Avis du 3 novembre 2016 relatif au rapport d'exécution pour l'année 2015 du contrat d'objectifs et de moyens de France Médias Monde

In accordance with Article 53 of Law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication, the French Superior Audiovisual Council (hereinafter: "the Council") is summoned to issue an opinion on the annual report on the execution of the contract of objectives and means (hereinafter: "COM") which was concluded between the French State and the national program company France Médias Monde for the period 2013-2015.

The COM performance report for 2015 was sent to the Board by France Médias Monde on July 13, 2016. This is the last year of application of the current COM.

As in previous years, France Médias Monde focused its efforts on three strategic priorities.

The first was aimed at strengthening the identity of the three media, France 24, RFI and Monte Carlo Doualiya (hereinafter: "MCD") and renewing their program supply, as well as their visual identity (part I of the COM entitled " Affirming the identities of the three media on a foundation of shared values ").

The second priority was to continue developing the worldwide diffusion and distribution of the channels, and to increase their audiences, while consolidating the strong positions acquired in the so-called "consolidation" zones, strengthening them in the so-called "development" zones, and approaching new markets in the so-called "conquest" zones. This major line of development also included an objective relating to the development of the presence and audience of new media associated with each of the channels (part II of the COM entitled: " Develop a worldwide presence on all media ").

The third and final objective was to implement the company's new organization (merger of support functions, social harmonization) and streamline its management (part III of the COM entitled " Building a group that respects its employees and continuing to adapt its operational organization ").

Over the period covered by the COM, the Board considers that France Médias Monde has succeeded in implementing the structural reforms necessary for the company's development, while at the same time fostering the modernised and singular nature of its various outlets. It also notes that this far-reaching renewal has taken place against a difficult financial backdrop marked by limited increases in the Group's overall resources and public funding, which remains 4.2% lower than in 2011.

On this point, the Board notes that an increase of €7.3 million has been granted to the company as part of the objectives and means contract for the period 2016-2020. In particular, these allocations should enable France Médias Monde to launch the Spanish-language version of France 24 at the start of the 2017 academic year, and to finance the developments needed to maintain the group's international results.

The Board notes that the commitments to which France Médias Monde subscribed under its COM were generally met in 2015. The main achievements are described below.

I. With regard to editorial objectives

In 2015, France Médias Monde pursued and completed the actions initiated in 2013, the first year of application of the COM, to achieve the editorial objectives set within it. These include:

Consolidating and enriching the schedules and content of existing channels

• For France 24, 2015 was marked by the continued relaxation of the parallelism of the three antennas (French-speaking, English-speaking and Arabic-speaking), through the development of specific and singular programs enabling each of its antennas to adapt to its target audiences. In 2015, the Board noted the completion of France 24's transition to high definition (HD). Despite the production of the entire channel in new HD technical facilities, the channel was not shown in HD until 2016. In addition, in 2015 France 24 launched live subtitling of its 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. news broadcasts (with two reruns) as part of the objective of making programs accessible to the deaf or hard-of-hearing.
  The Council had expressed its wish for this in its opinion on the COM performance report for 2013; it encourages France Médias Monde to pursue its efforts in this direction.
• For RFI, the two separate schedules (Monde, Afrique) introduced in 2014 have been maintained. The radio station has also put on the air event days and original formats in view of the dense international news situation.
  The Board notes the continuation of RFI's awards policy in support of artists and new talent around the world.
• As far as MCD is concerned, the channel's objective of strengthening its news coverage of the Arab world has once again been achieved, particularly in terms of news and cultural content, as well as coverage of major events in France and the Arab world. In this respect, the Council notes the relocation of political programs and magazines to bring the station closer to listeners. The Council underlines the attention paid by MCD to the rejuvenation of its audience by introducing interactive programs and musical programming that showcases the work of youngsters.

More generally, the Council notes the internal synergies put in place by France Médias Monde.

These include the contribution of certain programs on the English-language version of France 24 to strengthening RFI's English-language diffusion, and cooperation between RFI and France 24 in the future development of Spanish-language programming. The Board also notes the continued development of cross-promotion between the various channels, as well as the sharing of content and expertise for the France Médias Monde Group's digital environments. It strongly encourages France Médias Monde to pursue these developments.

