Deliberation of July 24, 2007 on the numbering of channels in service distributors' program supplies
Deliberation no. 2007-167 of July 24, 2007 on the numbering of television services in the program supplies of distributors of services on electronic communications networks not using frequencies summonsed by the French Superior Audiovisual Council.
In 2006, the French Superior Audiovisual Council received 14 requests for dispute settlement concerning the numbering of television services in the program supplies of distributors of services on electronic communications networks not using frequencies assigned by the Council, in accordance with the provisions of article 17-1 of the amended law of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication. These disputes highlighted the acuteness of numbering problems in relations between publishers and distributors.
The purpose of the present decision, taken on the basis of article 3-1 of the law of September 30, 1986, is to specify the obligations to which distributors of services not using frequencies assigned by the Commission are subject, with regard to the numbering of television services broadcast in digital mode.
I - Legislative provisions applicable to numbering
Article 3-1 of the Act of September 30, 1986, as amended by the Act of March 5, 2007 on modernising audiovisual broadcasting and television of the future, stipulates that the Conseil shall ensure"the fair, transparent, uniform and non-discriminatory nature of the numbering of television services in the program supplies of service distributors".
The conditions for numbering television services in commercial supplies offered on electronic communications networks not using frequencies summoned by the Commission are also governed by article 34 of the same law, under the provisions of which:"the Commission may, by reasoned decision taken within a period set by regulation (1), oppose either the operation of a service supply, or a change in the composition of that supply, if it considers that it does not meet the conditions and obligations of this law, in particular those mentioned in articles 1, 3-1, 15 and 34-1 to 34-3, or if it considers that it infringes the public service missions summonsed by article 43-11 to the national program companies and the Arte channel, in particular by the numbering assigned to the service in the commercial supply."
II - Relevance of thematic television service plans
In view of the challenges posed by numbering, explained in the appendix, the Conseil favors the principle of organizing service plans by theme.
During the parliamentary debates on the draft legislation on modernising audiovisual diffusion and television of the future, the legislator affirmed his commitment to this principle, referring to the need to create"coherent, thematic blocks of channels".
The Conseil considers that the organization of service plans by theme is in line with viewers' interests, insofar as they choose the program they wish to watch primarily in relation to a type of content, such as news, sport or cinema.
A theme thus brings together channels that are in competition for the same audience. Organizing service plans by theme makes it easier for viewers to switch from one channel to another, and enables service editors presenting similar content to compete fairly.
Finally, the principle of organizing distributors' service plans by theme corresponds to standard practice in many countries.
III - Principles applicable to the organization of service plans
If service plans are organized by theme, a number of practical difficulties linked to numbering may arise in relations between service editors and distributors.
For example, a disagreement may arise when a channel's position in a given theme is judged to be inadequate. This situation is likely to prevent a publisher from reaching its audience. It may result from a lack of transparency about the principles the distributor applies in drawing up its service plan. Another disagreement may arise from a verdict that a channel's ranking within a theme is unfair or discriminatory. It may also result from a lack of clarity in the rules governing this classification.
In view of these difficulties, the present deliberation clarifies the legislative schemes in three areas:
- How should themes be defined and ordered?
- How to verdict whether a channel belongs to a theme?
- How do you order channels within a theme?
A - Defining and ordering themes
Distributors are free to define the themes of their service plans.
However, to ensure that numbering is uniform and transparent, distributors must publish the definition of their service plan's themes, primarily with regard to the format of the channels to be included.
They may draw inspiration from the themes (2) defined by the Conseil, notably in the channel reports published by the Conseil. It may create a "local channels" theme.
The distributor may also create a specific block devoted to the temporary promotion of certain services, as part of its commercial strategy.
Any modification to the list of themes or their definition must be communicated to the public, for example by publication on the distributor's website, with one month's notice to ensure the transparency of numbering and to allow publishers to make any comments they may have.
