 291.8 million francs at the end of 1993 according to a report from the Court of Auditors. The debts of RMC and its subsidiary TMC were settled during 1994, under the following conditions: the Monegasque government having bought the RMC building for a “total price” of 385 million francs, a first waiver of debt was granted on March 29 for an amount of 13.5 million francs, a second on November 29 for 202.3 MF to which was added the reduction from 82.1 MF to 38.1 MF of the share of liabilities in TMC falling to the Principality, the latter in turn abandoning its claim. RMC is also handing over its stake in SSE Télé Monte-Carlo to Sofirad for 40 million francs, which will now be 50% owned by Sofirad and 50% by the Principality of Monaco. Thus TMC is now officially separated from RMC's capital and a third entity Monte-Carlo Radiodiffusion (MCR) is created to manage Monegasque transmitters and frequencies.


The regional and theme channel phase (Monégasque des ondes, Canal+ group, end of 1993-2001)

AB Groupe and Fidimages, a subsidiary of the Compagnie Générale d'Images belonging to Générale des Eaux, together founded the “Monegasque Program Company of Ondes” (MDO) and signed an agreement on September 14, 1993, with the Monegasque government concessionaire (the SSE). Télé Monte-Carlo) to ensure delegated production of the channel's programs and benefit from advertising revenue. Générale d'images becomes operator of the channel through its subsidiary MDO and aims through this agreement to transform TMC into a major general French cable channel of which it is one of the main operators. Programs are therefore broadcast from La Plaine Saint-Denis, via the AB Groupe management. On October 1, 1993, La Monégasque des Ondes entrusted Ellipse Cable, a subsidiary of Canal+ specializing in the creation of thematic channels and original programs for cable, with the task of reviewing all of the channel's programming and providing the program elements allowing to ensure all scheduled broadcasting hours. Making a clean sweep of the past, the channel was launched on October 13, 1993, at 11:30 a.m. with a completely redesigned name, programming and design, after only three weeks of preparation. Ellipse Cable and its general manager Michel Thoulouze, aim for the return of La Cinq which disappeared on April 12, 1992, no longer on the French national terrestrial network but via the French cable networks and Monegasque terrestrial television broadcasting (and surrounding areas), under the name of Monte-Carlo TMC. The new program was put on the air in October 1993, with a graphic design mixing marble and velvet. The program appears to be both family-friendly, without violent content, with warm, glamorous hosts, relaying events in the Principality and Monte-Carlo and cultivating a Southern accent. Production extends to eighteen hours of original regional programs per week and a claimed opening to “the Mediterranean world”. The voice of actor Didier Gircourt, heard in the TF1 promos, is then chosen to present the programs; he will remain the voice and pen of the channel's promos until 2001. The channel benefits from part of the Canal+ group's film catalog and many new shows are put on the air, at the helm of which are several famous French presenters to embody the channel. Thirty years after her departure, Denise Fabre returns to TMC to present Boléro, the glamorous magazine filmed in the principality, Michel Cardoze leaves every Sunday to discover the great South in his magazine SUD, Stéphane Paoli hosts Télé TV every evening and Patrick Sabatier receives every evening a guest, on the show Durant la pubd. In July 1995, Canal+ and the German group CLT-UFA jointly took over 47.5% of the capital of Monégasque des ondes (MDO) from Générale d'images, a subsidiary of Générale des eaux, which retained 47.5%, while AB Groupe retains the remaining 5%. Successfully reformatted two years ago by Michel Thoulouze, TMC nevertheless still loses money like all thematic channels with the exception of Planète. Monte-Carlo TMC, the channel from the South, has chosen to position itself as “all audiences” with a tone that aims to be warm and a strong regional coloring in its programs, an essential family theme network positioning in the medium-term composition of future digital packages on satellite, which amply justified the investment, according to the management of the Canal+ group. In addition to its local terrestrial and cable broadcast in France, the Monte-Carlo TMC signal is present on 80% of cable networks in French-speaking Switzerland and is also retransmitted encrypted, in the new CanalSatellite satellite bouquet in analog on Telecom 2B, extending thus its distribution area throughout mainland France and overseas. As during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the channel provides media coverage of major events in the Principality, including the ceremonies of the 700th anniversary of the Grimaldi dynasty in 1997 (broadcast in Eurovision) or the Monaco Formula 1 grand prix. The channel found a wider audience and reached 3% market share and was placed in 1997, according to Médiamétrie, in 3rd place among cable and satellite channels (after RTL9 and Eurosport), it was 4th in 1998. The format developed by Michel Thoulouze for “Monte-Carlo TMC” will remain almost unchanged for 9 years from 1993 to 2002, it will confirm popular success and establish the national notoriety of the channel. Before obtaining a national digital terrestrial license, its French transmitter network operated in
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
on channels 35 and 51;
Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...
on channel 33;
Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...
on channel 57 and Nimes on channel 58.


