TV Home Forum

French TV

Old and new (January 2015)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
RD
Roger Darthwell
London Lite posted:

If this will happen then I presume that the RTL channels in Belgium will no longer use the RTL moniker
RD
Roger Darthwell
Also there is an update on the sale of M6, it seems that the offer made by Boygues and it's subsidiary TF1 seems to have submitted the best offer according to this article https://www.capital.fr/entreprises-marches/vente-de-m6-les-dessous-de-loffre-de-tf1-1397981 but it would cause serious regulatory issues
LL
London Lite Founding member
Some interesting workarounds that TF1 are proposing, such as dropping three of the lowest rated channels from the DTT platform as French rules state that a group can only have seven channels on the platform.

The other being keeping M6 as a stand alone group.

I'm not sure if the French regulator would allow warehousing as an option, selling the likes of Paris Premiere and TF1 Series Films to a friendly company while continuing to programme those channels?
RD
Roger Darthwell
London Lite posted:
Some interesting workarounds that TF1 are proposing, such as dropping three of the lowest rated channels from the DTT platform as French rules state that a group can only have seven channels on the platform.

The other being keeping M6 as a stand alone group.

I'm not sure if the French regulator would allow warehousing as an option, selling the likes of Paris Premiere and TF1 Series Films to a friendly company while continuing to programme those channels?

To be fair I am now wondering if this sale is worth the risk for TF1 and Bertelsmann, given that the French regulators could potentially block the sale altogether......also this situation is reminding me of something similar that happened 10 years ago here in the UK, which is when RTL sold Channel 5, what is happening in France is ultimately something similar
RD
Roger Darthwell
London Lite posted:
Some interesting workarounds that TF1 are proposing, such as dropping three of the lowest rated channels from the DTT platform as French rules state that a group can only have seven channels on the platform.

The other being keeping M6 as a stand alone group.

I'm not sure if the French regulator would allow warehousing as an option, selling the likes of Paris Premiere and TF1 Series Films to a friendly company while continuing to programme those channels?

Hold on a second, isn't TMC owned by TF1 under warehousing? TMC is controlled by a company called the Monte Carlo Partecipations SAS, which is a 100% owned subsidiary of TF1. So could TF1 potentially sell TF1 Series Films and Paris Premiere to Monte Carlo Partecipations SAS so that it can buy M6?
LL
London Lite Founding member
Roger Darthwell posted:
London Lite posted:
Some interesting workarounds that TF1 are proposing, such as dropping three of the lowest rated channels from the DTT platform as French rules state that a group can only have seven channels on the platform.

The other being keeping M6 as a stand alone group.

I'm not sure if the French regulator would allow warehousing as an option, selling the likes of Paris Premiere and TF1 Series Films to a friendly company while continuing to programme those channels?

Hold on a second, isn't TMC owned by TF1 under warehousing? TMC is controlled by a company called the Monte Carlo Partecipations SAS, which is a 100% owned subsidiary of TF1. So could TF1 potentially sell TF1 Series Films and Paris Premiere to Monte Carlo Partecipations SAS so that it can buy M6?


Warehousing is when a company with no direct connection to the parent company is the licence holder. For example, XFM Limited is the owner of Radio X, a company which is 100% controlled by Global, so no. However Greatest Hits Radio which is a Bauer brand on the South Coast is owned by Nation Broadcasting Investments (South) Limited, which is part of Nation Broadcasting would be allowed as the licensee has no direct ownership from Bauer.

So if TF1/M6 for example decide to sell TF1 Series Films, they could sell to NRJ for example, but would have to enter a franchise agreement to allow TF1 to continue programming the channel but NRJ would get a cut of ad revenue for the channel in addition to paying for carriage fees etc.
RD
Roger Darthwell
London Lite posted:
Roger Darthwell posted:
London Lite posted:
Some interesting workarounds that TF1 are proposing, such as dropping three of the lowest rated channels from the DTT platform as French rules state that a group can only have seven channels on the platform.

The other being keeping M6 as a stand alone group.

I'm not sure if the French regulator would allow warehousing as an option, selling the likes of Paris Premiere and TF1 Series Films to a friendly company while continuing to programme those channels?

Hold on a second, isn't TMC owned by TF1 under warehousing? TMC is controlled by a company called the Monte Carlo Partecipations SAS, which is a 100% owned subsidiary of TF1. So could TF1 potentially sell TF1 Series Films and Paris Premiere to Monte Carlo Partecipations SAS so that it can buy M6?


Warehousing is when a company with no direct connection to the parent company is the licence holder. For example, XFM Limited is the owner of Radio X, a company which is 100% controlled by Global, so no. However Greatest Hits Radio which is a Bauer brand on the South Coast is owned by Nation Broadcasting Investments (South) Limited, which is part of Nation Broadcasting would be allowed as the licensee has no direct ownership from Bauer.

So if TF1/M6 for example decide to sell TF1 Series Films, they could sell to NRJ for example, but would have to enter a franchise agreement to allow TF1 to continue programming the channel but NRJ would get a cut of ad revenue for the channel in addition to paying for carriage fees etc.

All right, I misunderstood what warehousing meant, thank you for correcting me and explaining as well, hypothetically if TF1 Series Films is sold to NRJ, then they might change the channel name as well
Last edited by Roger Darthwell on 24 March 2021 5:14pm
LL
London Lite Founding member
The important thing about warehousing is that it keeps the existing channel on-air without the company having to declare it as one of their own.

In UK commercial radio terms, it's allowed Global to expand Heart, Capital and Smooth to areas that would otherwise not have them.
RD
Roger Darthwell
London Lite posted:
The important thing about warehousing is that it keeps the existing channel on-air without the company having to declare it as one of their own.

In UK commercial radio terms, it's allowed Global to expand Heart, Capital and Smooth to areas that would otherwise not have them.

Yeah at the expense of local radio stations Sad but I digress, let's see how the sale will end up
MR
mrwish
Roger Darthwell posted:
London Lite posted:

If this will happen then I presume that the RTL channels in Belgium will no longer use the RTL moniker


That’d be a big change in Belgium if that happened. RTL in some form has always been in the name of the commercial channels in Wallonia/Brussels since RTL TVI launched as a channel dedicated to Belgium in 1987 (with RTL TV being available before that as a channel shared with Luxembourg and Lorraine in France which later became RTL9).

The advertising market in French-speaking Belgium has become more squeezed in recent years, with TF1 and now C8 being allowed to launch Belgian advertising opt-outs.
London Lite and Roger Darthwell gave kudos
BR
Brekkie
London Lite posted:
BFM have launched yet another local channel. BFM DICI serves the southern French Alps and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.

The channel replaced D!CI TV which was acquired by Altice last summer.

The sub-opts are branded BFM Alpes or BFM Provence.

Whilst here I guess London Live still are now a year without news?

How much of the schedule for these BFM channels is local and how much is simulcast from the national channels?
RD
Roger Darthwell
mrwish posted:
Roger Darthwell posted:
London Lite posted:

If this will happen then I presume that the RTL channels in Belgium will no longer use the RTL moniker


That’d be a big change in Belgium if that happened. RTL in some form has always been in the name of the commercial channels in Wallonia/Brussels since RTL TVI launched as a channel dedicated to Belgium in 1987 (with RTL TV being available before that as a channel shared with Luxembourg and Lorraine in France which later became RTL9).

The advertising market in French-speaking Belgium has become more squeezed in recent years, with TF1 and now C8 being allowed to launch Belgian advertising opt-outs.

I completely agree, I just can't see the possible buyers of RTL Belgique keeping the RTL name, it wouldn't make any sense

Newer posts