Creation of a "DTT block
The French legislator has made provision for special schemes to guarantee the exposure of digital terrestrial television (DTT) channels. Article 34-4 of the law of September 30, 1986 states:"Without prejudice to articles 34-1 and 34-2, any service distributor shall grant, under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions, requests from television service editors not requiring remuneration from users and whose diffusion is authorized in accordance with articles 30 or 30-1 tending, on the one hand, to allow access, for the reception of their services, to any terminal used by the distributor for the reception of the supply it markets and, on the other hand, to ensure the listing of their services in the tools for listing this supply."
While the organization of service plans by theme is in the interests of viewers, they may wish to see DTT channels grouped together in a homogeneous block. For some, this would make it possible to find the channels as they are presented in most TV magazines. Others, notably those who have migrated from DTT to a pay-TV supply not using frequencies summonsed by the Commission, would find the numbering familiar to them.
Consequently, the Conseil deems it advisable for the distributor to set up a"DTT thematic block", grouping together in a homogeneous suite the free-to-air DTT channels that are also present in the adapted thematic service supply. Within this block, the distributor must respect the logical numbering order defined by the Conseil. This block must be easily accessible to viewers in the service plan.
B - Determining whether a channel belongs to a theme
To ensure that numbering is uniform, equitable and non-discriminatory, the distributor must be able to inform the Commission, on demand, of the reasons for placing a channel in one of the identified thematic categories.
These reasons must be based on objective and quantifiable criteria in relation to the channel's programming or its agreement with the Conseil, in order to ensure abide by the obligations laid down in article 3-1 of the law of September 30, 1986.
In the event of disagreement between publishers and distributors, the Conseil may be seized on the basis of the dispute settlement provisions of article 17-1 of the law of September 30, 1986.
In the interests of transparency and fairness in service numbering, the distributor must give the publisher one month's notice of any change in a channel's thematic affiliation, unless the parties agree to a different deadline. The distributor must provide the reasons for the change in theme.
C - Sequencing of channels within themes
To ensure that numbering is uniform, fair and non-discriminatory, the distributor must communicate the principles for scheduling services within a theme.
This must be based on certain objective and verifiable scheduling criteria, such as :
- previous occupancy of the number ;
- audience ;
- the logical number assigned by the Commission to the publisher for DTT diffusion;
- language: for example, a distributor would be entitled to allocate the first numbers of a theme to channels in French or one of the regional languages;
- awareness, for example on the basis of opinion surveys;
- alphabetical order;
- the result of a draw;
- the target audience category;
- the diffusion area.
These criteria are ranked in order of priority for application and, in accordance with the requirement for homogeneity set out in article 3-1 of the law of September 30, 1986, they must be applied under the same conditions to all themes.
Any change in the numbering of a channel within a theme must be communicated by the distributor to the publisher with one month's notice, unless the parties agree on a different period. The distributor must provide the reasons for the numbering change.
D - Special case of national public channel numbering
The law of September 30, 1986 gives the Conseil special powers under the provisions of articles 17-1 and 34 concerning the fulfillment by public service channels of their public service missions.
The distributor must ensure that these channels receive the exposure they need to fulfill their public service missions, in the theme to which they belong.
IV - Implementation of the decision
The distributor has three months from publication of this resolution in the Journal officiel de la République française to comply with it.
To this end, it must submit a "numbering reference document" to the Board, setting out the principles on which it bases its service plan in accordance with this decision. This document contains in particular :
- an ordered list of themes;
- a precise definition of each theme;
- criteria for ordering channels within themes.
It is published on the Conseil's website.
Any modification must be communicated to the Council in advance, with one month's notice.
The present deliberation will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Paris, July 24, 2007,
For the French Superior Audiovisual Council,
The Chairman,
Michel BOYON
(1) Article 11 of Decree no. 2005-1355 of October 31, 2005 sets this deadline at one month.
(2) For example, cinema, documentary, music, general interest, service, drama, sport, youth, information, confessional and community, and teleshopping.
