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Although American and British allies had been broadcasting national television programs for their troops in West Berlin since the 1960s and 1970s, the French stationed in Berlin had to wait for the arrival of the Symphonie satellite in February 1980 to finally receive French television programming. The installation of a French transmitter in West Berlin, although planned for more than 20 years, came up against numerous financial, technical, and political obstacles. This article shall investigate these obstacles further, which were driven by a number of issues related to the Cold War and Franco-German relations, but also to coalition diplomacy.