French color TVs 1969-1970

[jhalphen]

Hi to all,

@TeleColor 3007 :

1) What was the average income (salary) in France around that time and the minimal one ?

according to this document, see tabulated data on page 2 :
https://www.ofce.sciences-po.fr/pdf/ebook/ebook121.pdf?

average yearly income was 9900 Euros in 1960
minimum was 4300 Euros
(converted from French Francs to Euros)

2) When did around 50% of the population have a color TV ?
i didn't find when the 50% point was passed, but found this :
24% in 1977
30% in 1978 :
https://www.persee.fr/doc/estat_0336...num_110_1_4256

Personally, i would say that color TV growth was very rapid between 1978 and 1985. VCRs appeared in 1976 and a color TV was the first purchase before considering a VCR.

In the early years (1967+), color TV penetration was very slow for 4 reasons :
- only one color channel, state-controlled
- high cost of receivers : 33.33% Value Added Tax (luxury product)
- requirement for dual-standard (819 B&W + SECAM 625 Color)
made color TVs complex, expensive and not very reliable
- TVs had to work on 110 VAC and 220VAC ---> expensive power
transformer. The country was still in conversion from 110V to a 220V grid.

in comparison with Germany : 220VAC only, 625 PAL only & AC transformerless TVs = cheaper TVs

Commercial TV broadcasting (more color channels) only started in 1986.
Compare with the UK which had commercial ITV start in 1956 !

3) Until when were color TVs manufactured in France with French made components ?

Probably until the mid-1980s. Japanese small-screen sets started to be serious competition at the end of the 70s : Sony with its beautiful Trinitron & high-reliability solid-state chassis, then Hong-Kong/Singapore/Malaysia sets.

At the component level, the decline took a longer time, until the mid-1990s. Powerful groups such as Philips produced CRTs and semiconductors & VideoColor (Thomson Group) likewise.There was also Telefunken.

I hope to have partially answered your question...

Best Regards
jhalphen
Paris/France