Opinion no. 2013-17 of December 11, 2013 on the draft contract of objectives and means of the national program company France Médias Monde for the period 2013-2015.

Pursuant to article 53 of French law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication, the French Government, in a letter dated November 22, 2013, forwarded to the French Superior Audiovisual Council the draft contract of objectives and means (COM) for France Médias Monde for the period 2013-2015.

The Board welcomes the finalization of this document, which provides the national program company in charge of France's external audiovisuel with the essential strategic manager it has lacked until now.

The draft COM submitted to the Board is the result of a strategic plan drawn up under the aegis of the Chairman and CEO of the national program company in charge of France's external audiovisual media, in consultation with the staff of the company's three media (France 24, RFI, Monte Carlo Doualiya-MCD).

It summons the company to achieve three main sets of objectives:

- under the provisions of target audiences and editorial strategy for each of the three media, based on the affirmation of a common set of ideas and values;

- under the provisions of developing a global presence across all media;

- in human and organizational terms.

The project includes some fifteen indicators to measure the achievement of these objectives, as well as a commitment to the resources allocated by the State for the period in question.

The French Superior Audiovisual Council, having deliberated in plenary session on December 11, 2013, issues the following opinion.

I. Introductory comment

The Board is surprised that the draft COM submitted to it actually covers a two-year period, since the first year has already elapsed, whereas article 53 of the law of September 30, 1986 makes provision for COMs to last between three and five years.

II. Asserted identities and values

The Council welcomes "the State's determination to place the specificity of the media and the singularity of their identity back at the heart of France's external audiovisual action". This identity had been erased from the company's specifications, which the Board regretted in its opinion no. 2012-01 of January 10, 2012 on the draft decree setting out the specifications.

The Board welcomes the affirmation of a common base of universal values by the three media of France Médias Monde. The promotion of democratic values and human rights, the promise of free, independent and honest information highlighting the diversity of viewpoints and debate, secularism, equality of women and men, and cultural diversity are all values and principles to which the Board is particularly attached.

III. Positive grid improvements, but cultural and accessibility commitments to be introduced

The Board approves the project's objectives for improving schedules and content, particularly as regards the development of diffusion languages that would enable France Médias Monde to reach a wider audience, both for RFI and France 24.

The Board's examination of the first report on the implementation of the specifications of the national program company in charge of France's foreign audiovisuel services highlighted the need to complete the COM:

• An indicator could be added to measure achievement of the objective of diffusing cultural programs (an objective promoted in articles 2 and 13 of the specifications), by setting a minimum hourly volume to be devoted to such programs.
• The draft COM's objective of promoting young musical talent on RFI (in line with the obligation set out in article 15 of the specifications) could also be quantified by means of a monitoring indicator.
• With regard to the accessibility of France 24's programs for the disabled, the Board notes that the draft COM makes no mention of this issue, even though article 53 of the law of September 30, 1986 makes provision for it. It is astonished by this, especially as the draft COM highlights "diversity in all its components" as a "guiding principle within France Médias Monde" and refers, with regard to an employment target for disabled people, to Law no. 2005-102 of February 11, 2005, which also introduced into the Law of September 30, 1986 obligations in terms of accessibility for the benefit of this category of people. In addition, article 24 of the specifications stipulates that the COM must make provision for the conditions under which these programs are made accessible to the deaf or hard-of-hearing (through subtitling) and to the blind or partially-sighted.

With regard to the obligation to make all programs accessible to the deaf or hard-of-hearing, exemptions justified by the characteristics of the programs could be added to the draft COM. In any case, the Board considers that, as a public service and news channel, France 24 should offer at least four subtitled news broadcasts per day on the French-language signal available in France and abroad.

With regard to the obligation to include in the COM the channel's commitments in favor of access to programs for blind or partially-sighted people, a derogation could be introduced in the law to make provision for a specific regime in the absence of broadcasting of audiovisual drama serials and cinematographic works.

• The Board considers that the draft COM does not contain sufficient commitments on the schemes for access to knowledge (article 12), particularly with regard to France 24. This comment applies particularly to the obligation relating to media education.

