Des chiffres et des lettres

Des chiffres et des lettres is a French television programme. It was created by Armand Jammot and tests the numeracy skills and vocabulary of two contestants. The original version of Channel 4's Countdown, it is the oldest TV programme still broadcast on French television and one of the longest running game shows in the world. The game had its debut in 1965, with letters only, and reached its present format in 1972. It is currently transmitted on France 3 after 39 years first on Antenne 2 and then France 2. It has been hosted since 1992 by Laurent Romejko, Arielle Boulin-Prat, and Bertrand Renard. The latter two check words proposed by the contestants and Renard provides solutions to the number problems the contestants fail to solve. Renard was hired on the show at the age of 19, after having won as a contestant in 12 consecutive matches. The show is seen throughout the world on TV5.