The Senate dominated by the right-wing opposition adopted on Tuesday at first reading a bill on audiovisual which provides in particular for the creation of a holding bringing together the jewels of the public sector, to which the government and the left are opposed.
The text, which has little chance of succeeding in the National Assembly, is divided into two chapters: one concerns public broadcasting, the second aims to fight against asymmetries of competition in a context of development of platforms or even connected television.
If I was teased, I would say + the presidential majority wanted the holding company, the senatorial majority did it +, since 2017, on many occasions, the leaders of the presidential majority have advocated this holding company, declared the author of the bill, Laurent Lafon, centrist president of the Culture Committee.
For six years we have been waiting for a major audiovisual law, and this bill should allow the government to emerge from torpor, said Max Brisson (LR).
Socialists, communists and ecologists, but also Julien Bargeton (RDPI majority Renaissance) fought unsuccessfully against the flagship measure of the text, the creation of a holding company, called France Mdias, composed of four subsidiaries, France Tlvisions, Radio France, France Mdias World, as well as the National Audiovisual Institute (Ina).
This holding would be 100% owned by the State and its CEO would be appointed by the Authority for the regulation of audiovisual and digital communication (Arcom).
The left has also fought the provision aimed at authorizing private channels to carry out a third advertising break during the broadcast of films and fictions of more than two hours.
Regarding the financing of public broadcasting which, after the abolition of the license fee, must still be taken beyond 2024, the bill effectively excludes the possibility of a subsidy. It establishes the principle of a public resource of a fiscal nature, taking, sufficient, predictable and taking inflation into account.
The second part of the text aims to fight against the asymmetry of competition in the sector and in particular tackles the delicate question of sports rights.
To promote access for all to sporting events, it proposes in particular to extend to platforms the obligation imposed on pay channels to transfer certain rights to free access television services broadcast on DTT.
Socialist David Assouline has called for the Estates General of the media. Of course we have to reform the 1986 law (…) crippled with patches, but we have to involve society and all the players, he said.