Xavier Niel wants to replace M6 on TNT

DTT’s broadcast licenses on channels 1 and 6 are about to expire: TF1 and M6 have to renew their candidacies respectively, but there are two frequencies that other players are focused on. Among them, Xavier Niel could apply to take over the channel occupied by the M6.

Xavier Niel would prepare his weapons to conquer television. If the channel’s broadcast license is not renewed, an application file will be submitted to Arcom to take over the M6 ​​frequency. However, a scenario with little chance of success.

TF1 and M6’s broadcast licenses are about to expire

On December 7, Arcom (formerly CSA) issued a call for candidates to take over two television frequencies: channel 1 and channel 6. Le Figaro. Under French law, it is Arcom that distributes television services by granting a license valid for a maximum period of ten years. At the end of the latter, it can be extended several times for a period of five years. The deadline for TF1 and M6 is early May 2023, marking the first time in the history of the two channels that the procedure has gone through a call for applications open to all.

This call for candidates” a” and ” sixIt doesn’t mean that TF1 and M6 will disappear. The two channels also told AFP that they had applied to renew their licences.

Weakened by the failure of the TF1 and M6 joints, but channels are being developed

according to echoes , TF1 is preparing for a hearing on the renewal of its broadcasting license. The chain was signed a few days ago” contract with six major associations representing independent audiovisual production […] as well as two author societies “.

Arcom, which has a reputation for being conservative, if the documentation of TF1 and M6 is strict enough, it is hard to see the Authority not renewing the permits. TF1 is a television channel that has been broadcasting as a private company since 1987, and M6 was founded in the same year. One can imagine that this appeal from Arcom is a way of putting pressure on the two channels to comply more with its rules and requirements.

It should be noted that the TF1 and M6 groups were weakened by the failure of their merger at the end of last year due to the fault of the Competition Authority, which did not want the project. This is what accounts for TF1’s audience decline in 2022, at least in part.

Xavier Niel wants to place himself in DTT

Be sure echoes, Xavier Niel wants to apply with his band Iliad (Free). his team” would indicate his intention to apply for access to the frequency of the general interest channel», a priorisix. Xavier Niel still has until January 23 if he wants to submit the file in question.

The newspaper adds that “ In order to defend his project, Niel’s camp has increased the number of meetings with several actors of French cultural creativity in recent weeks.“. At the end of November, the vice president of Iliad, Maxime Lombardini, as well as lawyer Francois Sureau, explained in detail the obligations that the group could take on. The first stated that it was less to seek maximum profitability and to want to invest in creation. echoesLombardini added that “ that a new entrant can bolster unpublished fiction in primetime with innovative formats“and I want to start the evenings” at a more reasonable time “.

Xavier Niel wants to invest more in media

If we know Xavier Niel above all for the creation of Free, the businessman also invests a lot in the media. NJJ controls several press titles through its holding company:good morning,It’s morning,OBS,The world,International mail,Teleramaand so on. He also founded Mediawan, a French audiovisual group that owns several production companies in Europe.

His companies already have experience in the audiovisual sector and Xavier Niel already invests in media, but he does not own television. If his case is accepted, he will attend public hearings scheduled for mid-February, when we will have to rush to get the frequencies allocated. Xavier Niel’s chances of actually gaining frequency are slim, but some experts in the French audiovisual landscape (PAF) believe that putting sofas on the wheels of the TF1 and M6 will allow him to generate some power. Enough to buy shares in M6 after two failed buys.

one”good connoisseur» was questioned byechoesadds that “it does not cost him much to apply except on paper […] “. that “It is preparing other calls for applications for DTT channels in 2025“.

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