The channel becomes national (2002-2004)

In January 2002, the
Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...
group acquired 50% of SSE Télé Monte-Carlo through the purchase of shares in Sofirad, which was finally put into liquidation by the French State. In March 2002, the Canal+ Group left the capital of Monégasque des ondes (MDO) and recovered the Pathé Sport channel following an exchange of shares with the Pathé group.Pathé et le Groupe Canal+ viennent de signer des accords portant sur le capital et sur le management des sociétés Pathé Sport et Monégasque des Ondes
/ref> Pathé also obtained the agreement of the Monegasque government to increase its stake to 80% in SSE Télé Monte-Carlo, which is now in a position to apply for the allocation of a French national frequency for digital terrestrial television. The Pathé group thus becomes the operator of Monte-Carlo TMC and wishes to give it a more youthful tone. In fact, the channel's audience is relatively elderly, which has a negative impact on advertising targeting. A new look was adopted in March 2002. The name of the channel became simply TMC and the programming focused more on the broadcast of fiction each evening. However, the success was not there and the audience was degraded. In 2002, the new deputy general director and program director Gérald-Brice Viret initiated a policy aimed at reconnecting with the "glorious era" and establishing the credibility of TMC as a generalist channel. This transfer is intended to prepare the application that Pathé intended to present to the CSA, with a view to obtaining a channel on the next French digital terrestrial television. TMC moved to the Quai Antoine-Ier in the immediate vicinity of the port of Monaco in new studios built for this purpose. On June 17, 2002, the Pathé group presented an application to obtain a national channel for the channel. On March 21, 2003, the channel again rebranded, a year after the previous unsatisfactory attempt. TMC gets a 3D look considered more modern and a new name, TMC Monte-Carlo. On-set shows with guests are returning to the air, such as Tout Nouveau Tout Beau, hosted from the Parisian Pathé studios by Christophe Ruault, from the Voyage channel. Claude Belleï is named director of information; he installed the weekly national political magazine 15 minutes pour le dire and a regional news magazine. Several cult series aired, including Hercule Poirot, and films from the Pathé catalog. Finally, the channel resumed live coverage of the Principality's major events; national holidays, automobile Grand Prix, AS Monaco matches) and in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, international pétanque tournament and beach volleyball. On June 10, 2003, TMC Monte Carlo was selected by the CSA to be broadcast unencrypted on national channel no. 10 of the free TNT offer. This situation allows it to benefit from satisfactory national coverage of French territory from its launch on TNT on March 31, 2005, at 6:05 p.m. and to compete with other general channels. However, on February 10, 2005, a few months before the launch of national TNT, and while the channel celebrated its 50th anniversary with pomp over an entire weekend by recounting the memories of its successive hosts and broadcasting a number of images of archives tracing its history, the Pathé group decided to withdraw from the audiovisual sector. He resold his shares in the channel, i.e. 80%, for nearly 50 million euros to the TF1 group (40%) and the AB group (40%) which became operators, the Principality of Monaco retaining 20% of the capital.


Main generalist channel of digital terrestrial television (TF1 management, since 2005)

The channel was owned jointly by the
TF1 Group TF1 Group () is a French media holding company. Its best-known property is the broadcast network TF1. The group was formed after TF1 was privatized in April 1987 in which the channel was launched back on January 6 1975 twelve years prior. It is ...
(40%), the
AB Groupe Mediawan Thematics (formerly known as AB Groupe) is a French television channel business and audiovisual distribution group in the field of broadcasting that is owned by Mediawan. History Mediawan Thematics had its roots under the name of AB P ...
(40%) and the
Government of Monaco The politics of Monaco take place within the framework of a semi-constitutional monarchy, with the Prince of Monaco as head of state, with some powers devolved to several advisory and legislative bodies. Constitution Historically, the prince ...
(20%). In 2010, TF1 Group bought AB Group's shares, and in June 2016 became the sole shareholder of the channel after acquiring the Government of
Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
's shares. Until 1995, TMC was a member of the
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...
as a part of Radio Monte-Carlo (RMC). Until 2022, the Monégasque membership was held by Groupement de Radiodiffuseurs Monégasques (GRMC), a joint organisation comprising Monte-Carlo Radiodiffusion (RMC) and Radio Monte Carlo (RMC). Since October 2022, TMC, as well as the free DTT channels of the TF1 Group, have been accessible free to air via the Astra 1 satellite. This broadcast follows a temporary interruption in encrypted broadcasting for Canal+ and TNTSAT subscribers following a commercial dispute. However, despite the resumption of encrypted broadcasts within the Canal+ and TNTSAT packages, this free-to-air broadcasting continues. TMC is therefore received free of charge in almost all of Continental Europe and the North African countries.


