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In force since May 7, 2024, the Media Freedom Regulation was presented on September 16, 2022 by the European Commission and definitively adopted on April 11, 2024.
Media transparency database
Translations are provided as a service to Arcom users and are supplied “as is”, throught the DeepL tool. Consequently, only the text of the original version is authentic.
Please note that not all the files have been translated.
The European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) aims to promote and strengthen media plurality and editorial independence.
The scheme makes provision for common guarantees and principles applicable to all media, private and public, in the European Union, including, as of August 2025, the public availability of a media ownership database.
To meet the need for transparency in media ownership, Arcom is publishing a prefiguration of the EMFA database for its audiovisual section.
Media Freedom Regulations
What media information?
The European Media Freedom Regulation(EMFA) makes provision for "national media ownership databases" to be set up in each EU member state, containing the following information, which all media service providers must make public(article 6):
- their company name(s) and contact details ;
- the name(s) of their direct or indirect owner(s) whose shareholding enables them to influence operational and strategic decision-making, including direct or indirect ownership by a State or by a public authority or entity;
- the name(s) of their beneficial owner(s) (article 3.6);
- the total annual amount of public funds allocated to them for state advertising, and the total annual amount of advertising revenue received from third-country public authorities or entities.
This article comes into force on August 8, 2025. It requires measures to adapt national law.
The database
In order to respond to the legitimate demand for transparency in media ownership, expressed in particular in the context of the Etats généraux de l'information, or in the recommendations made by the European Commission in its reports on the rule of law in 2024 and 2025, Arcom has decided to publish a partial prefiguration of the database for its audiovisual component, without waiting for national law to be adapted.
At this stage, the database covers television and radio services authorized for terrestrial broadcasting, and does not yet include all the information required by the EMFA regulation.
How can I browse the information published by Arcom?
Below, you'll find the database in excel format.
Media services are classified by type of service (radio and television) and arranged alphabetically.
The information available is :
- name and type of media service (radio or TV) - and, for radio services, the service category
- company name, legal form, registered office address of the service provider
- name(s) of direct owner(s)
- name(s) of indirect owner(s)
For your searches, we invite you to filter each column according to the service or information you are looking for.
Database
The media services listed in this database may demand that their information be updated and corrected, using the following address: base-emfa@arcom.fr
As part of the prefiguration of the database provided for in article 6 of EMFA, Arcom processes personal data. These data may be made public to the recipients of the services concerned. To find out more about how Arcom processes personal data and your rights, browse our privacy policy.
On the same subject
Arcom has defined five categories of radio station, depending on whether they are local or national, and whether their content is thematic or general. Each category is designated by a letter (from A to E):
- Category A - community radio stations with a local social communications mission. Resources from advertising or sponsorship must represent less than 20% of total sales;
- category B - independent local or regional radio stations that do not show national programmes;
- category C - local or regional radio services showing the program of a national radio station;
- category D - thematic radio stations with a national vocation;
- category E - national general-interest radio services.