History of Television Around the World - France

About the history of television in the world and in France, the French networks, censorship of programs.

Television around the World

FRANCE

France has 2 channels now, with another expected by 1976, and these networks work together producing complementary schedules: A thriller is screened on one channel, for instance, while a documentary is broadcast on the other. To deal with censorship, the French have developed the rectangle blanc method: the projection of a small white rectangle in one corner of the screen whenever an "adults only" program is being televised. Ideally, this method leaves censorship where it belongs: in the hands of the viewers of France's 12 1/2 million television sets.