Three months before the scheduled end of its frequency, C8, the channel of the controversial host Cyril Hanouna, went to court on Friday to contest this decision, but could still have to wait to be fixed.
It was a first round in the afternoon before the Council of State. The public rapporteur, who speaks the law, considered that it was too early for such an appeal by C8, the selection of channels by the audiovisual regulator not being final.
The Council of State, the highest administrative court, must render its decision on this subject in the coming week.
If he follows the conclusions of the public rapporteur, he will reject C8's request, considering that it is not admissible since it arrives before the final decision of Arcom expected at the beginning of December. “The case law has been firmly established” for around thirty years, thus justified the public rapporteur.
Owned by the Canal+ group, in the bosom of ultra-conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, C8 may subsequently attack this final selection by the audiovisual regulatory authority. Its publication must take place after the conclusion of agreements with the new frequency holders, pre-chosen in July.
– petition –
Mobilized like the entire Canal+ empire, C8 launched a petition at the end of last week to request its maintenance, which gathered nearly 700,000 signatures.
For the reallocation of 15 TV frequencies in 2025, a pre-selection by Arcom was unveiled at the end of July. The independent regulatory authority had ruled out the renewal of NRJ12 and C8, whose lease expires at the end of February, and had not retained the radical left web television Le Média.
“If we are not chosen, we are excluded” and already “the consequences are more than significant for C8”, argued the channel’s lawyer, Me Emmanuel Piwnica, at the hearing on Friday. The pre-selection is not “a gray area” and it “addresses us”, Franck Appieto, general director of C8, told the press.
NRJ12 and Le Média also contacted the Council of State and made the same arguments. “It is a fiction” to make people believe that the future frequency holders have not been selected, protested in the corridors Maryam Salehi, vice-president of NRJ Group, owner of the first.
The Council of State had already rejected their appeals brought in summary proceedings (emergency procedure) in September.
Two newcomers were preferred to C8 and NRJ12: OFTV (Ouest France group) and RéelsTV (CMI France, from Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky).
NRJ 12 was the first to file an appeal, in September. According to NRJ Group, the “economic viability” and therefore “the existence” of the channel is threatened and, by extension, “the economic model of Chérie 25”, another antenna of the same group.
C8 followed suit in court, invoking a situation “particular with regard to the economic, social and competitive issues generated” for a channel existing “for almost 20 years”, according to its owner Canal+. Some 400 jobs would be affected.
– After –
C8 accumulated fines of 7.6 million euros due to the slip-ups of its star host Cyril Hanouna. Arcom “above all intended to sanction the channel” for these “failings” linked to the program “Touche pas à mon poste” (TPMP) but these have already been “heavily sanctioned”, Canal+ points out again.
Cyril Hanouna prepares for any eventuality. He assured at the end of October that he would remain in any case in the Canal+ group, within which he is working to create a multimedia offer available on the internet and in print, in addition to television.
The renewal of frequencies has also stirred up the political sphere.
LFI deputy Aurélien Saintoul, rapporteur for a commission of inquiry into TNT in early 2024, notably deplored in July that Arcom had accepted the candidacy of CNews, accused by many left-wing politicians of promoting extreme ideas. right, which she disputes.
Also owned by Canal+, CNews has reached the top step of the podium of continuous news channels several times in recent months.
Two programs from the channel were subject to fines of 100,000 and 50,000 euros, Arcom said on Thursday.
