French services agree DTH switch-off
March 2, 2010
France's seven main legacy broadcasters – TF1, France 2, France 3, Canal +, France 5, Arte and M6 – have agreed to a simultaneous switching off of the analogue signal currently carried by Eutelsat's Atlantic Bird 3.
The move will coincide with the digital switchover of the last region in metropolitan France – Languedoc-Roussillon – scheduled for November 2011 for all channels, except Canal +, which has a specific timetable and may be in a position to bring forward the switch by a number of months.
All affected channels will be continue to be freely available – in addition to their digital terrestrial carriage – via digital satellite from two orbital positions: Astra 1 at 19.2 degrees East (TNTSAT) and Atlantic Bird 3 at 5 degrees West (FRANSAT). 24 regional variations of France 3 are also available.