France 5 (pronounced [fʁɑ̃s sɛ̃k]) is a French free-to-air public television channel, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring educational programming, the channel's motto is la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir (the knowledge network). In contrast to the group's two main channels, France 2 and France 3, France 5 concentrates almost exclusively on factual programming, documentaries, and discussions – 3925 hours of documentaries were broadcast in 2003 – with fiction confined to one primetime slot of around two hours' duration on Monday evenings.

 

France 5 airs 24 hours a day. Earlier – before completion of the switchover to digital broadcasting on 29 November 2011 – the channel's analogue frequencies had carried the programmes of the Franco-German cultural channel Arte between 19.00 each evening and 3.00 the following morning.