members of parliament required, and which TF1, wanting to protect its own news channel LCI, could object to. Patrick Le Lay, president of TF1, gave his blessing for the channel to be broadcast domestically and wished the direction of the channel to alternate every six months between the two parties, and eventually a Supervisory Board devolved to France Télévisions. These few amendments needed new authorisation from the French and European authorities, obtained this time round without difficulty. Birth (2006–2008) The launch of the channel was made official after a statement to the cabinet of the Ministry of Culture and Communication, headed by Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres on 30 November 2005, "The project of the International French News Channel (abbreviated in French to CFII)[...] will allow us to propose our own country's vision of world events and to reinforce its presence in the world." Alain de Pouzilhac, former CEO of Havas, was named president, along with two deputies, one each from group partners TF1 and France Télévisions. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin declared that CFII, against the wishes of TF1, would be broadcast within mainland France. However, TF1 wished to launch its news channel LCI onto the digital terrestrial platform. In order to placate TF1, CFII was due to be broadcast via satellite and cable. On 22 April 2006, Le Monde announced that the managers of the forthcoming channel found its initial name difficult to pronounce (CFII, in French pronounced as C-F-I-I or C-F-2-I). A new name was announced on 30 June 2006, "France 24" (pronounced "France vingt-quatre"). This decision was taken by the Supervisory Board, chaired by France Télévision president Patrick de Carolis, who made the choice from a list of five potential names. France 24 launched on 6 December 2006 at 20:30 CET, initially available online as a web stream, followed by satellite distribution a day later, covering France and the rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the United States (specifically airing in New York State and the District of Columbia using two channels: one in English and the other in French). Since April 2007 the channel increased its reach, airing programmes in Arabic for viewers in the Maghreb, North Africa and the Middle East. Two months after launch, a survey conducted by TNS Sofres indicated that 75% of respondents in France questioned thought France 24 was "useful and essential", but questions have arisen concerning the France 24