Jean Prouvost

Jean Prouvost (24 April 1885, Roubaix – 18 October 1978, Yvoy-le-Marron) was a businessman, media owner and French politician.

In 1930 he bought Paris-Soir,[4] where he introduced methods proven in the United States: extensive photo spreads, high quality paper, and especially the improvement of content.

He recruited top journalists (Pierre Lazareff, Paul Gordeaux and Hervé Mille) and commissioned occasional contributions from prominent literary names: Colette covered various subjects; Jean Cocteau toured the world for the newspaper; Georges Simenon reported on sensational criminal cases.

Prouvost hired as war correspondents Blaise Cendrars, Joseph Kessel, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and Paul Gordeaux.

In 1960, Jean Prouvost bought TV 60, which he renamed Télé 7 Jours, a television magazine that became a huge success (with a circulation of 3 million copies in 1978).

[7] Prouvost renamed Radio Luxembourg as RTL on 11 October 1966 to make it seem less foreign to French listeners and changed the programming to adopt a more modern and friendly tone.