The C8 channel has contacted the Council of State to challenge the decision of the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom) not to renew its DTT frequency, which will expire on February 28, 2025. “C8 firmly opposes Arcom’s decision” AND “referred to the Council of State for appeal for provisional suspension”announced its owner Canal+ in a press release on Thursday, September 19.
In July, the audiovisual regulator announced the list of applications selected for the reallocation of fifteen DTT frequencies in 2025, rejecting those of C8 and NRJ12 in favour of two newcomers: OFTV (West of France group) and RéelsTV (CMI Média, of Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky).
NRJ 12, with low ratings and mostly rebroadcasts of programming, also announced on Wednesday “to request provisional and substantive measures from the Council of State in order to obtain, respectively, the suspension and then the annulment of the preselection measure for Arcom”, Can we read in a press release?
“Unprecedented” measure
The channels still in the running will not be allowed to broadcast until the end of the year after signing new agreements with the regulator. But, like NRJ12, C8 preferred to take the lead, considering that its situation “This is particularly true in view of the economic, social and competitive problems that this decision has created for an existing television channel. (…) for almost twenty years ».
“Arcom’s decision not to preselect C8 is very damaging to the channel and is irreversible as it excludes C8 from the negotiation phase of agreements with Arcom”estimates the Canal+ group, denouncing a measure “unprecedented in the history of TNT, since its creation in 2005”.
“It would not be acceptable if the C8 could not ask the Council of State to prevent such a massive and disproportionate attack on the very existence of the company”which has 300 employees, the group says.
The PAF’s most penalized channel, with a fine of 7.6 million euros for the mistakes of its star presenter Cyril Hanouna, C8 is arguing with TMC over the status of 1D TNT channel and has more than 9 million cumulative daily viewers.
