[1][2] In 1945, the provisional French government established a public monopoly on broadcasting with the formation of Radiodiffusion Française (RDF).

In 1949, the RDF underwent a name change to Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF) in order to reflect the organisation's growing focus on television broadcasting.

By the end of the year, the RTF had begun transmitting television signals using the new 819-line system, which represented a significant advancement in the technical capabilities of the medium.

From the beginning, the public broadcaster experienced fierce competition from the "peripheral stations": French-speaking stations aimed at the French public but transmitting on longwave from neighbouring countries, such as Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) from Monaco, Radio Luxembourg (later RTL) from Luxembourg, and Europe 1 from Germany (exceptionally, in 1974, RMC was allowed to set up a transmitter on French territory).

In 1970, during a press conference, Georges Pompidou initiated a will to modernise, affirming that information provided to the ORTF must be free from any outside influence, independent in nature, and impartial in its presentation while stressing that it remains "the voice of France whether we like it or not.

As a result, on December 31, 1974, law 74-696 (dated August 7, 1974) was implemented, splitting the ORTF into seven successor institutions: The changes however did not go into effect until January 6, 1975.

The operations of Antenne 2 and FR3 were re-merged in the early 1990s, into a single entity known today as France Télévisions, which still remains under public ownership.

Nine years later, the OFRT was succeeded by the Groupement des Radiodiffuseurs Français de l’UER (GRF) which currently holds one of the French memberships of the EBU, alongside Europe 1.