Appendix
Numbering challenges
Within a television supply offered by a distributor, services can be accessed in several ways:
- via a mosaic, delivered on a channel of the supply, simultaneously presenting reduced images of all the services in the supply;
- via an electronic program guide, an interactive application that lets you access channels by theme or programming, and do a search on these elements if required;
- directly by browsing the service plan: users can either enter the service number directly, or access the services immediately adjacent to the channel they are watching.
In France, direct access by numbering seems to be the preferred way of accessing television services. In this, the French situation differs, for example, from that of the UK, where the use of electronic program guides appears to be more widespread.
The question of numbering and the organization of a distributor's service plan is therefore likely to have major repercussions on the activity of the various players, insofar as it conditions viewers' access to television service supplies.
An initial analysis of the challenges faced by the various economic players reveals sometimes divergent interests:
- for viewers, the challenge is to gain easy access to the channels of their choice;
- for publishers, the numbering system must be able to reach the widest possible audience and be stable;
- for distributors, numbering must contribute to their commercial strategy, by enabling them to adapt their supply to subscribers' expectations and maximize the exposure of affiliated channels.
In addition, several aspects of numbering are complex and require in-depth investigation:
- the technical conditions for implementing numbering;
- the impact of numbering on a channel's audience and economics;
- the place of numbering in relations between publishers and distributors;
- the impact of developments in service access modes in pay TV supplies.
1) Technical constraints on numbering implementation
In DTT, service numbering, known as "logical numbering", must be included in the diffusion signal. This is described in the following reference documents:
- arrêté du 24 décembre 2001 modifié relatif à la télévision numérique hertzienne terrestre, fixant les caractéristiques des signaux émis ;
- Decree of December 27, 2001, as amended, on the characteristics of equipment for receiving services shown on digital terrestrial television;
- norms IEC/CENELEC 62216-1, in particular paragraph 9.4.4 concerning logical channel numbers.
On the other hand, the technical schemes for implementing numbering are not publicly known for cable and satellite platforms. Nevertheless, based on the information available to the Conseil, it would appear that these platforms operate in a similar way. This scheme supplies a degree of flexibility in terms of numbering development.
The main technical constraint for numbering seems to be the hardware capacity of decoders. From this point of view, distributors' decoder fleets are characterized by the coexistence of different generations of equipment, with unequal capacities, and by a degree of uncertainty concerning the renewal of the different generations.
These hardware constraints could limit the possible implementations of a service plan and restrict, for example, the possibilities for users to personalize their numbering plans.
2) The impact of numbering on channel economics
Numbering is particularly important for channels, not least because of its economic repercussions.
It determines a channel's exposure to potential viewers. More specifically, certain characteristics are likely to influence a channel's audience:
- positioning in a theme that matches the channel's programming, or, conversely, in an unsuitable theme;
- positioning in the first tens of the service plan;
- the "ergonomics" of the number, i.e. how easy it is to enter on a remote control, and how simple it is for the user to memorize;
- proximity to a peak-time channel;
- the presence of special services nearby, such as mosaics or video-on-demand services, which interrupt the viewer's journey through the service plan.
Numbering stability also seems to play an important role: stable numbering makes it easier for viewers to find the service they are looking for.
3) The place of numbering in relations between publishers and distributors
The numbering of a channel on a platform is a specific element in the relationship between a publisher and a distributor.
From the information available to the Council, it appears that numbering is not generally included in distribution contracts. According to distributors, it is neither negotiated nor remunerated by the publisher. Similarly, there is generally no provision for advance notice of numbering changes, which would not have to be justified.
4) The impact of developments in service access modes in pay-per-use supplies
In several European countries, as well as in the United States and Asia, the Council has noted the growing use of electronic program guides.
For example, the British regulator, OFCOM, has published a code of conduct on the use of electronic program guides by distributors.
Furthermore, the issues involved in presenting a distributor's supply on various listing tools, such as electronic program guides and mosaics, are similar to those raised by the organization of the service plan, and more specifically channel numbering. Thus, services in a mosaic are generally classified according to their number in the service plan, and electronic program guides generally group services by theme.
If the trend observed abroad were to become generalized in France, the problems currently raised by numbering could therefore persist in these other access modes.