Logos

File:TMC new.svg, 16 February 2009 – 12 September 2016 File:TMC logo.jpg, 12 September 2016 – present


Programming

TMC shows a variety of programmes, including many imports. It also produces much original programming that include news magazines, cooking shows, and talk shows, including: *''SUD'': A cultural programme focusing on Monaco and the South of France, aired every Sunday. *''Monacoscope'': A weekly summary programme presenting the latest news of politics, sports and the monarchy of Monaco, aired every Saturday. *''TMC Info'': A programme presenting the latest news of politics, sports and the monarchy of Monaco, airs daily. *''Notre région'': A news magazine focussing on political, cultural and economic news of the French region of
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...


TV shows

*''
Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. It first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV (TV network), ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United St ...
'' *'' Saving Grace'' *'' Les filles d'à côté'' *''
Undercover Boss ''Undercover Boss'' is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working u ...
'' *''
MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...
'' *''
The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American Action television, action television series that ran on NBC from January 23, 1983, to March 8, 1987, about a fictional team of former United States Army Special Forces who work as mercenaries while on the run from ...
'' *''
Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...
'' *''
Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei ALARM (Air Launched Anti-Radiation Missile) is a British anti-radiation missile designed primarily to destroy enemy radars for the purpose of Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD). It was used by the RAF and is still used by the Royal Saudi ...
'' *''
Army Wives ''Army Wives'' is an American drama television series that followed the lives of four army wives, one army husband, and their families. The series premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007, and ran for seven seasons, ending on June 9, 2013. The sh ...
'' *'' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' *'' Eleventh Hour'' *''
Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', or simply ''Poirot'' (), is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2020. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie's famous crime fiction series, wh ...
'' *''
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes ''The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes'' is the final set of twelve (out of a total of fifty-six) Sherlock Holmes short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle first published in the ''Strand Magazine'' between October 1921 and April 1927. T ...
'' *''
The Return of Sherlock Holmes ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1905 collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903–1904, by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the ''Strand Magazine'' in Britain and ''Collier's'' ...
'' *''
Agatha Christie's Marple ''Agatha Christie's Marple'' (or simply ''Marple'') is a British ITV television programme loosely based on books and short stories by British crime novelist Agatha Christie. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first t ...
'' *''
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes ''The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published late in 1893 with 1894 date. It was first published in the UK by G. Newnes Ltd., and was published in the US by Harper ...
'' *''
Une femme d'honneur Une is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is located at an altitude of at a distance of from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Chipaque in the nort ...
'' *''
Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'' *''
Psych ''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened o ...
'' *''
Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
'' *'' Sherlock Yack: Zoo Detective''


Sports programing


Association football

*
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
**
FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...
until 2022 (selected UEFA team (excluding France team) matches (shared with TFX, W9, and
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...
), France matches live on
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
(including
finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
tournament) and M6) **
FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...
(selected matches at the finals tournament only, co-licensed with
Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
) *
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
until 2022 (except for Men's Nations League and Women's Champions League until 2021) ** Men's ***
UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...
(selected qualifiers not involving France team only (shared with TFX, W9, and
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...
), selected qualifiers and finals (including France team matches) live on
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
and M6) ***
UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...
(selected matches (including Finals and excluding France team) (shared with
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...
(group stage only), TFX, and W9), France matches live on
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
and M6) *** Friendly matches (selected matches (including one
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
team in June 2019) (shared with TFX, W9 and
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...
), France matches live on
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
and M6) ** Women's ***
UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...
(selected matches at the finals tournament only, co-licensed with
Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
) ***
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
(final only, licensed from
Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
)


Motorsport

*
Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
( Monaco GP only, French GP and other two races live on
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
, licensed from
Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
)


Rugby

*
Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...
(shared with
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
in 2019)


Handball

* IHF Men's and Women's World Championships (France matches at the finals tournament that not aired by
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
only (if qualified) until 2025, licensed from
beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its ...
) * EHF Men's and Women's European Championships (France matches at the finals tournament that not aired by
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
only (if qualified) until 2024, licensed from
beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its ...
)


Tennis

*
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
(France matches only from 2019 Finals, licensed from
beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its ...
)


References


External links


www.tf1.fr/tmc
– official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Tele Monte Carlo Television in Monaco Television stations in France French-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 1954 European Broadcasting Union members 1954 establishments in Monaco TF1 Group