Big shake-up on television: channels change their numbers

This is an unprecedented upheaval in the world of television for twenty years: starting next Friday, June 6, many channels are changing their numbers – including the continuous news channels, grouped from 13 to 16 – and another one is making its debut, T18 . The vast majority of televisions will automatically update their numbering during the night from Thursday to Friday, or will offer it when they are switched on on the day. In rare cases, it will be necessary to carry out an automatic search manually.

These are, above all, new habits for viewers to adopt, which the channels have anticipated with information campaigns in recent weeks. This major shift stems from the shutdown of digital terrestrial television (DTT) channels C8 and NRJ12 at the end of February . This opened the possibility of a more logical reordering of the channels, decided by Arcom, the audiovisual regulator.

The so-called historic channels are not affected, however. The most spectacular change is the creation of a block dedicated to continuous news: the leaders BFM TV and CNews, previously numbers 15 and 16, will move up to 13 and 14. LCI (channel 26) and France Info (27) will take places 15 and 16. Increased competition is looming in this field of news, which is not making everyone happy, especially BFMTV, which is losing its established position and has already been dethroned in recent months in terms of audience figures by CNews.

The evolution of these four numbers is possible because the public channels LCP and Public Sénat, which currently share channel 13, will jump to number 8. And France 4, the youth and cultural channel of France Télévisions, will leave number 14 to replace Canal + on 4. Thus France 2, France 3, France 4 and France 5 will follow each other on the zappette.

The logos of France 2, France 3, France 4 and France 5 will, however, disappear from the airwaves from June 6 and will be replaced by the "single media brand" france.tv, announced the president of the public group, Delphine Ernotte Cunci . Canal has decided to withdraw its four pay channels from DTT (Canal +, Canal + Cinéma, Canal + Sport, Planète), in response in particular to the non-renewal of the C8 frequency, which belonged to it.

Gulli, the M6 ​​group's children's channel, will swap number 18 for number 12, vacated by NRJ12. In December, Arcom rejected C8 and NRJ12, selecting two new channels: one created by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's CMI France group, and the other by Ouest-France.

The first, dubbed T18, will be launched with great fanfare on June 6 on Channel 18, the second, NOVO19, on Channel 19 starting September 1. Led by Christopher Baldelli, T18 will press the on button at 7:45 p.m. on Friday with former France 2 star Laurent Ruquier, who will present the schedule. The new channel promises to be "the TV that has fun thinking."

Several other channels have been forced to rethink their offerings, notably France 4, which wants to focus more on families. This general change is a first since the creation of DTT in 2005, as until then, the latest arrivals received the latest issues. Arcom has conducted consultations with the channels on this subject, which remains crucial despite increasing viewing of programs via platforms. Being among the first is considered an advantage for audiences: the lower a number, the more quickly it is found on the remote control. The first waves of audience measurements will therefore be closely scrutinized.

C8, which was the channel of the controversial presenter Cyril Hanouna , as well as NRJ12, had contested their exclusion from TNT before the Council of State, in vain. Owned by the Canal + group, in the bosom of the conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, C8 had accumulated 7.6 million euros in fines due to the excesses of the leader of the TPMP show. Cyril Hanouna will host two new daily shows focused on entertainment from September 1st, Tout beau tout 9 on W9, and Tout beau tout Fun on Fun Radio.

19: Novo 19 (as of September 1, 2025)