The Council of State rejected on Wednesday 25 September the appeals filed in summary proceedings by the channels C8, NRJ12 and Le Média, which were not chosen by the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom) this summer during the procedure for the reallocation of digital terrestrial television (DTT), considering that the emergency condition is not “not fulfilled”.
In three separate decisions, France’s highest administrative court specified that these appeals would be examined on their merits by the end of November. In July, Arcom unveiled its shortlist for the reallocation of fifteen television frequencies in 2025, ruling out the renewal of NRJ12 and C8 whose contract expires at the end of February and not retaining the radical left TV Le Média, in favour of two newcomers: OFTV (a group from the West of France) and RéelsTV (CMI, owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky).
The channels still in the running, however, will only be allowed to broadcast after signing new agreements with the regulator before the end of the year. NRJ12 and its owner, NRJ Group, preferred to take the initiative and announced that they had contacted the Council of State to challenge Arcom’s decision.
C8, which has accumulated a fine of 7.6 million euros for the mistakes of its star presenter Cyril Hanouna, did the same, citing a situation “particularly in light of the economic, social and competitive problems generated (…) for a television channel that has existed (…) for almost 20 years”according to a statement from its owner Canal+, supported by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré through the Vivendi group.
