Faïçal Laraïchi reveals the contours of the new audiovisual landscape

Laraïchi, who was speaking at a meeting of the Committee on Education, Culture and Communication at the House of Representatives, discussed the procedure for calls for tenders linked to the management of the productions of external companies . He specified that “the process is supervised by a committee called the program selection committee, composed of 8 people, including 4 from the National Broadcasting and Television Company and 2M, and 4 from outside,” adding that at During this process, outside production companies understand that they cannot exceed a pre-established financial ceiling for their projects.

In this sense, Laraïchi indicated that the ceiling is set at 3%, adding: “We thought this way when we noticed that we were receiving programs whose price was much higher than the others.”

He also explained: “If we set for example 100 as a ceiling, the one who proposes a program of quality and genius, or whatever you want, and who reaches 103, a difference of 3 points, will be automatically rejected; this in order to control the budget.”

Laraïchi recalled that “the submission of projects requires the preparation of files, which are rigorously examined by the previously mentioned committee. Any file missing a document is immediately rejected, in order to avoid ending up in debates likely to disrupt equal opportunities.” He added: “Rigour protects the procedure, which is why, when the technical envelopes are opened, the committee can choose the qualified projects for the discussion phase with the production companies that have submitted their proposals.”

On this subject, the speaker stressed that “at the second stage, certain financial details of certain projects can be excluded from the race”, specifying that “the National Broadcasting and Television Company has a database which serves as a balance sheet with which it examines information from past years. He added: “When it comes to the rental of logistics equipment, for example, the committee can track its price to check if there is an increase compared to the price offered by the project company.”

Laraïchi provided parliamentarians with figures regarding the number of companies they have worked with since 2010, saying: “At that time there were 89 companies, then the following year this number increased to 103; in 2012, it increased to 118, before falling after the implementation of the specifications in 2013, falling directly to 38 companies, then 30 in 2014, 34 in 2015, 45 in 2016, 47 in 2017 and 51 in 2018”. He continued: “Last year, SNRT and M2 dealt with around 78 companies.”

The CEO of SNRT then addressed the subject of the “holding” linked to the integration of 2M and Medi1 into the Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision, which he described as a “governmental decision”, specifying: “It is not “It’s not about creating a new company, but the National Radio and Television Company, which employs 2,300 people, was chosen to be the owner and manager of the public sector’s radio and television channels.”

To date, “we have acquired Medi1 Radio and Medi1 TV, as well as the Régie 3 company, which manages advertising for public media,” he explained.

Regarding 2M, Faïçal Laraïchi clarified: “We have made progress in terms of legal, financial and tax commitments, and in the next two months, we will finalize the file so that the National Company becomes 100% owner of Soread 2M and 100% of the Medi1 TV channel, as well as 83.6% of “Medi1 Radio” and 83.6% of “Régie 3”

The manager recalled the questions concerning the profitability of the “holding”, explaining that it “is part of a political vision of the government aimed at grouping together resources and rationalizing their management on the financial, human, technical and productive levels, as well as as in the acquisition of programs, investment in satellite or geographical coverage in terms of information, etc. “. He added: “It is a real and tangible rationalization which reduces the financial cost for each chain which will be part of the holding company”.

Laraïchi stressed “the importance of investing in existing equipment and personnel, rather than looking for new resources, giving the example of broadcast trucks. He clarified: “The National Society has a large investment in this area; instead of 2M and Medi1 purchasing their own trucks, they can use these technical and human resources, which helps reduce costs for all companies.”

He also mentioned the cessation of recruitment in the field of broadcasting within SNRT, stressing that the other companies added to the holding, such as 2M, already have teams of 35 to 40 people in this field. However, he insisted on respecting the “editorial lines” of each television or radio channel. “There is no question of SNRT controlling the editorial line of 2M or Médi 1, nor the programming. Every society must preserve its identity,” he concluded.