France 24, the French public TV station of international information, will launch in 2017 its version in Spanish language. The President of the French Republic, François Hollande, has announced the engagement of France to make this release on the occasion of his state visit to Argentina on Wednesday February 24, in the presence of the President of the Argentina Nation, Mauricio Macri.
This launch will be the culmination of a process of reflection with the French public powers, driven from the moment of her functions taken by Marie-Christine Saragosse, Monde (RFI, France 24, Monte Carlo Doualiya) to allow France 24, acquire a fourth language, which is common to most of the inhabitants of an entire continent (including his taking office by Marie-Christine Saragosse, President and CEO of France Médias Monde (RFI, France 24, Monte Carlo Doualiya), to allow France 24, to equip itself with a fourth language, which is common to most of the inhabitants of an entire continent (including Brazil, where Spanish is the second most spoken language), and that has already now has 500 million speakers in the world, in addition to being one of the languages most used on the Internet and social networks.
This proximity to the continent and this opening to the world shall be recorded in a high reactivity thanks to the news broadcast at the beginning of every hour and at every half hour sharp. Reference existing programmes on France 24 in French, English and Arabic versions will also be proposed to Spanish-speaking viewers.
France 24 in Spanish will also decline in the digital realm (website, mobile applications, social networks …) to provide greater accessibility and interactivity to all audiences.
The Spanish version of France 24 will feature an editorial implanted in Latin America and integrated by a multinational team, supported by a vast network of correspondents spread across the continent. This network of correspondents will work in direct contact with another team based in Paris and in charge of the topics “France” and “International”; it will be on the other hand, favoured by the expertise of the editors in Spanish of Radio France Internationale (RFI), which represents a major advantage for the success of the project.
The transmission of France 24 in Spanish will benefit from distribution agreements already concluded for the versions in French and English of the network in Latin America. Broadcast in Spanish will also allow to develop its presence in synergy in terms of visibility and communication with the FM 400 radio network and partners in Spanish available to RFI in this region of the world.