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‘Intentional’ New Year’s Eve TV blackout remains a mystery

A 51-year-old man was due to make a preliminary court appearance in Copenhagen on Friday to face charges that he purposely disrupted TV and internet provider YouSee’s signal on New Year’s Eve.

Published: 6 January 2017 11:14 CET
Updated: 6 January 2017 14:09 CET
'Intentional' New Year's Eve TV blackout remains a mystery
The blackout caused YouSee's 1.2 million customers to miss Queen Margrethe's New Year's Eve address to the nation. Photo: Keld Navntoft/Scanpix
The signal disruption caused more than a million Danes to miss Queen Margrethe’s annual address to the nation. 
 
But less than an hour before the man’s scheduled court appearance, he was released. 
 
“Copenhagen Police this morning received additional information in the case of the disruption of the TV signal on New Year’s Eve. The new information means that the suspect will be released since there is no current reason to request that he be held in custody,” a police press release said. 
 
The YouSee case has been a major story in the Danish press for nearly a week. The company’s 1.2 million customers saw nothing but a black screen when they tuned in to the queen’s address and problems continued for a number of days. 
 
Watching the queen's annual remarks is a major component of many Danes' New Year's Eve celebrations. 
 
The cause of the disruption remains unknown but an internal investigation by YouSee owner TDC Group determined that the blackout was an “intentionally harmful act” and reported it to police. 
 
Copenhagen Police said on Thursday that the 51-year-old Copenhagen man will be charged under paragraph 193 of the Danish Penal Code, which covers “disruption of television service”. 
 
Although the man was released on Friday, police stressed that he still faces charges and that the investigation into the signal disruption would continue. 
 
Police spokesman Jens Møller declined to tell broadcaster DR whether the man is a current or former YouSee employee. The man’s court appearance was scheduled to be held behind so-called ‘closed doors’, meaning much of the information will be withheld from the public. 
 
Møller said, however that it was information from TDC that led to the suspect's release. 
 
“Today we asked TDC Group to provide more information and after that was received we determined that there was not longer a reason to request [holding the man in] custody,” Møller said. 
 
He added that the police were working with TDC and YouSee and that the case included “many things that need investigated that are incredibly technically complicated”.

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TOURISM

Discover 13 of France’s most beautiful villages, plus the town the French love the best

Every year, the TV channel France 3 runs a competition to find the best-loved villages in France. It's one of the most popular events of the TV calendar, attracting around 2 million viewers, and it's also a great way to discover some more off-the-beaten track places to visit in France. So here are the 14 finalists for 2021.

Published: 9 March 2021 16:40 CET
Updated: 20 August 2021 11:19 CEST
Discover 13 of France's most beautiful villages, plus the town the French love the best
Photo: Jean-Pierre Clatot/AFP

The final of Le village préféré des français (France’s favourite village) was screened earlier in the summer, but we reckon that each of the 14 finalists are well worth a visit.

1 Hérisson – Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Its name means hedgehog in French, but locals say there will be no spiky welcome for people who come to see the many historic treasures of this village, from the remains of the 10th century castle overlooking the village to its Roman remains and village houses dating from the 13th century.

The village is situated deep in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France, which is less well known for tourists but well worth a visit to explore its stunning scenery and many excellent cheeses.

READ ALSO 10 reasons to visit Auvergne

Villerville in Normandy is a popular holiday spot, but a lot less busy than nearby Deauville. Photo: JOEL SAGET / AFP

2 Châteauneuf – Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

This medieval village is generally agreed to be one of France’s prettiest, with its limestone houses huddling beneath a 12th century castle.

Situated in Burgundy wine country, it’s also close to the beautiful Morvan natural park.

READ ALSO Morvan: Why you should visit one of France’s most beautiful and least-known areas

3 Île d’Houat – Brittany

This tiny island off the Quiberon peninsula of Brittany is just 4km in length and has 230 inhabitants. There are no cars on the island, which is all the better to enjoy the peace, long sandy beaches and wildlife. The island was classified as a Natura 200 zone due to its unspoiled wilderness.

Nearby is the slightly larger island of Belle-Île-en-Mer if you fancy an island-hopping trip.

