Avis du 30 novembre 2022 relatif aux projets d'avenants aux contrats d'objectifs et de moyens 2020-2022 de France Télévisions, Radio France et France Médias Monde pour l'exercice 2023
By letter dated October 28, 2022, the Minister of Culture referred to the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication (hereinafter "Arcom") for its opinion, in accordance with article 53 of law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication, draft amendments to the contracts of objectives and means (hereinafter "COM") likely to be signed between the State and France Télévisions, Radio France and France Médias Monde (the Minister of Culture has sent the draft amendments to the COM 2020-2022 of France Télévisions, Radio France and France Médias Monde to the Authority for its opinion, and the draft amendment to the COM 2020-2022 of INA for information).
As a preliminary point, Arcom recalls that the COM 2020-2022 were initially intended to reflect the major political and budgetary orientations decided by the Government in July 2018. However, their negotiation was suspended pending the draft reform of the September 30, 1986 law on freedom of communication, itself postponed due in particular to the health crisis in March 2020. In the end, the current COMs were not signed and approved until the first half of 2021, one year after the effective start of the period they cover.
The draft amendments, which are the subject of this opinion, result from the government's decision to extend these COMs by one year, in a context of transition for public audiovisuel.
The public audiovisuel contribution was abolished by the Supplementary Budget Act for 2022 of August 16, 2022, and replaced by a mechanism for allocating a fraction of VAT revenues for the years 2023 and 2024. A survival scheme for financing public audiovisuel will therefore have to be established from 2025 onwards.
Against this backdrop, Arcom takes note of the government's decision to extend the COMs for a further year, in order to draw up a new strategic roadmap for public audiovisuel. It issues a positive opinion on these amendments, subject to the following observations.
1. Objectives in line with those of previous years
Of the hundred or so indicators in the three groups' COMs, the vast majority have been renewed unchanged for 2023, or are in line with the initial COM. This choice can be explained not only by the transition period described above, but also by the fact that the COMs' initial key requirements were highly ambitious in terms of fundamental public service missions.
Initial requirements reaffirmed
Arcom points out that some of the objectives set by the COMs in terms of audiences, funding for creation and social responsibility are highly ambitious. They have been achieved by the companies, and are therefore reaffirmed in the draft amendments.
By way of example, France Télévisions was to increase its coverage by 2020 to reach at least 80% of the population each week with one of its programs. Similarly, the share of program expenditure in total expenditure for France Télévisions and Radio France was set at a very high level (80% and 79% respectively).
France Télévisions' indicator for investment in audiovisual and cinematographic creation has been set at 500 million euros since 2021, a level far higher than that derived from regulatory investment rates alone, and unrivalled within the French audiovisuel industry.
Targets essentially unchanged
In the vast majority of cases, indicators with identical targets for 2020, 2021 and 2022 have been renewed unchanged for 2023, irrespective of the groups' actual performance. The Authority questions the fairness of certain indicators.
For example, the France Télévisions group's target for weekly coverage of 15-24 year-olds has remained unchanged since 2020, even though the group's performance is almost 15 points above target.
Onthe other hand, for Radio France, three of the four digital audience indicators applicable in 2022 will remain unchanged in 2023, even though the targets set for 2021 were not reached.
Ad hoc adjustments
Some indicators have been adapted under the provisions of recent circumstances and results.
Indicator 2.1 for Culture Prime, set at 45 million monthly video views on Facebook in 2022, has been lowered in the draft amendments to 30 million views, as the results recorded in 2021 were 25 million views. The Authority regrets the extent of this reduction, which leads to a lower level of requirement than the 2020 target.
As the Authority has pointed out in recent COM implementation reports, France Télévisions' weekly coverage of 4-14 year-olds has been dropping since 2019. The target for indicator 7.1 has been adjusted accordingly. It was to exceed 60% by 2022. According to the draft amendment, this rate should only be higher in 2023 than in 2022. The Authority regrets that this ambition is so modest.
Similarly, with regard to the target for the rollout of joint matinees, the Authority notes that the target of 36 matinees by 2022 has been postponed to 2023, to take account of the delay in rollout due in part to the health crisis.
France Médias Monde's indicator 6.1 concerning the percentage of favorable opinions on the values of expertise, objectivity and listing has been revised downwards for France 24 in the Maghreb zone and MCD in the Near and Middle East zone.
In addition, the scope of France Télévisions' Objective 9 on the number of first-evening shows now includes the France 4/CultureBox channel dedicated to culture. However, Arcom reiterates its strong commitment to ensuring that all the Group's channels contribute to the proper exposure of shows.
The need for greater harmonization of certain indicators
As this is a one-year extension of the current COMs, it seems appropriate to leave the structure and definition of monitoring indicators unchanged. Nevertheless, it would be advisable to carry out the necessary work in 2023 to modernise and harmonize these indicators, which are genuine tools for the overall management of public audiovisuel. The Authority noted this in its opinion on the draft COMs, with regard to productivity and audience indicators, for example.
For example, the many indicators based on opinion polls, such as those relating to confidence in information, could be based on a single methodology.
