KTO TV

KTO is known for being a French Catholic television channel , which was founded at the request of Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger 2 , December 13 , 1999, by Jean-Michel di Falco. 

 

 

KTO TV was created by Jean-Michel di Falco , then auxiliary bishop of Paris, at the instigation of his archdiocese. KTO started on December 13 , 1999 on the Paris cable television network, then on December 24 on the CANALSAT satellite package , broadcasting live the Christmas party and the opening of the Holy Year of the Jubilee of the year 2000. The chain was then chaired by Jean Michel di Falco , its managing director being Bruno Lecluse . The channel launched its website in January 2000 and covered its first major event live the following July with the XV th World Youth Days in Rome . She has since covered all the highlights of the Church , in France and around the world, and in particular the Pope ‘s travels .

 

In 2005 , KTO applied to obtain a frequency on free DTT . The CSA rejected his candidacy on September 1 , considering that the channel is not aimed at a large enough audience. Following this refusal, a collective called We want KTO set up to demand a review of this decision. 34 deputies and 5 senators signed the petition addressed to the CSA which brought together 152,000 signatures 4 . 

 

Faced with this vast mobilization, the president of the channel, Vincent Redier, filed a request with the Council of State . On September 21 , 2007, the Council of State annuls the CSA ‘s decision of July 2005 refusing the Christian channel a frequency on DTT , arguing that it is illegal to exclude religious media from the outset on the grounds “that it would necessarily address a restricted audience” 5 .

 

Finally, KTO announced in 2007 on its website that it was “no longer targeting DTT for the moment” because of a very high entry ticket for DTT (6 million euros minimum).

 

Since February 2008 , KTO TV has been broadcasting live on its website. Thanks to automatic archiving management, all the videos whose rights are acquired by the channel are put online and can be read for free. For videos in the course of their first broadcast, they appear in the archive on the site 5 minutes after their appearance on the air.

 

Back on December 12 , 2009, a thanksgiving mass was celebrated in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois on the occasion of the channel’s tenth anniversary.

 

In May 2010 , KTO TV began broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa. On April 14 , 2011, KTO started broadcasting in Belgium via Belgacom TV. In May 2014, Philippine de Saint-Pierre, a journalist specializing in religious information, replaced Christian de Pennart as general manager of the channel, a post he had held for eight years 6.

In 2019, KTO TV employs 70 people, around a third of whom are journalists. As of February 2022, KTO shows an activeness on some social media platforms which happen to be YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.