France 4 () is a French free-to-air television channel owned by France Télévisions, focused on children's programming. The colour of France 4 is purple. Originally launched as Festival in 1996, the channel took its current name in 2005 when it became a free channel. The channel targets young audiences, and children during the day. In 2016, France 4 was refocused on family programming. History Festival (1996–2005) On 24 June 1996, France Télévision established Festival, a satellite channel for the TPS satellite service, which France Télévision co-owned at the time. Festival offered a selection of films and television series, many of them previously seen on France 2, France 3 and Arte. France 4 (2001–present) In 2001, when the French digital terrestrial television system was in its developmental stage, the socialist government of Lionel Jospin asked the president of France Télévisions to consider a bouquet of public channels to be broadcast digitally, so that the public broadcaster could have involvement in this project. France Télévisions proposed the creation of three new channels: "France 1", "France 4" and "France 6", an all-news channel, a channel dedicated to the regions, and a channel featuring repeat broadcasts of France 2 and France 3. Eventually, France Télévisions would have four digital channels besides France 2 and France 3, with three of them occupying existing channels: France 5 (formerly La Cinquième), Arte, and La Chaîne Parlementaire (a legislative channel); France 5 and Arte would switch from a combined service to two separate 24-hour services in the spring of 2005. France Télévisions thus only had space for one more new channel. The group eventually proposes the existing "Festival" to be the "new" channel. On 23 October 2002, the Audiovisual Superior Council authorised Festival to begin broadcasting in digital. France Télévisions planned for Festival to be renamed "France 8" (as it would have been the eighth television network in France) or "France Prime", but opted instead for France 4 after being allocated to channel 14. The newly created France 4 proposed to present a variety of entertainment, sports, fiction, cinema and series. In July 2009, France 4 began broadcasting in 16:9. On 6 October 2011, France 4 launched its HD feed. On 19 December 2009, France Télévisions launched Ludo, a new unique children's brand, to merge all former blocks Toowam (France 3), Les Zouzous (France 5, for preschoolers) and KD2A (France 2, the channel ceased to broadcast children shows).