After Arcom's temporary decision this summer to end C8 and NRJ 12 on Friday February 28, 2025, French TNT could be the scene of a game of musical chairs. Indeed, the new pre-selected channels (OFTV of West France and Réels TV from the CMI France group, editor's note) should arrive on more distant channels, while channels 8 and 12 could be taken over by channels that have already existed for several years.
The L’Équipe channel pleads its legitimacy to Arcom
Rumors indicate that it is very likely that LCP / Public Senate will inherit the eighth channel if C8 closes, since it fulfills a public service function without advertising. But according to our colleagues from Le Parisien, The L'Équipe channel decided to enter the race at the beginning of November. Benefiting from lower advertising revenue, it considers that its candidacy is not a major economic threat for the rest of TNT, and claims its status as the only free sports channel in France, coming, what is more, from a media group independent. Will the L'Équipe channel leave channel 21 in a few months to obtain more advantageous visibility? Before knowing it, Arcom must already communicate its final list of channels selected for DTT.
The Council of State asks C8 and NRJ 12 to wait
This is also why the requests from C8, NRJ 12 and Le Média (independent media candidate for TNT, editor's note) were rejected this week by the Council of State which is judging them.inadmissible because premature“. The three media outlets will have to refer the matter to the Council of State again once Arcom's final decision is made, which should occur during the month of December. At that time, their file will be studied by the public institution which is the highest court of the administrative order: “The administrative judge cannot be contacted at this stage against this pre-selection list which does not constitute either an award for the candidates appearing there, nor rejection of their application for the others. This list of pre-selected candidates, which is an Arcom practice and is not provided for by law, does not constitute the outcome of the DTT frequency allocation procedure. (…) Arcom can only really reject an application when it has definitively chosen to retain another and this definitive choice can only take place at the end of the negotiation of the agreement which must accompany the authorization to broadcast. Arcom can thus still choose, even after the publication of such a list, to end the negotiations initiated with one of the preselected candidates or to begin them with another candidate not appearing there, until the final decision is made.“.
France
TV
