View source for France 5

{{short description|French public television channel}}
{{Distinguish|France Five|La Cinq}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox television channel
| name = France 5
| logo = [[File:France 5 - logo 2018.svg|250px|class=skin-invert]]
| logo_size = 220px
| logo_caption = Logo used since 2018
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|1994|12|13|df=y}}
| founder = [[Claude Lemoine]]<br />[[Jean-Marie Cavada]]
| closed_date = <!-- {{End date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} -->
| picture_format = [[1080i]] [[HDTV]]<br />(downscaled to [[16:9]] [[576i]] for the [[SDTV]] feed)
| country = France
| headquarters = [[Paris]], France
| owner = [[France Télévisions]]
| language = [[French language|French]]
| replaced = [[La Cinq]] (1986–1992)
| former_names = La Cinquième (1994–2002)
| sister_channels = [[France 2]]<br />[[France 3]]<br />[[France 4]]<br />[[France Info (TV channel)|France Info]]
| website = {{URL|www.france.tv/france-5}}
| terr_serv_1 = [[Digital terrestrial television|TNT]]
| terr_chan_1 = Channel 5
| terr_serv_2 = [[Digital terrestrial television|TNT]] in Overseas France
| terr_chan_2 = Channel 5 or 6 or 7
| online_serv_1 = [[FilmOn]]
| online_chan_1 = [http://www.filmon.com/tv/france-5 Watch live]
}}
'''France 5''' ({{IPA|fr|fʁɑ̃s sɛ̃k|lang}}) is a French [[free-to-air]] public television channel, part of the [[France Télévisions]] group. Principally featuring nonfiction and educational programming, the channel's motto is ''la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir'' (the knowledge network).

In contrast to the group's two main channels, [[France 2]] and [[France 3]], France 5 concentrates almost exclusively on factual programming, documentaries, and discussions – 3,925 hours of documentaries were broadcast in 2003<ref>{{cite web |title=Les 10 ans du succès pour France 5  |url=http://www.toutelatele.com/article.php3?id_article=4124 |date=13 December 2004 |work=Toutelatele |language=fr |access-date=17 July 2009}}</ref> – with fiction confined to one primetime slot of around two hours' duration on Monday evenings.

France 5 airs 24 hours a day. Earlier – before completion of the switchover to [[digital television|digital broadcasting]] on 29 November 2011 – the channel's [[analog television|analogue]] frequencies had carried the programmes of the Franco-German cultural channel [[Arte]] between 19.00 each evening and 3.00 the following morning.

==History==
It was launched on 28 March 1994 as a temporary channel under the name '''Télé emploi''' (Teleworking), more than one year after France's first privately owned free television channel, '''[[La Cinq]]''', suffered a financial collapse and ceased operations on 12 April 1992. La Cinquième started broadcasting on 13 December 1994 with a mix of small educational programs, during the hours not used by [[Arte]] (which launched less than 2 months after La Cinq's closure).

La Cinquième was integrated in the [[France Télévisions]] public holding in 2000, which gathered [[France 2]] and [[France 3]]; it would be eventually rebranded as '''France 5''' on 7 January 2002. France 5 broadcasting hours have been extended to 24 hours a day, initially available only on cable and satellite, and since spring 2005 on air within the new digital broadcasting multiplex "[[Télévision Numérique Terrestre#Multiplexes|R1]]" network that supports all national public TV channels. Analogue transmitters were switched off in 2011.

==Logos==
<gallery>
La Cinquième 1999.svg|Logo from 16 October 1999 till 6 January 2002
France-5-Logo.svg|Logo from 7 January 2002 till 7 April 2008
France 5 logo.png|Logo from 7 April 2008 till 29 January 2018
France 5 HD.svg|France 5 HD logo, 2011–2018
France 5 - logo 2018.svg|Logo from 29 January 2018
France 5 2018.svg|On-screen logo from 29 January 2018
</gallery>

==Subsidiary==
* '''La Cinquième Développement''' – former company, active from 1995 to 2001, wholly owned subsidiary of La Cinquième, responsible for managing telephone services, [[Minitel]], [[Internet]], [[Teletext]], and market a selection of programs of the chain on all media. These services were taken over by [[France Télévisions]] subsidiaries at the end of 2000.

== See also ==
* [[France Télévisions]]
* [[List of documentary channels]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.france5.fr/ Official Site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040802053729/http://france5.fr/ |date=2 August 2004 }} {{in lang|fr}}

{{France Télévisions}}
{{French television stations}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:France Télévisions|05]]
[[Category:French-language television stations]]
[[Category:Television stations in France]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1994]]
[[Category:Educational and instructional television channels]]
[[Category:1994 establishments in France]]