IV. Performance indicators to be completed

With regard to the awareness and audience indicators set out in the draft COM, the Board approves the choice of "weekly" audience, which seems appropriate for international media, even if it is a more favorable indicator than "day before" audience, which is used for national radio stations.

To complete the scheme of audience and awareness indicators proposed by the project, the Board suggests that, subject to its accessibility at a reasonable cost, an audience/awareness/satisfaction indicator be set up for the French abroad, a category of audience duly targeted by France Médias Monde.

It would also be appropriate to apply the indicators to the different zones mentioned in the draft COM (zones of consolidation, development and conquest), with appropriate increase targets.

With regard to new media, the Board considers it desirable that indicators be broken down by geographic zone.

V. - Encouraging FMM diffusion throughout France

The draft COM states that it is necessary to develop the in mainland France presence of France Médias Monde antennas, currently limited by the specifications of the company in charge of France's external audiovisuel.

The modification of the specifications is a prerequisite to initiating the proceedings for the allocation of frequencies to the public sector provided for in article 26 of the law of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication, by which the Government requests the Board to give priority to national program companies or their subsidiaries "fulfilling public service obligations the right to use the radioelectric resource necessary for the accomplishment of their public service missions."

The Conseil recalls that it has a margin of discretion in implementing the aforementioned article 26, in accordance with the jurisprudence of the Conseil d'Etat (opinion no. 384-741 of January 25, 2011). In particular, it is responsible for examining the demands made by the Government with regard to the rules of competition and plurality.

• In the case of France 24, it is made provision for "at least partial" diffusion on DTT. This will be based on the channel's original editorial supply, likely to be of interest to the French public, and its national coverage, which will strengthen its worldwide awareness and legitimacy. Spin-offs from the pan-European advertising market are also expected.

As stated in its opinion on the modification of the terms of reference, the Board considers it necessary to adapt the latter in order, in particular, to introduce the target audience resident in France as one of France 24's missions.

In any case, the Conseil considers that France 24's terrestrial hertzian diffusion in mainland France should not be subject to any specific advertising opting out that could harm competition and plurality;

• As for the desired extension of FM broadcasting by RFI and MCD in France, the Government's demands under the aforementioned article 26 may relate to available frequencies identified by the Board as part of the studies it is carrying out, in line with the objective of optimal spectrum management set out in article 22 of the law of September 30, 1986, depending in particular on the expiry date of current authorizations. Specific research, as suggested by the COM, does not correspond to the Board's practice. The Board points out that such deployment is conditional on the availability of radioelectric resources and on the implementation of priority frequency reservation proceedings, for which it has a margin of discretion.

With regard to the current diffusion, in Marseille, of a joint RFI and MCD program, the Board salutes its originality and success. It points out that France Médias Monde benefits from a temporary authorization granted from June 3, 2013 to January 31, 2014 on frequency 107.9 MHz, and that this authorization cannot be renewed, in accordance with the law and the jurisprudence of the Conseil d'Etat in this area. Furthermore, from a technical point of view, the frequency used - 107.9 MHz - cannot be used on a survival basis, given the risks this presents for air safety. The Board will make every effort to find a solution that will enable this program to be diffused.

The Board approves the pragmatic approach adopted in the draft COM, which gives priority to seeking partnerships with Radio France or local radio stations.

VI. Management and budgetary resources

The Board welcomes the efforts made to rationalize costs and expenses.

With regard to the development of own resources, the draft COM indicates that the French government will examine the possibility of making the rules governing international broadcast advertising more flexible, to RFI's benefit. The Board is in favor of such a development.

The Board welcomes the steady increase in the budgetary allocation to France Médias Monde from 2013 to 2015 (€238.7m in 2013, €240.3m in 2014, €242.1m in 2015), despite a generally constrained budgetary context.

It stresses the need to make provision for France 24 to be shown in high definition in the next contract of objectives and means, to avoid delisting the channel from numerous supplies. It also stresses the relevance of the gradual development of a Spanish version of France 24 by the end of the decade.

Paris, December 11, 2013.

For the French Superior Audiovisual Council :
Le président,
O. Schrameck