Similarly, the measurement and reduction of the carbon footprint of Radio France and France Télévisions, a major challenge for the public service, would seem to require harmonization.
Finally, the COMs 2020-2022 made provision for the harmonization of business plans before 2022. The draft amendments could have provided an opportunity to increase this progress as early as 2023.
2. Reinforced funding for 2023, but a new COM budget management manager to be put in place
Continuation and adaptation of the current COM financial pathway for 2023
The financial pathway set out in the current COMs follows the sequence set by the Government in July 2018 for the period 2019-2022. The draft amendments extend this pathway beyond 2022, in line with the amounts set out in the draft legislation for 2023, with a public contribution of 2,430 million euros for France Télévisions, 623 million euros for Radio France and 285 million euros for France Médias Monde.
The stated increase in public resources is an attempt to take account of the still uncertain consequences of the inflationary context, and includes compensation for the new tax charges induced by the new financing regime (revenues subject to the payroll tax, loss of VAT deduction rights in the case of France Médias Monde).
However, the draft amendments do not set out a multi-year pathway. Arcom stresses the need to rapidly provide the companies concerned with visibility beyond the next financial year.
Tools to be developed
The abolition of the CAP and the change in the macro-economic environment, with significant inflation and major variations in the prices of purchases and external charges (notably energy), mean that financial and budgetary management tools need to be strengthened. The business plans included in the second part of the draft amendments do not fully meet this expectation:
- generally speaking, while the companies' draft budgets for 2023 seem to enable them to maintain their financial equilibrium, the business plans presented in the draft amendments to the COMs of Radio France and, in particular, France Télévisions, are less detailed than those appearing in the COM 2020-2022; exchanges between Arcom and France Télévisions indicate that a detailed business plan could soon be submitted to the Board of Directors for inclusion in the amended version of the COM, after transmission to Arcom where appropriate;
- in addition, the financial pathways are based on poorly-documented development assumptions for key variables. This is the case for payroll, as well as for developments in own resources, particularly advertising, against a backdrop of worsening economic conditions;
- furthermore, the method used to breakdown public funding between the three companies and the differentiated increase in this funding (+3% for France Télévisions, +8% for Radio France and +12% for France Médias Monde) is not explained by the government.
The need for more solid support for the assumptions used to construct the budget years covered by the next COM
While the exceptional circumstances of 2023 and its uncertain macro-economic context may explain the succinct presentation of the business plans included in the draft amendments, it is important that the next COMs specify, for each company :
- the economic assumptions underlying the budget programming exercise ;
- the assumed increase in payroll, distinguishing between the indexation mechanism and the expected development excluding inflation, and specifying the expected effects of the voluntary redundancy plans underway in the three companies until the end of 2022;
- the development assumption for own resources;
- the breakdown of resource development between the three companies.
Arcom is keen to ensure that a multi-year funding pathway is rapidly defined for public audiovisuel, so that the latter has greater visibility over the level of its resources, the guarantee of which is an element of its audiovisual independence, as recalled by the Constitutional Council in its decision on the amended finance law for 2022 of August 16, 2022.
It does not subscribe to a scenario that would lead to a growing proportion of the financing of public audiovisual companies being based on advertising resources in the medium term, as of the current balances in the audiovisual industry. Indeed, the development of the companies' own resources, through increased advertising and sponsorship revenues, must not have the effect of destabilizing the most fragile segments of the private audiovisuel sector, such as those in the French overseas territories and local radio and TV stations in mainland France, in a market that is also subject to pressure from the major online advertising operators.
Arcom also considers it necessary to revive and deepen the dynamic of cooperation within the public audiovisuel sector. The draft endorsements could contribute to this, without waiting for possible legislative initiatives and the conclusion of the next COMs. Firstly, the indicators for strategic cooperation projects should include more ambitious targets, or at least be equivalent to those for 2022. Secondly, it would be useful to update the list of priority cooperation projects for public audiovisuel, which is annexed to the COMs.
Finally, public service broadcasters need new strategic orientations to transform their supply and respond to developments in usage. As numerous studies have shown, the year 2020 has accelerated the rise of digital uses, and the disaffection of youngsters for linear television, in favor of video on demand supplies, online content and social networks.
The year 2023 should therefore be an opportunity to take full account of the current transformations in the audiovisual and digital landscape, as well as changing consumption patterns. In this year of transition, we need to draw up a clear picture of the situation, with a view to setting a new horizon that responds to the gap between public expectations - including those of youngsters - and the public audiovisuel supply. This challenge, particularly in terms of the younger generation, must be met by developing a new strategy, translated into new missions and strong, ambitious objectives. In particular, this means strengthening the public broadcasting groups' digital supply, a distribution strategy that preserves the autonomy of publishers and the possibility of accessing content that meets cultural requirements and audience expectations.
The year 2023 should enable us to prepare the proactive orientations in this area that will be included in the next COM.
This notice will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done in Paris,
November 30, 2022
For the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication :
Chairman
R.-O. MAISTRE
Avis du 30 novembre 2022 relatif aux projets d'avenants aux contrats d'objectifs et de moyens 2020-2022 de France Télévisions, Radio France et France Médias Monde pour l'exercice 2023
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