Good news for Rodolphe Saadé! The shipowner, head of CMA CGM, has obtained the agreement of the audiovisual regulator to buy the Altice Media group. A group which therefore includes BFM, the RMC station, but also BFM Business, RMC Story, RMC Découvertes, plus all the regional versions of BFM!
Three frequencies on the national DTT plus a place on the FM band, yes yes, it still exists! For Rodolphe Saadé, it is a turning point. He already has newspapers, but by paying for radio and television, the businessman changes dimension. Audiovisual is the mass media par excellence, those that reach millions of people every day.
Rodolphe Saadé has gone all out, a billion and a half euros! We are now waiting to find out what he is going to do with it. And we should have some information very soon. Yes, because we have totally forgotten it with the political news, but this month, Arcom is renewing 15 TNT frequencies. Among them, there is that of BFMTV. All the candidates are taking a major oral exam, that of CMA CGM is scheduled for July 16.
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The exercise will be interesting
It is often a list of promises that only bind those who believe in them, but it is also an opportunity to define an editorial project, especially since this is a news channel, and a news channel whose supremacy has wavered. In June, for the second consecutive month, it was CNews that was ahead.
How Rodolphe Saadé plans to relaunch BFM without becoming a clone of CNews? First elements of an answer in mid-July. Moreover, these auditions will also be an opportunity to see other contenders. We were hoping to see Daniel Kretinsky, but the Czech businessman will not come, he is sending Denis Olivennes… too bad. His project is called RéelsTV, a general channel with a focus on documentaries. Proof that these auditions will have a very political flavor, in Kretinsky’s entourage, there is talk of a democratic commitment.
Another new kid on the block is Ouest France. France’s best-selling daily newspaper would love to have its own channel, too. And then there’s a comeback, Alain Weill! He’s the one behind BFMTV, he sold it, became very rich, and now he wants to do it again. This time with a channel based on L’Express magazine.
So many contenders, too many in fact compared to the number of frequencies available, unless of course some channels lose their place. And inevitably, you think of… C8 and CNews. In fact, everyone only thinks of C8 and CNews!
The matter was already complicated before the dissolution of June 9, it has become extremely complicated since then. Complicated because it has become a purely political affair. Arcom will try to extricate itself from it, but in the end, we will come back to it.
If Arcom renews the channels, there will be an outcry, the regulator will be accused of playing into the hands of the extreme right. If Arcom removes them, there will be an outcry, the regulator will be accused of playing into the hands of the system and opposing pluralism. In this era where nuance no longer exists, in any case, Arcom will be wrong.