Development of new diffusion languages

• With regard to France 24, 2015 was marked by progress in the reflection on the modalities and timeliness of developing a Spanish-language version. The Board takes note of the implementation of a strategy to develop a new language version, which represents a genuine development relay for the group in charge of foreign audiovisuel.
  At the end of February 2016, the French President announced the launch of a Spanish-language version of France 24 in 2017. This version will benefit from the expertise of RFI's Spanish-language newsroom and that of the newsroom based in Latin America. This strategic development is in line with the channel's objective to deploy in this region, which has 500 million Spanish speakers and where most of France 24's competitors have already developed a Spanish version.
• As for RFI, one of the major events of 2015 was the launch of RFI's Mandinka language channel on October 19, 2015. This language is widely spoken in West Africa (forty million people speak or understand it) and becomes the third African language offered by RFI (after Hausa and Swahili). Programs in Mandinka reflect the output of all RFI's editorial teams on international, French and African subjects, while including elements specific to the region. The Board also highlights the strengthening of supplies in English, Persian, Portuguese and Brazilian. Finally, under the provisions of the COM 2013-2015, all of RFI's foreign-language programs, with the exception of Vietnamese (January 2016), will have been reformed to enhance their appeal.

Continued development of digital media content (websites, mobile applications, social networks, audio/video content)

• For France 24, the Board noted in 2015 preparations for the launch of a digital news service dedicated to French speakers, in partnership with the Mashable website, one of the best-performing media outlets for this target audience in the United States. As part of this drive to develop digital media, France Médias Monde has also launched a new Android application, a new Observateurs website in four languages, produced a number of web documentaries and strengthened the channel's activity on social networks.
• For RFI, the Board noted the launch of RFI Afrique, which supplies expertise on African news and aims to be a reference on the continent's current affairs, and the launch of RFI Savoirs, which modernizes French language teaching and extends learning to major knowledge themes such as health, the environment and history. Following the example of France 24, in 2015 RFI produced numerous web documentaries and developed its digital environments in various languages.
• For MCD, the year was marked by the launch of the new MCD mobile app on App Store, which led to a significant increase in the number of subscribers on social networks (2.5 million on Facebook).

II. Audience (on-air and associated new media), diffusion and distribution targets

As in fiscal 2014, France Médias Monde's objectives in terms of audience and the expansion of diffusion and distribution of its antennas for 2015 were largely achieved. These performances are to be commended in the context of ever-increasing competition, particularly for France 24.

Audience figures

Antennas

France 24 and RFI can boast average weekly audience figures for 2015 that exceed the targets set by the COM.

• France 24 attracted 50.9 million viewers (+5 million, or +11%, in one year, and +22% on 2012, the COM's reference year). This increase is mainly due to audience growth in French-speaking Africa. The Maghreb and the Middle East are also regions where France 24 records strong awareness.
• RFI counted 40 million listeners (+2.7 million, or +7% in one year and +15% on 2012). This increase is due to audience increases in French-speaking Africa and the Maghreb. Particularly noteworthy is the successful launch of RFI programs in Mandinka. In 2015, RFI increased its presence in Romania.
• MCD had been credited with 7.3 million listeners in 2014 (+ 9% on 2012). In 2015, the situation in the Middle East did not allow the France Médias Monde group to establish a reliable audience measurement.

Digital media associated with each of the three services

In line with the objectives set out in the COM, audience figures showed a very strong increase for 2015.

• France 24, after the slight decline recorded in 2014, recorded an average of over 16 million visits per month across all its digital environments, representing a 23.5% increase on 2014. In terms of exposure of the channel's content on partner environments, 30 million videos were viewed on YouTube and Facebook.
• For RFI, monthly visits to sites and applications stood at 12 million. This use of mobile environments was multiplied by 3 compared to 2014, a figure explained by the high use of RFI's mobile site in French.
• For MCD, monthly traffic was over 1.3 million visits across all digital environments. Visits increased by over 77% compared to 2014. The strategies put in place by the Group in previous years are enabling MCD to win over and retain a new audience.

The Board welcomes the digital strategy implemented by France Médias Monde, which in 2015 succeeded in winning a new audience, multiplying partners and diversifying the diffusion of its content. It encourages the Group to continue its efforts in this direction in the years to come.

Concerning diffusion and distribution

The international presence of FMM's services continued to increase in 2015.

• France 24 increased its coverage to 314.6 million households (up around 5% on 2014). This growth in the number of households was mainly driven by three zones: Africa (+ 2.4 million households, with 16.4 million households at the end of 2015), Europe (+ 3.96 million; 160 million at the end of 2015), which remains the leading distribution region, and Asia-Pacific (+ 6.8 million, 55 million at the end of 2015).
• RFI extended its diffusion in Romania (2 new frequencies).
• MCD obtained a frequency in a new country, the Sultanate of Oman.

However, France Médias Monde is concerned about the distribution of France 24, which requires the financial means to:

• cope with the threat of delisting the channel, with some distributors (particularly in Europe and the United States) demanding listing costs deemed "prohibitive";
• boost the channel's awareness and viewership through marketing and communications initiatives;
• assume the costs of high-definition broadcasting.

