TF1 is stepping up its celebrations for its half-century of existence, including a special evening, “TF1, 50 years together”, this Tuesday January 21. But some memories are more embarrassing than others…
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, TF1 pulled out all the stops in 2025. From January 6, the anniversary of its creation, the first channel broadcast a special report in the 20 Heures program to launch a series of celebrations marking its half-year anniversary. century of existence. The highlight of the show will be the event documentary TF1, 50 years together, scheduled for Tuesday, January 21, from 9:10 p.m. Presented by Isabelle Ithurburu and Gilles Bouleau, it will retrace 50 years of news and cult shows. Viewers will be able to relive classic moments, from the victory of the Blues in 1998 commented on by Thierry Roland to the storm of the century, including the death of Lady Di on September 11 and the fire at Notre-Dame.
This retrospective will also highlight the channel’s historical figures. Nikos Aliagas, Denis Brogniart, Evelyne Dheliat, Arthur and Jean-Pierre Foucault will be there with poignant archive images or unpublished memories. Another highly anticipated moment: a bonus Thank you Dorothy!scheduled for Friday January 24, tribute to the star host of the 80s and 90s. Surrounded by prestigious guests, she will remember the epic of Dorothée Clubwhich left its mark on generations of children.
A tutelary figure absent from TF1’s 50th anniversary
However, a big name will be missing from these celebrations and TF1 has already publicly regretted it. It is about Jean-Pierre Pernautdied in March 2022, at the age of 71. For 33 years at the helm of 13 Heures, the star journalist of TF1 brought together an average of 5 million faithful every day with a newspaper focused on proximity. A success story stopped by illness. A cancer which deprives the channel of a “JPP” that many fans would have liked to find. Among the multiple videos published by TF1 on its website on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, Jean-Pierre Pernaut is the emblematic figure most cited by the public to embody the channel, with Christophe Dechavanne, Jean-Pierre Foucault or the late also Thierry Roland.
But another historical figure of TF1, a colleague of Jean-Pierre Pernaut moreover, was hidden as much as possible during the approximately 2h30 of the documentary TF1, 50 years together. This is Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, emblematic presenter of the 20 Hours of TF1 for 21 years. It must be said that PPDA has, since 2021, been the subject of numerous testimonies from complainants, accusing it of rape and sexual assault. More than 50 women have today testified in court and 25 complaints have been filed, including at least 13 for rape.
A delicate montage to erase the former star presenter
Visibly embarrassed, the front page was not able to completely erase its former star journalist. PPDA appears three times in TF1, 50 years togetheras indicated The Parisian : in images of the 1988 presidential election, the Tian’anmen Square demonstrations in 1989 and the 2004 tsunami. The voice of Patrick Poivre d’Arvor is also present in a handful of sequences, “but we feel that the channel racked its brains to provide the minimum service and find stratagems to avoid seeing it appear on the screen”, writes the daily again.
Gilles Bouleau was even forced to make a laconic but evocative comment: “Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, whom you saw, is today the subject of several legal proceedings for rape and sexual assault”, specifies the one who succeeded PPDA in a fleeting sequence.
Looking TF1, 50 years together tonight, there is no doubt that many will have a moving thought for Jean-Pierre Pernault, but some will also feel this already palpable embarrassment regarding PPDA. A half-hearted fiftieth anniversary, without two tutelary figures who will have meant so much to the television giant.