TV5MONDE app brings French-language television to Asia

With the ongoing fracas over TV licensing - and poorly produced local terrestrial television programmes - some have started searching for fresh content from overseas entertainment providers.

One option is the new online app launched by the global French-language channel TV5MONDE, which is offering live streaming programming, some of which is free of charge.

The app operates on what the industry refers to as a "freemium model", meaning that the most basic service is free, but viewers must buy a subscription to access premium content.

In the case of TV5MONDE, this means non-paying customers can watch all they want, but only on a small screen, about the size of a smartphone.

If they want to enjoy the channel full-screen on their computer, iPad, or hooked up to a television screen, they will have to pay for a subscription.

Paying subscribers will also receive access to more content. Without a subscription, the online channel operates like the television channel, but with a subscription, viewers get access to the TV5MONDE library from all of their on-demand channels.

The content is drawn from a diverse selection of French and French-language television channels, and comes with subtitles in French, English, Japanese, and Korean.