France Télévisions to End Daily Zapping Show "Vu" on June 30

Overview

• Multiple outlets report that France 5’s short daily zapping show "Vu" will stop broadcasting on June 30 and that production teams were told of the decision last week.
• France Télévisions frames the move as a cost-saving measure tied to a wider austerity drive that has required millions in budget reductions and several recent programme cuts.
• Press accounts say the closure affects a small core staff and freelancers, with Télérama and other outlets reporting four permanent employees and about thirteen intermittent contributors as those named by colleagues.
• The broadcaster has not made a public statement with detailed figures and has not disclosed how much it expects to save by ending the programme.
• "Vu" was launched in January 2017 as the public-service successor to Canal+’s long-running "Zapping," and its end will remove one of the last short-format television watchpieces that reviewed and critiqued broadcast media content.