Editing France 24 (section)

===Birth (2006–2008)===
The launch of the channel was made official after a statement to the cabinet of the [[Minister of Culture (France)#Names of the Ministry of Culture|Ministry of Culture and Communication]], headed by [[Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres]] on 30 November 2005, "The project of the International French News Channel (abbreviated in French to '''CFII''')[...] will allow us to propose our own country's vision of world events and to reinforce its presence in the world."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikiwix.com/cache/?url=http://elysee.fr/elysee/elysee.fr/francais/salle_de_presse/communiques_du_conseil_des_ministres/2005/novembre/communique_du_conseil_des_ministres_du_30_11_2005.33186.html&title=communiqu%C3%A9%20officiel%20du%20Conseil%20des%20ministres|title=Statement by the Ministry of Culture and Communication (Archive)|date=30 November 2005 }}</ref>

Alain de Pouzilhac, former CEO of Havas, was named president, along with two deputies, one each from group partners TF1 and France Télévisions.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin declared that CFII, against the wishes of TF1, would be broadcast within mainland France.<ref>[http://www.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/071/article_39709.asp "Financée par l'argent public, il est légitime qu'elle soit diffusée en France"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520100930/http://www.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/071/article_39709.asp |date=20 May 2013 }}. Radio France International. 9 November 2005. (French)</ref> However, TF1 wished to launch its news channel LCI onto the digital terrestrial platform. In order to placate TF1, CFII was due to be broadcast via satellite and cable.

On 22 April 2006, ''Le Monde'' announced that the managers of the forthcoming channel found its initial name difficult to pronounce ('''CFII''', in French pronounced as ''C-F-I-I'' or ''C-F-2-I'').<ref>[http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0%2C1-0%2C36-764014%2C0.html Article published online, ''Le Monde'' (Paris). (Paid article) (Archive)]{{dead link|date=July 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} (French), 23 February 2008</ref> A new name was announced on 30 June 2006, "France 24" (pronounced "France vingt-quatre"). This decision was taken by the supervisory board, chaired by France Télévision president Patrick de Carolis, who made the choice from a list of five potential names.

France 24 launched on 6 December 2006 at 20:30 [[Central European Time|CET]], initially available online as a web stream, followed by satellite distribution a day later, covering France and the rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the United States (specifically airing in [[New York State]] and the [[District of Columbia]] using two channels: one in English and the other in French). Since April 2007 the channel increased its reach, airing programmes in Arabic for viewers in the [[Maghreb]], North Africa and the Middle East. {{Citation needed|date=February 2020}}

Two months after launch, a survey conducted by [[Taylor Nelson Sofres|TNS Sofres]] indicated that 75% of respondents in France questioned thought France 24 was "useful and essential",<ref>Survey published in ''[[Metro International#Europe|Métro]]'', 16 February 2007.</ref> but questions have arisen concerning the France 24 name being too Franco-centric for an international news channel.<ref>[http://wikiwix.com/cache/?url=http://agora.qc.ca/francophonie.nsf/Dossiers/Television&title=commentaire%20du%20politologue%20Marc%20Chevrier "France24, ou le splendide isolement audiovisuel de la France"], Marc Chevrier, Professor of Political Science, [[Université du Québec à Montréal]]. ''Encyclopédie de la Francophonie''. Retrieved 16 October 2007.</ref>

====State takes over====
In 2008 [[Groupe TF1]] ceded its share in the channel to a government-owned holding company, '''Société de l'audiovisuel extérieur de la France''' '''(AEF)''', whilst conversely committing to producing programmes for the channel until 2015.

Despite the launch of France 24, the fragmentation of public broadcasting overseas continues. The total budget for external broadcasting from France totalled 300 million euro each year. Following the election of [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] as president in May 2007, a "steering committee" of twenty members was called in with view to reform in June 2007. President Sarkozy called on [[Bernard Kouchner]] and [[Christine Albanel]], respectively [[Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (France)|Foreign Minister]] and [[Minister of Culture (France)|Culture Minister]] to reform the current system. The proposition of reform was met with concern from Belgium, Switzerland and Canada/[[Québec]], as the public broadcasters involved in [[TV5Monde|TV5]] (of which the French government holds a 49% share whilst the three aforementioned countries hold 11% each) consider TV5 to be a promoter of the wider French-language world.<ref>"Audiovisuel extérieur. Une réforme au forceps", Daniel Psenny, ''Le Monde'' (Paris). 11 October 2007, p. 23.</ref> Just one month after France 24's launch, TV5 renamed itself [[TV5Monde]].

As published in the ''Journal Officiel de la République Française'' of 23 January 2009, a Decree for 23 January 2009 appeared, "authorising the company '''France Télévisions''' to cede its share in the capital of the France 24 company".<ref>[http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000020166732&dateTexte=&categorieLien=id Legifrance.gouv.fr]. 9 April 2009.</ref> The same Decree transferred its share to the ''Société de l'audiovisuel extérieur de la France'' '''(AEF)''', which made AEF sole shareholder of France 24, for the sum of 4 million euro.<ref>[http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000020166734&dateTexte=&categorieLien=id Legifrance.gouv.fr]. 9 April 2009.</ref>