Bernard Pivot is a journalist, and has hosted several cultural TV programms on French television, most of them centered on books.
The most famous of those was "Apostrophes" ; it ran from 1975 to 1990.
Passionate defender of the French language, he helped create in 1985 the "Championnats d'Orthographe" (spelling championships), now named "Les Dicos d'Or" (golden dictionaries), organised worldwide.
After grueling selections, the candidates take part in a dictation, along with many French-speaking telespectators. Bernard Pivot writes the texts, including many rare words.
Bernard Pivot is also a "connaisseur" of wine, and a lover of sports, especially football.