CARAC5

CARAC5 is a Swiss French-language private television channel based in Geneva. It was originally founded as BeCuriousTV on 29 January 2015 by Leila Delarive, a lawyer and producer, and began broadcasting on 8 March 2015. The channel was created after Delarive and her colleague Elie Wenger struggled to find a platform for a programme about successful women on local channels or RTS. BeCuriousTV aimed to offer a feminine perspective on social and current affairs without being exclusively for women. It produced around ten self-made shows and magazines covering discovery, lifestyles, travel, society, culture, and talk shows, with about 90 minutes of daily programming. Its studios, built in a hangar, replicated a loft with a kitchen, bedroom, living room, and office, each used for different themes. The channel was available on cable in Romandy (UPC Cablecom channel 20), on digital offers such as naxoo in Geneva and CityCable (channel 126) in Lausanne, on Sunrise TV via ADSL, Swisscom TV, the internet, and the Zatoo portal. After internal changes in May 2016 and a struggle to find its audience, the channel was bought by media professional Simon-Pierre Weber in early 2019. In June 2019 it was replaced by a new structure based in Geneva under the name TeleSwizz, operated by Novafilms sàrl. Under TeleSwizz, the channel continued to produce programmes, including Rail One, a show about Swiss railways and their environment created by about fifteen volunteers, and in September 2023 it co-produced the singing contest "Le Tremplin Suisse" organised by the association "Tous en scène", broadcast live from the Théâtre Barnabé in Servion. On 26 June 2025, the channel was acquired by Millenium Média Group which, in an agreement with Media One, renamed it CARAC5. The channel is semi-thematic and generalist, and remains active as of 2025.

CARAC5 was originally founded as BeCuriousTV on 29 January 2015 by Leila Delarive, a lawyer and producer who had previously worked at La Télé. The idea emerged after Delarive and her colleague Elie Wenger faced difficulties creating and broadcasting a programme about successful women on local channels or RTS. The channel began broadcasting on 8 March 2015 at 18:45. At its start, it employed around twenty people, with Delarive as Director and Fred Valet as editor-in-chief. The annual budget was 1.5 million CHF, and its headquarters were in Préverenges, Canton of Vaud. The channel produced about ten self-made shows and magazines covering discovery, lifestyles, travel, society, culture, and talk shows, with 90 minutes of daily programming. Its studios, built in a hangar, replicated a loft with a kitchen, bedroom, living room, and office, each used for different themes. It also broadcast documentaries and could shoot entirely with miniature cameras or smartphones. Initially, it aimed to offer a feminine perspective on social and current affairs without being exclusively for women. In May 2016, BeCuriousTV experienced internal changes including layoffs, resignations, and the use of many interns. Having never truly found its audience and editorial line, the channel announced in the Swiss daily Le Matin that it wanted to review its operations. It gradually faded from the Romandy media scene. In early 2019, the channel was bought by Simon-Pierre Weber, a media professional, and in June 2019 it was replaced by a new structure based in Geneva under the name TeleSwizz, operated by Novafilms sàrl. The capital was reduced to 20,000 CHF, and the channel employed 2 people according to the Federal Office of Communications. Under TeleSwizz, the channel continued to produce programmes, including Rail One, a show about Swiss railways and their environment created by about fifteen volunteers. In September 2023, the channel co-produced the singing contest "Le Tremplin Suisse" organised by the association "Tous en scène", broadcast as a 3-hour live show from the Théâtre Barnabé in Servion. On 26 June 2025, the channel was acquired by Millenium Média Group which, in an agreement with Media One, renamed it CARAC5. The channel remains active as a semi-thematic and generalist Swiss French-language private television channel.

• BeCuriousTV founded by Leila Delarive

• BeCuriousTV begins broadcasting at 18:45

• Internal changes including layoffs and resignations; channel announces review of operations

• Channel bought by Simon-Pierre Weber

• Channel replaced by TeleSwizz, operated by Novafilms sàrl in Geneva

• Co-produces "Le Tremplin Suisse" singing contest live from Théâtre Barnabé

• Acquired by Millenium Média Group and renamed CARAC5

Semi-thematic and generalist Swiss French-language private television channel.

• Rail One

  A show about Swiss railways and their environment, created by about fifteen volunteers.

• Le Tremplin Suisse

  A singing contest co-produced in September 2023, broadcast live from Théâtre Barnabé.

1. 1CARAC5 - Wikipédiafr.wikipedia.org
2. 2BeCuriousTV official website (archived)becurioustv.com
3. 3Wikidata entrywikidata.org