13 - Télévision, la quête de l’indépendance
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Jamil Dakhlia
On Behalf of the Audience: the Influence of TV Guides on French Television
Le Temps des médias n°13, Hiver 2009-2010, p. 171-184.
Through a history of the links between French television and TV listings magazines, this article aims at defining the circumstances in which those periodicals alternatively support and deter French TV. From their appearance in 1950 until the mid-60s, French TV guides help foster the commercial development of the brand-new medium, through a tone of technological prophecy. Then, for two decades, they consistently campaign against the network, relaying complaints from viewers neglected by the institution. But once the French television opens itself to the private sector, their rhetoric is disqualified by the ratings race when it comes to representing the viewers’ interests. With the exception of Télérama, all the more as they develop commercial and financial ties with the various networks. However, since the mid-2000s, growing competition in both sectors somewhat reactivates the TV guides’ acute criticism.