Opinion No. 2016-14 of September 28, 2016 on the draft Contract of Objectives and Means of the national program company France Télévisions for the period 2016-2020.
In accordance with article 53 of French law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication, the French Superior Audiovisual Council (hereinafter "the Council") is required to issue an opinion on the draft contract of objectives and means (hereinafter "COM") signed between the French State and the national program company France Télévisions for the period 2016-2020.
Article 53 stipulates that the COM must enable the State and France Télévisions to define the public group's development prospects, based on commitments whose implementation can be measured by indicators, and for which the financing arrangements are specified for the entire duration of the COM.
Pursuant to this article, the COM must determine :
- priority areas for development ;
- commitments to diversity and innovation in creation;
- France Télévisions' minimum investments in the production of European and EOF cinematographic and audiovisual works;
- commitments in terms of program accessibility (law no. 2005-102 of February 11, 2005);
- the estimated cost of activities, supplemented by performance indicators;
- the amount of public resources to be allocated to the company, with priority given to the development of program budgets;
- the amount of expected own-source revenue, distinguishing between advertising and sponsorship;
- the economic outlook for fee-based services;
- information on the amount of public resources and own revenues;
- areas for improvement in financial and human resources management, with the aim of returning to financial equilibrium;
- where appropriate, the outlook for a return to financial equilibrium.
The Board notes that this draft incorporates most of the directions set out by Delphine Ernotte Cunci in the strategic project presented to the Board in spring 2015.
Prior to the submission of a case before the court, the Board, under the aegis of the working group in charge of monitoring France Télévisions, sought the expertise of qualified personalities on the future challenges facing public television over the next ten years. This cycle of hearings highlighted and confirmed a number of observations taken into account in the draft COM, which the Board welcomes.
In a context marked by the transformation of broadcast viewing habits and increased competition on all media, some experts estimate that, by 2020, half of all television viewing will be in non-linear mode. In the future, channels' online supplies will play a central role in response to competition from video platforms led by powerful international players.
Television programs are now consumed on all screens, with a strong increase in mobile screens. In the next few years, the mobile could become the leading receiver of television content, replacing the traditional television set. The COM is in line with this outlook. Indeed, the French government and France Télévisions frequently list the changes that will radically affect the audiovisuel sector in the coming years, and the challenges that public television must take up.
This profound change in the way television is used is not without impact on the audience for public television. In the medium term, France Télévisions, like private broadcasters, will be affected by a decline in the amount of time devoted to linear television. While overall listening time has remained stable for several years, the disaffection of youngsters with linear television seems to be a given, and represents a real challenge for public television, which must address all citizens.
In line with the authorities' wishes, the France Télévisions COM is a more concise document than the previous one. As a result, it more clearly reflects the government's expectations of public television.
The previous COM, which had multiplied the number of objectives to 68, did not constitute a real steering tool for the accomplishment of the missions entrusted to France Télévisions, nor for the good governance of the company. What's more, many of the objectives were redundant with those present in France Télévisions' specifications. In its opinion of September 11, 2013 on the rider to France Télévisions' COM for the period 2013-2015, the Conseil had summoned a better articulation of these texts.
The purpose of the COM is to set out the major strategic directions summonsed to France Télévisions and establish the economic pathway for the public group.
As far as the company is concerned, France Télévisions and the French government have jointly committed to a business plan that should enable the company to return to structural operating equilibrium.
The strategy devolved to public television is detailed throughout the COM, is accompanied by deadlines for achievement, and is not merely expressed through 11 indicators.
Among them, new indicators have been introduced to support France Télévisions' development; others, which existed previously, have been expanded.
Three main directions have been set. The public group must intensify its support for audiovisual and cinematographic creation, develop innovation at the service of the public, and transform the public company.
The Board's opinion is structured around these three strategic challenges. It identifies the strengths and potential weaknesses of the missions entrusted to the public company and, where necessary, makes recommendations, which are also cited at the end of the document.
1. Supporting creation
Supporting French creation is at the heart of the missions entrusted to France Télévisions. In accordance with article 43-11 of the law of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication, public television must contribute to the development and diffusion of intellectual and artistic creation.
As part of the Group's cultural ambitions, France Télévisions' COM details both its financial commitment to audiovisual and cinematographic creation, and the editorial lines of each of its channels.
First and foremost, the public broadcaster is committed to providing even greater support for audiovisuel creation through a creation support plan. On this point, public television has a major role to play in terms of its funding obligations, with France Télévisions accounting for almost 50% of investment in heritage creation. The COM also recalls France Télévisions' responsibility to the seventh art, for which it is the leading partner on free-to-air channels.