READ ALSO The 20 essential maps to understand Brittany

The circular wash house in Auvillar, south west France. Photo: PASCAL PAVANI / AFP

4 Sancerre – Centre-Val-de-Loire (the winner)

This is the heart of wine country and Sancerre is best known for the white wine of the same name. Surrounded by 3,000 hectares of vineyards, the village itself perches on a hilltop around the remains of a medieval castle.

There is also the House of Sancerre visitor centre which tells you more about how the wines are made, and a local goat’s cheese that goes particularly well with a glass of wine.

Maybe it was the wine-cheese combination, but Sancerre was the winner of the public vote and is now officially France’s favourite village (until next year, when the competition starts all over again).

5 Saint-Florent – Corsica

This former fishing port in the north of the island of Corsica shows much of the influence of the Genose who ruled the island before it became French territory in 1768, in particular the large coastal citadel.

It also has beautiful beaches.

6 Rocroi – Grand Est

This village, right on the Belgian border, is arranged in a highly unusual star shape around its 17th century fortress – the only village apart from Palmanova in Italy to have such well-preserved star-shaped fortifications and layout.

It is in the beautiful Ardennes national park and close to Belgium so combines well with a trip over the border to sample beer and chocolate.

7 Le Désirade – Gaudeloupe 

This 21km island lies off the coast of the French overseas territory of Gaudeloupe and has the white sandy beaches and coral reefs common to that part of the world. The island is also criss-crossed with hiking trails which are the best way to see its lush vegetation and diverse fauna before heading to the beach for a cocktail. 

8 Long – Hauts de France 

This village in northern France is located next to marshland which is described as a ‘fisherman’s paradise’. In the marsh you can also see the wild Camargue horses from the Camargue marshes in southern France as well as numerous other wildlife.

It’s also the site of one of France’s first hydroelectric power stations.

The architecture on Corsica shows the island’s Italian past. Photo: PASCAL POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP

9 Samois-sur-Seine – Île-de-France

An easy day-trip from Paris, this village borders the Fontainebleau forest and contains the former home of writers Châteaubriant, Alfred de Musset and George Sand. 

As the name suggests, it sits on the banks of the Seine, which offers some spots with a lovely view to enjoy a glass of wine in.

10 Villerville – Normandy 

The neighbouring Normandy towns of Deauville and Honfleur are much better known and, correspondingly, much busier during the summer season, but this small former fishing village perched on the clifftop is just as pretty.

It’s been a favourite haunt for artists over the years including musician Gabriel Fauré, the singer Mistinguett and the playwright Georges Feydeau and if you’re a fan of old French movies you might recognise it as the setting for Un Singe en hiver with Jean Gabin and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

11 Domme – Nouvelle Aquitaine 

This is a bastide, a fortified village from the 13th century that is perched 200m over the Dordogne river. As well as being exceptionally pretty with well-preserved fortifications, the village also has the region’s largest caves with an impressive collection of stalacmites and stalactites.

It’s in Périgord, which is duck country and the local cuisine is heavily based on duck and foie gras and is also delicious.

The village of Auvillar is on the Santiago de Compostella pilgrim route. Photo: PASCAL PAVANI / AFP

12 Auvillar – Occitanie

Auvillar was, until the 19th century, an important river trading post, after which it sank into obscurity. This combination has given it some impressive historic buildings – including the boat masters’ houses in the village centre – which have been well preserved as the village gradually became a backwater. 

It’s still a stopover point on the Santiago de Compostella pilgrim route, so you will see travellers heading though the village on their way to Spain, some of whom do the pilgrimage the traditional way with donkeys.

13 Fresnay-sur-Sarthe – Pays de la Loire

The village forms one of the ‘gateways’ to the Normandie-Maine natural park, this is another fortified village – originally a town build on the hemp trade (cloth, not cannabis). It also has a 9th century castle keep.

14 Saint-Véran – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur

No, the health minister didn’t get sainthood, this is a village perched in the Alps on the French-Italian border – it’s the highest commune in Europe at 2,042m above sea level.

Unsurprisingly its views are stunning and it is popular with tourists in both winter and summer, especially as the village has kept its traditional centre with a communal bread oven, fountains and church that is a historic monument.

If these have inspired you to do some exploring, you can also check out the shortlists from the favourite village competitions in 2020 and 2019. 

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