Where to find French worth watching — ranked on the two things that decide whether a clip is usable in a lesson: does it carry French subtitles on French audio, and is it short enough to play twice. Everything below was checked; the ones that failed are listed at the bottom so you do not rediscover them.
Not for most of them. Les fondamentaux, TV5MONDE Apprendre, Vinz et Lou, Easy French and all the audio sources are open worldwide. ARTE and Lumni want a French connection, Télé-Québec and TFO a Canadian one. Play Suisse is the exception: it needs a Swiss account, not just a Swiss connection.
Because French spelling and French sound are far apart, and the gap is where most listening difficulty lives. Reading the French while hearing it teaches you that ils parlent and il parle sound identical. English subtitles skip that lesson entirely and let you coast on translation.
Under six minutes for classroom use. That leaves room to watch once for gist, once with subtitles, and once for detail — the repetition is what makes it stick. Longer shows still work if they are built from segments: Karambolage and Cochon dingue both break into three-minute pieces.
Les fondamentaux, because the language is slow and the subtitles are reliable, and Les voisins du 12 bis, which is the only free graded fiction at A1 to A2 with a full transcript and a picture version of every scene.