This cultural ambition must be reflected in the development of a relationship of trust with all creators. The COM therefore demands that public television establish a renewed partnership with independent producers and authors.
In addition to supporting creation, the COM refocuses the missions of the channels in the France Télévisions channel package, in particular by encouraging the diffusion of local programs, a distinctive feature of public television.
- A plan to support audiovisual creation
France Télévisions is committed to launching a plan to support French audiovisual creation from 2016. Starting in 2017, and in line with the business plan agreed with the French State shareholder, public television will invest 420 million euros in creation each year for the duration of the COM. France Télévisions is thus committing to an amount equivalent to that set out in the initial version of the previous COM (2011-2015), reduced to 400 million euros when the rider was signed for the 2013-2015 period.
The Board wishes to point out that the creators, heard during the preparation of France Télévisions' four-year review for the 2010-2014 period, had stressed that previous financial reversals had penalized the implementation of an ambitious strategy focused on works. The Board is pleased to note the French government's strong commitment on this point.
Investments will also focus on the development of regional and overseas documentaries, but more generally will benefit all major program types, including television drama, documentaries, animation and live performance. With a view to strengthening support for creation, the Council stresses the need to give priority to innovative works with export potential.
With regard to drama, the COM demands that France Télévisions, in a context of heightened international competition, encourage the export of the creations in which it participates. To achieve this, public television must encourage the diversification of French drama by summoning bold projects. The COM thus calls on France Télévisions to encourage new writing and diversify genres, themes and characters. The Conseil fully endorses this analysis.
As part of the four-year review of France Télévisions for the period 2010-2014, the Council regretted that the public channels were not showing greater evidence of boldness. It therefore welcomes the implementation of an innovative drama policy.
In view of France Télévisions' contribution to the financing of creation, the Council considers it essential that the drama supply provided by the public sector receives special attention. Public television has a duty to be bold and innovative in its artistic and aesthetic choices.
The Council would like to see spending on writing conventions strengthened, while giving priority to new modes of storytelling and new formats driven by a necessary quest for diversity. This should also be reflected in the choice of themes. The plurality and quality of the drama offered by France Télévisions channels should help ensure the influence of national creation abroad.
Each year, the Council will pay close attention to the number of dramas awarded prizes or selected at professional festivals, and to the proportion of dramas with the highest ratings in the " Qualimat " established by France Télévisions.
With regard to other programme types, France Télévisions reaffirms its commitment to giving greater visibility to documentaries, animation and live performances. The Council is pleased to note that, throughout the COM period, France Télévisions is committed to developing its supply of documentaries and live performances during prime time, and even during the first part of the evening.
These commitments will be reflected in the signing of multi-year agreements for the period 2016-2020 with organizations representing audiovisual production, something the Conseil has always summoned.
- Confirmed commitment to French cinema
The COM calls on the France Télévisions Group to pursue an ambitious policy, both artistically and financially. This is broken down into four priorities: continued support for cinematographic creation in all its diversity, greater exposure for cinema on the airwaves through increased editorial content, a greater presence for cinema within the Group's non-linear supplies and, finally, maintaining the investment level of 3.5% of the previous year's net annual sales for France 2, France 3 and France 4, as well as a minimum investment floor.
The Conseil notes that the COM makes provision for France Télévisions to enter into negotiations with cinema professionals concerning the opening of new broadcasting time slots, the availability of works on catch-up TV, and the possibility of pre-financed films being offered in a future video-on-demand supply by contract.
The Board also notes that, should these negotiations be successful, the public group's financial commitment will be revalued at 60 million euros from 2017 onwards. The Conseil therefore invites representatives of the film industry and France Télévisions to continue seeking agreements that will give France Télévisions certain flexibility in programming and broadcasting methods, depending in particular on their pre-financing levels.
- Channels with strengthened identities
France Télévisions' COM specifies the editorial lines of the various channels in the public channel package. This is the transposition of the commitments formulated by the Presidency of France Télévisions in the preparation of the company's strategic project adopted in the spring of 2016.
France 2, whose diversity of program types is highlighted, is a news and entertainment medium. The channel is summoned to capitalize on events around federative projects.
France 3, known as the " channel of the regions ", is summoned to pursue its essential role in French creation, while giving greater prominence to local productions and local news.
At the time of the four-year review, the Board pointed out the similarities between France 2 and France 3 in terms of programming and target audiences. It notes that the prospect of an increase in regional programming, measured by a precise indicator (see below), should enable France 3 to better carry out its mission as close to the regions as possible. However, it considers that the positioning of these two general-interest channels could benefit from further clarification.
