Avis du 10 janvier 2012 relatif au projet de décret fixant le cahier des charges de la société nationale de programme en charge de l'audiovisuel extérieur de la France

The French Superior Audiovisual Council (Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel) has been asked by the French government, under article 48 of the amended law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication, to give its opinion on a draft decree setting out the specifications of the national program company in charge of France's external audiovisual services. After deliberating in plenary session on January 10, 2012, it issued the following opinion.

This decree was provided for by Law no. 2009-258 of March 5, 2009 on audiovisual communication and the new public television service, which created a national program company in charge of France's external audiovisual service.

The aim of the project is to give formal expression to the coherence of France's external audiovisual action. To this end, it updates and harmonizes, for each of the radio or TV services summoned to be published under the responsibility of the company, the definition of editorial identity as well as the applicable obligations, which were previously enshrined in RFI's mission statement and in the three agreements concluded by the Council for the France 24 channel. It also defines the specific positioning of TV5 Monde within the scheme.

The Board has issued a favorable opinion on the project. It nevertheless summons the following observations.

1/ The Council regrets the absence of any designation of the services included within the scope of the national program company. Article 2 of the draft only refers to the supply of television services (1° of article 2), radio services (2° of article 2) and on-demand audiovisual media services (3° of article 2).

The Council considers that it would be desirable to expressly mention the identity of the different services making up each of these supplies.

2/ The Council notes the lack of precision regarding the scope of application of some of the obligations: it is not always clear from the draft whether the obligations apply globally to all services, or to categories of services published by the company in charge of France's external audiovisual media, or to each of the existing services (France 24, RFI, Monte Carlo Doualiya). This ambiguity concerns the following articles:

- article 5 (respect for plurality);
- article 13 (promotion of cultural diversity);
- article 19 (respect for plurality in the expression of thought and opinion);
- article 21 (human rights).

A consistent wording, specifying that the obligations apply to each of the services concerned, would be preferable.

3/ With regard to the TV5 Monde television service, the Council considers that the following editorial changes could be made to the text.

Firstly, two reference texts could be listed in the preamble:

- on the one hand, the agreement between the Conseil and TV5 Monde, which remains the legal manager for its general and specific obligations under the law of September 30, 1986;

- secondly, the Intergovernmental Agreement of April 19, 2008, which defines in particular the managerial framework for TV5 Monde's relations with France's national audiovisuel programming company.

The following amendments are also proposed

- the first paragraph of Article 4 - A coherent program supply - states that "the company shall ensure a coherent supply of French-language programs for foreign audiences". However, TV5 Monde, France 24 and RFI are all shown in France, and are also aimed at the French abroad. It is proposed to amend the wording accordingly: "the company shall ensure the coherence of the French-language program supply";

- the same paragraph specifies that TV5 Monde is a service "whose programming is based on the cooperation of partner broadcasters"; it is proposed that this phrase be amended as follows: It is proposed that this phrase be amended to read: "whose programming relies in particular on the cooperation of partner broadcasters", given the existence of other sources of supply for the program schedule;

- with regard to the second paragraph of article 4, which makes provision for "TV5 Monde may use images and documentaries from the services mentioned in articles 2 and 3", the following amendment is proposed: "TV5 Monde may use images and documentaries from the services mentioned in articles 2 and 3 or provide them with them";

- finally, in Article 7 - Broadcasting and distribution of services, it is proposed that the following sentence be inserted in the first paragraph: "The company shall ensure that the broadcasting and distribution of these services are consistent with those of TV5 Monde".

4/ The Council considers it desirable to make up for the absence of certain obligations in the draft specifications:

. On-air control :

The obligation of on-air control should be included in the specifications by inserting the following sentence at the end of article 20 - Honesty of news and programs: "The company retains on-air control in all circumstances, in accordance with its internal control scheme".

. Obligations applicable to on-demand audiovisual media services :

It is proposed that, at the end of Article 14 - Production and diffusion of cinematographic and audiovisual works, the last paragraph of which concerns on-demand audiovisual media services, the main stipulations appearing in television service agreements for catch-up TV be included:

"Catch-up TV services may offer all or part of the programs shown on a television service.

Programs offered on catch-up TV services must be made available to the public for a period of not less than seven days from the date of diffusion on the television service.

The maximum duration for which programs may be made available must be specified in the rights assignment contract.

. Protection of persons under 18 :

Under the provisions of article 22 - Protection of minors, "the company shall implement the notices and deliberations of the French Superior Audiovisual Council, in particular with regard to program classification and signage". It is proposed to add the provisions of "including for on-demand audiovisual media services".

. Obligations applicable to product placement :

It is proposed to insert at the end of Chapter IV - Advertising, sponsorship and teleshopping, an article 39 bis - Product placement inspired by the stipulation relating to product placement included in television service agreements:

"Each of the television services respects the deliberations of the French Superior Audiovisual Council on product placement in television programs."

. Promoting the protection of athletes' health and the fight against doping :

Article 48 of the law of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication makes provision for the specifications of national program companies to include "provisions for promoting the protection of athletes' health and the fight against doping". It is therefore proposed to insert an article 24bis - Promotion of the protection of athletes' health and the fight against doping, worded as follows:

"The services mentioned in article 2 shall contribute, in their programs, to promoting the protection of athletes' health and the fight against doping".

5/ Lastly, the Council considers that the following drafting changes should be made.

Article 22 of the draft is devoted to the protection of person under 18s, but the last paragraph of article 21 also addresses this issue by dealing with the testimony of minors. This paragraph would be better placed in article 22.

With regard to the rules on advertising, article 37(1) is superfluous, given that article 20 of the decree of March 27, 1992 already prohibits sponsorship of news broadcasts and political news programmes.

The Council wishes to express its satisfaction with the following articles:

- article 12 ("access to knowledge and learning"), which in particular commits the company to showing on its channels programs devoted to science, on the one hand, and to decrypting the media, on the other;

- Article 28, which extends RFI's obligation to broadcast programs relating to election campaigns.

Find this notice on the Journal Officiel website.