Louise Bernard, with Alexis Patri
Following the abolition of the television license fee, the Senate considers that it is necessary to launch a reflection on the financing of the public service. Roger Karoutchi and Jean-Raymond Hugonet publish a report to this effect proposing a merger between France Télévisions, Radio France, INA and France Médias Monde for 2025.
Public media may soon become one. The Senate publishes a report which aims to merge France Télévisions, Radio France, INA and France Médias Monde. Following the abolition of the fee, the Senate considers that it is necessary to launch a reflection on the financing of the public service, but also its operation. The two Republican senators, Roger Karoutchi and Jean-Raymond Hugonet, are working in this direction. Among the measures proposed, they therefore suggest creating a single company, which would be called “France Media”.
The public company would bring together all the French audiovisual public services: France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde and INA. The two senators would like a text of law to be voted on next year, so that the new structure sees the light of day from 2025. This year will be the year of the end of the mandate of Delphine Ernotte, the current president of France Télévisions.
Towards a single wording?
This possible merger would, according to Roger Karoutchi and Jean-Raymond Hugonet, create a “powerful and innovative public media”, capable of standing up to streaming platforms. The two Republican senators believe that the public service is currently not performing well enough on digital. They also suggest the creation of a single editorial office which would bring together all public service journalists. A way to “remove duplicates and strengthen the business”, according to them. They imagine an organization in three poles: international, regional and local.
At the local level, the project aims to bring together France Bleu and France 3 within the same subsidiary of this unified public company, called “France Media Regions”.