With regard to the thematic supplies of France 4, " youth and family channel ", France 5, " knowledge channel " and France Ô, " overseas France channel ", the Council notes that their positioning is confirmed for the period 2016-2020. More specifically, France Ô has returned to its original editorial orientation.
As part of the COM, the channels in the Outre-mer1ère network are to strengthen the general-interest nature of their programming.
The Conseil emphasizes the need for a link between the COM and France Télévisions' specifications, which determine the identity of the various channels, and that the latter should be amended accordingly to reflect the reality of the channels' editorial proposals.
The COM notes the existing tension between the summons to renewal issued to the public service and the public's attachment to emblematic programs. The Board is well aware of the difficulty of reconciling the two. However, an indicator of the renewal of each channel's supply would enable the public service to anticipate the aging of its programs. This could be assessed in different ways: new programs, developments or modernised existing programs, formats created or adapted to digital environments. It would also concern flow programs such as entertainment programs. In these genres, while the development of a French program industry depends on the export of formats, French broadcasters are all too often content to acquire and adapt foreign formats. It could be up to public television to contribute to the creation and renewal of new entertainment formats.
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Notice 1 Design a program renewal indicator for each channel before the end of 2016. |
The performance of the various channels will be measured by an indicator relating to the cumulative audience of the France Télévisions group. Two types of measures are planned in the COM. The implementation of a new indicator, whose relevance the Board welcomes, concerns "4-screen" audiences, broken down by screen (television, computer, mobile, tablet) and by age segment. The Conseil recalls that the public television audience is much older than that of television in general. Given France Télévisions' ambition to unite all audiences, rejuvenating the France Télévisions Group's audience is a major challenge. A second, more traditional audience measure is the cumulative weekly television audience.
- A renewed partnership with independent production and authors
Because of its mission and central role in the development of creativity, the public broadcasting group is an essential partner for all creative professionals.
In this regard, the Board notes the signing, on December 10, 2015, of an agreement with the independent production sector enabling the development of relations between broadcasters and producers. Indeed, this partnership allows public television to produce works via its production subsidiary up to a ceiling of 12.5% of its production quotas. Ultimately, this agreement will be a source of additional commercial revenue.
The continuation of the commitments made by the public group as part of the Charter for the development of drama is a strong sign for creators. It also guarantees the transparency of expenditure under development agreements, which the Board welcomes.
The Board is also delighted that France Télévisions is committed to pursuing a true partnership with authors, and to nurturing an ongoing dialogue with their representative organizations.
Within the framework of the author-producer-publisher triptych, the aim of this dialogue is to support and stimulate innovation, diversity and the quality of French creative work, in a relationship based on trust and transparency.
- A stronger, more identifiable France 3 regional supply
The reorganization of France 3 is a necessary guarantee of the specificity of the public service supply. Within the framework of the COM, the channel is summoned to maintain its dual vocation as a national channel with a major role to play in creation, and as a channel anchored in the regions.
France Télévisions wishes to further affirm the specificity of the channel's regional supply. These programs are therefore the subject of an ambitious indicator. By 2020, France 3's regional programs should account for an average of 35% of its supply. While the Council welcomes this prospect, it notes that the interpretation of the scope and definition of programs qualified as " regional " could lead to confusion, and deserves to be clarified and specified.
In addition to strengthening the regional supply, France Télévisions and the French government are mutually committed to implementing a structural reform to enhance the value of content produced in the regions. The restructuring of regional supplies will be organized around a channel package of thirteen strong regional brands, in line with the new territorial division.
Thirteen departments will be created, while maintaining the 24 local news editions. They will have editorial authority and delegated management of human resources and financial means. These departments will replace the four governance divisions. The Board takes note of the implementation of this important reform, which will increase the autonomy of the newly-established departments. However, it draws attention to the risk that the three levels (local offices, local branches, channel package of thirteen regional brands) could increase structural costs. In any case, the margins generated by this reform should be used to finance programs, with the corollary of rationalizing means.
- Raising the profile of overseas France
In the COM, France Télévisions commits to increasing the " visibility " of overseas France on all its channels, by strengthening the proximity between the 9 stations of Outre-mer1ère, France Ô and the rest of the company. The Council hopes that the first year of the COM's application will be used to study how France Télévisions' supply can be shown in overseas territories.
