Authorizations to broadcast on channels 1 and 6 of DTT are coming to an end: TF1 and M6 must respectively renew their candidacy, but other players have the two frequencies in their sights. Among them, Xavier Niel could well file an application to take over the channel occupied by M6.
Xavier Niel would prepare his weapons to conquer television. An application file would be filed with Arcom to take over the M6 frequency if the channel’s broadcasting license is not renewed. A scenario that, however, has little chance of succeeding.
The broadcasting authorizations of TF1 and M6 are coming to an end
On December 7, Arcom (ex-CSA) published a call for applications to resume two television frequencies: channel 1 and channel 6, indicates Le Figaro. According to French law, it is Arcom which allocates television services by issuing an authorization which is valid for a maximum of ten years. At the end of the latter, it can be renewed for five years on several occasions. The deadline for TF1 and M6 is at the beginning of May 2023 and it is the first time in the history of the two channels that this procedure has gone through a call for applications open to all.
This call for candidates to take over the ” a» and the « six does not mean that TF1 and M6 will disappear. The two channels have also told AFP that they are applying for the renewal of their authorizations.
TF1 and M6 weakened by the failure of their merger, but the channels are preparing
According to The echoes, TF1 is preparing for the hearings for the renewal of its broadcasting licence. The chain signed a few days ago “ an agreement with the six main unions representing independent audiovisual production […] as well as two authors’ societies “.
Arcom having the reputation of being conservative, if the files of TF1 and M6 are sufficiently serious, it is difficult to see the Authority not renewing the authorizations. TF1 is a television channel that has been broadcasting since 1987 as a private company, and M6 appeared the same year. One can imagine that this call for applications from Arcom is a way of putting pressure on the two channels so that they comply more with its rules and its demands.
It should be noted that the TF1 and M6 groups were weakened by the failure of their merger at the end of last year, the fault of the Competition Authority which did not want the project. This is what caused, at least in part, a drop in TF1 audiences in 2022.
Xavier Niel wants to position himself on DTT
As assure The echoes, Xavier Niel would like to file an application with his group Iliad (Free). His team ” would have indicated its intention to apply to get its hands on the frequency of a general-interest channel», a priorithe six. If he wishes to file said file, Xavier Niel still has until January 23.
The newspaper adds that “ to defend its project, the Niel camp would have multiplied the meetings in recent weeks with several actors of French cultural creation“. At the end of November, the vice-president of Iliad Maxime Lombardini as well as the lawyer François Sureau detailed the commitments that the group could make. The first had declared less to seek maximum profitability and to want to invest in creation. The echoesreports that Lombardini added ” that a new entrant could strengthen unpublished fiction in prime time, with innovative formats“and want to start the evenings” at a more reasonable time “.
Xavier Niel wants to invest more in the media
If we know Xavier Niel above all for the creation of Free, the businessman is also very invested in the media. Through his holding company NJJ, he controls several press titles:nice morning,Var Morning,OBS,The world,International mail,Telerama, etc. He also founded Mediawan, a French audiovisual group which owns several production companies in Europe.
His companies already have expertise in the audiovisual sector and Xavier Niel is already invested in the media, but he lacks television. If his file is admissible, he will participate in the public hearings which are scheduled for mid-February, then we will have to hurry for the allocation of frequencies. Xavier Niel actually has very little chance of obtaining a frequency, but some experts in the French audiovisual landscape (PAF) tend to believe that putting a spoke in the wheels of TF1 and M6 would allow it to establish a certain power. Enough to get shares in M6, after two failed buyout operations.
One “good connoisseur» questioned byThe echoesadds that “it does not cost him much to apply, except paper […] “. That “is preparing other calls for applications for DTT channels in 2025“.
Here is a selection of applications allowing you to watch DTT TV channels on an Android phone or tablet, and to watch them differently
Read more
Help us build the future of Frandroid by answering this survey !
