The CEO of TF1, Gilles Pélisson, feared Thursday that his “dreamof a merger with its rival M6 does not turn outnightmare“, after an initial report from the Competition Authority unfavorable to the planned merger. The boss of the leading French audiovisual group also recalled that the two companies “wouldn’t hesitate to stop» their march towards this union, if it turns out to be less relevant because of the concessions that would be asked of them.
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“The dream we shared (of a French audiovisual champion) is not necessarily shared at this stage by the analysis of the (investigation) services of the Competition Authority“, explained the leader, on the sidelines of the publication of the half-yearly results of TF1. “From there, before the dream becomes a nightmare, there needs to be a moment of reason, of waking up, thinking maybe that my dream will end there“, he added.
The two groups had revealed on Tuesday that a first confidential report from the institution responsible for enforcing the balance of competition in France said it was unfavorable to their marriage. If the “remedies” required by the departments of the Competition Authority in the face of “very significant competition problems identified“, in particular in television advertising, were to “put in place, indeed, this would make the project lose all relevance“, that “parties will not hesitate to stop», Underlined Gilles Pélisson.
The latter will be heard by the college of the Competition Authority on September 5 and 6, he added, the final decision expected in October coming back to this college.
Satisfactory results from TF1
In the meantime, the CEO was delighted with the results “satisfactoryof the TF1 group, which recorded a profit of 126.5 million euros in the first half, up 16.7% over one year, for a turnover approaching 1.2 billion euros (+5, 2%).
Advertising revenue rose very slightly (+1.6%) to 815.5 million euros, the slight drop observed in the second quarter – without the men’s Euro football tournament which had benefited the group last year –, being compensated bythe right dynamicof the first quarter, according to TF1.
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