Since September 2016, France Ô's programming has been exclusively devoted to overseas France, in line with the role entrusted to the channel under the COM (Cf. Supra). The channel is becoming a showcase for overseas productions. An indicator has been made provision for in this respect. It concerns the average weekly volume of programs produced by or co-produced with the network, with a target of 42 hours by 2020. This indicator is also accompanied by a benchmark promoting the diversity of program types shown, which will be increased from three (achieved in 2015) to twelve by the end of this COM. However, the Conseil has questions about the list of programme types and the relationship between France Ô's new supply, refocused on the exhibition of overseas France programmes, and France Ô's role in meeting the obligations set out in the specifications, such as live performances and music programmes.
Noting that 30% of the group's musical supply was shown on this channel alone, the Conseil drew attention to the need for an equitable breakdown of musical programming across all channels.
2. Innovating to serve audiences
In an environment marked by profound changes in audience habits and expectations, innovation is a necessary response to the challenges facing France Télévisions. The public audiovisuel group has a duty to keep pace with changes in audience behavioral changes, by adapting its supply to different modes of broadcasting and offering innovative formats.
In addition to the digital developments necessary to be a major audiovisuel player, France Télévisions has a responsibility to renew its writing and formats so that its programs are available on all media.
In recent years, France Télévisions has consolidated its digital strategy, with undeniable success. Over the next few years, France Télévisions intends to build on this innovation with a news supply that is developing in line with new uses, and with the launch of a new, mainly free, video platform.
- An all-news supply for the public audiovisuel sector
The COM lists the new public information supply that came into being on September 1, 2016 under the common name franceinfo:. It relies in particular on the public group's digital newsrooms. According to the COM, this information supply must be oriented primarily towards all fixed and mobile digital terminals. The stakes are high, as this multimedia supply is intended to win over and even win back audiences, often youngsters, who have deserted the traditional news supply. The Conseil believes that this ambition to win back audiences is one of the main priorities for public television.
In its opinion n°2016-9 of May 4, 2016, the Conseil considered that this supply developed in partnership with the national program companies, Radio France and France Médias Monde, and with the participation of the Institut national de l'audiovisuel, offers a new mode of exposure to the recognized competence of the teams responsible for news - regional, overseas, national or international - of the national program companies.
The editorial line of franceinfo: is a singular one, with an emphasis on decryption. This concern for quality must go hand in hand with cost control, estimated at €15 million per year by 2020. It will be important to know the full cost of this channel each year, taking into account the contributions of the various companies listed in articles 44 and 49 of the law of September 30, 1986.
The Board reiterates the public service's strong responsibility for news and information, and welcomes the creation of an indicator to measure the quality of this supply. Although the indicator is still under development, the first measurements will be taken in 2017, and will focus in particular on the delivery of clear, accurate, impartial and independent information and analysis.
- An integrated national newsroom to serve renewed editions
The COM makes provision for the creation of an integrated national newsroom to ensure the continuity and complementarity of national news on France Télévisions. This new newsroom will be created by combining the skills of France 2's newsroom, France 3's national newsroom and the national digital media newsroom. The Board notes that this is a continuation of the "Info 2015" plan launched several years ago. The COM makes provision for this merger to be completed in 2018.
- A video platform to adapt to new uses
Based on figures for video consumption, the COM states that certain audiences are no longer watching scheduled television, and are shifting to à la carte viewing, particularly on platforms that are developing global strategies, mainly in North America.
The COM specifies that the public audiovisual service must adapt its strategy to give audiences, especially youngsters, the widest possible access to its content on all media, starting with digital platforms.
The Council takes note of the development of a new digital platform that will take up the foundations of the current scheme, francetvpluzz, and its thematic variations. Ultimately, it should bring together the entire audience on a single portal, mainly free of charge.
The COM also refers to the implementation of a complementary pay TV supply. France Télévisions has undertaken to present the French government and its governing bodies with a project for a pay platform built in conjunction with French or European partners who could significantly enhance this supply. The other European public players will enable us to benefit from a large, high-quality catalog.
The digital performance of the France Télévisions group is the subject of an indicator covering the number of videos viewed per month and the rate of platform coverage.
- Greater visibility for cultural programs and all the arts
Within the framework of this COM, France Télévisions aims to increase the visibility given to these programs, and to encourage the development of event-based programming linked to culture. Contemporary music is to be present on all France Télévisions channels, which will also continue to show live theater and opera, including at peak listening times.
The Conseil wishes to point out that this cultural programming has no equivalent in the French audiovisuel landscape, with the exception of Arte, and is a strong marker of the group's identity, in line with the public service missions entrusted to it.
France Télévisions' cultural supply is rich and diverse, and open to all. The Conseil believes that the creation of cultural events can certainly unite audiences, provided that the forms of broadcasting are adapted and that a certain classicism is avoided, which is undoubtedly segmenting.