III. Objectives relating to human resources, cooperation with other public audiovisuel companies and financial management

With regard to corporate management, which constituted the majority of this COM's target objectives, the Board notes with satisfaction that all objectives have been practically achieved, with the notable exception of those relating to control of payroll and FTEs.

With regard to human resources objectives

The signing of a company-wide agreement on December 31, 2015 marked this final year of the COM. This agreement, signed between France Médias Monde's management and trade unions, aims to harmonize employee statuses. It defines the main provisions relating to social dialogue, staff representation, career path management, the remuneration scheme and the harmonization of working hours.

The Board welcomes the signing of this agreement, the fruit of exchanges between the company's management bodies and employees, and the establishment of a constructive dialogue between France Médias Monde's management and employee representatives, which fulfills the objective set by the COM and provides the Group with a social foundation applicable to all employees.

Fighting discrimination is an objective that France Médias Monde endeavored to meet in 2015. The arrival within the company of a "diversity, quality of working life, disability referent" manager in June testifies to the Group's commitment to these issues.

The Board also takes note of new advances in terms of diversity. On this point, the France Médias Monde Group has undertaken to set aside a budget for training and to carry out a diagnosis of the disability situation within the company. The company also pays particular attention to equal opportunities and the generation contract. The Board will ensure that the Group provides it with regular data on diversity, so that it can be kept informed of the company's situation in this area.

Regarding the representation of women on air, France Médias Monde submitted to the Board, for the first time in 2015, quantitative and qualitative indicators on the representation of women and men in its programs, as made provision for in deliberation n°2015-2 on respect for women's rights adopted on February 4, 2015. While the results are satisfactory overall, the Board nevertheless regrets, with regard to quantitative indicators, that the share of women in the "experts" and "political guests" categories does not exceed 29%.

On the other hand, the Council would like to emphasize France Médias Monde's exemplary approach to these indicators. In particular, it salutes the implementation of an accounting tool with a dedicated resource, which has enabled the group to provide the Conseil with exhaustive data.

The Board also notes, notably in the "experts" category, an increase of one to three points for France 24 and one to two points for RFI.

Financial aspects

As in previous years, the Council notes that France Médias Monde's annual accounts for 2015 show a breakeven net result. This net result is to be assessed in the light of ongoing savings and productivity efforts that are greater than the objectives set out in the COM across all of the company's departments.

Public resources are in line with the business plan set out in the COM, in contrast to the increase in own resources, which are lower than initially made provision for. The Group points out that this is due to the highly competitive economic environment in which it operates, which has led to a reduction in advertising revenues. Other own resources, such as music publishing activities, partnership and syndication agreements and fee-based training services, amounted to 4.9 million euros in 2015, a 19% increase on 2014.

The Council notes, however, that the share of personnel expenses (payroll) represents 54% of the company's operating expenses, compared with 51% forecast in the COM. According to France Médias Monde, these overruns must be assessed in the light of several circumstances: firstly, adjustments to the calculation method between 2014 and 2015 led to a revaluation of provisions for paid leave, but also the recognition of an accrued expense in respect of the remuneration of intermittent and freelance workers. In addition, the redeployment of savings generated by the cessation of certain short-wave broadcasts enabled us to strengthen certain RFI editorial teams. Lastly, the France Médias Monde group, mainly for security reasons, has chosen to internalize certain services, notably in the digital field.

This development in personnel costs also seems attributable to the increase in the Group's headcount. Measured in "full-time equivalents" (FTEs), the Group's headcount rose in 2015 to 1,808 FTEs, compared with 1,714 FTEs in the COM and 1,772 FTEs in the 2015 budget, an increase of 36 units. While it was made provision for stabilization over the COM period, it increased by 5% over the period, as the enrichment of France 24's schedule required unplanned recruitment and greater recourse to non-permanent and intermittent employees. For this reason, it has not been possible to reduce the use of these non-permanent employees, as had been made provision for in the COM (from 498 in 2012 to a target of 353, compared with an achievement of 498 in 2015). The Board will pay particular attention to indicators relating to payroll developments in the COM for the period 2016-2020.

Relations with other public audiovisual companies

2015 was marked by the partnership of France Médias Monde, France Télévisions, Radio France and INA for the development of the public 24-hour news channel.

In addition, the Council notes with satisfaction that active cooperation was initiated in 2015 between France Médias Monde and TV5 Monde, in application of the agreement concluded on December 16, 2014 between the two companies (fields covered: distribution, communication, marketing and research, programs), as made provision for in FMM's specifications and COM 2013-2015 as well as TV5 Monde's charter.

This notice will be published in the Journal officiel de la République française.

Paris, November 3, 2016
For the French Superior Audiovisual Council
Chairman
O. SCHRAMECK