On a more general note, the Conseil would be in favor of modernising the schemes set out in the specifications for the place of culture on public television (a cultural program every day in the first part of the evening, retransmission of shows in number of points). Current schemes have proven their strengths, but also their limitations. Reflection on this point would make it possible to promote the exposure of cultural programs in renewed forms.
With regard more specifically to live performance recordings, the Conseil, as part of its review of the implementation of France Télévisions' specifications for 2015, regretted that these are very massively exposed between midnight and six in the morning (87% of France 2's supply, 86% of France 3's, 77% of France 4's supply and finally 88% of France Ô's). The Conseil hopes that the public broadcasting group's commitment to increasing the visibility of performing arts on all channels will be translated into action during the COM period.
The Conseil believes that the authorities could consider modernising the specifications. It is indeed important that the public group's cultural commitment be reflected in an incentive indicator. The scheme currently in place no longer seems efficient, as the company meets its obligation despite unfavorable diffusion schedules.
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Notice 2 Increase the visibility of cultural programs and, in the absence of a change in the specifications, include an indicator in the COM. |
- Diversified access to sporting events
In a context marked by a significant increase in the value of audiovisual rights to sports competitions, France Télévisions has managed to maintain a proactive commitment, which the Conseil welcomes.
This effort is summoned to continue for the period 2016-2020. The Board notes, however, that coverage of sporting events will be selective in order to remain within reasonable budgets. On this point, the Board considers it essential that France Télévisions be able to pursue its mission of preserving access for the widest possible audience to the various sporting disciplines and major sporting events. It therefore invites France Télévisions to continue securing the rights to its main sports competitions for a longer period than that covered by the COM.
The Council notes the initiatives taken by the public group to maintain the diversity of disciplines on offer, as well as the intensification of its commitment to promoting women's sport.
- Programs that reflect French society
With regard to the representation of diversity in French society, the Conseil shares France Télévisions' observation in the COM that results are still insufficient, and reminds it of its duty to set an example in this area. It encourages the public broadcaster to pursue a proactive policy.
The Conseil believes that the diversity schemes included in France Télévisions' specifications in 2009 should now be supplemented in the COM by concrete commitments with short- and long-term targets, such as a multi-year action plan.
In addition, the commitments of the Charter to promote the training and professional integration of people with disabilities in the audiovisual industry of February 11, 2014, drawn up under the aegis of the Council, should find effective translation in terms of objectives enshrined in the COM.
With regard to the representation of women on air, the Conseil is delighted that France Télévisions has made a commitment to increase the proportion of female experts invited to appear on its channels by 5 points per year, until parity is reached in 2020. However, the Council would like it to be made clear that this refers to female experts appearing on debate and news programmes.
France Télévisions is also committed to increasing the accessibility of its programs.
With regard to audio description, France Télévisions has renewed the objectives set out in the previous COM, i.e. two audio-described programs per day. It should be noted that in 2015, France Télévisions offered 1,171 programs with audio description, i.e. more than the target of 730 programs set in the rider to the COM. In view of these findings, the Council would like to see the audiodescription target revised upwards.
In terms of French Sign Language, the public broadcasting group has undertaken to make its news editions available digitally, and to set up a French Sign Language scheme for major democratic events. The number of programs to be translated into French Sign Language should also be increased, or at the very least, the commitment made in the previous COM should be renewed.
In terms of subtitling, although the five national channels are now fully subtitled, the Conseil nevertheless hopes that efforts will be made to improve the quality of subtitling. More generally, efforts must be made to improve the quality of accessibility on all channels, including the all-news channel. The new COM should list the charters signed with the Council.
With regard to the ccessibility measure for the all-news channel, the Council encourages the public service to specify this scheme by introducing quantitative commitments.
3. Transforming the company to make it more agile
For the period 2016-2020, France Télévisions is committed to "exemplary management of public funds", with the aim of "renewing its pact of trust with citizens". The Council welcomes this essential objective, as France Télévisions is almost 90% financed by the public audiovisuel contribution.
With regard to the company, France Télévisions and the French government have jointly committed to a business plan that should enable the company to return to structural operating equilibrium. The business plan appended to the COM provides for an increase in public resources, as well as a slight increase in the company's own resources (see below).
The increase in public resources, subject to Parliament's annual vote, is in line with the following pathway: +38M€ in 2017, +55M€ in 2018, +59M€ in 2019. By 2020, revenues from the French State will have increased by €63 million.
At the same time, France Télévisions is committed to limiting certain expenses. The company will have to pursue its efforts with a savings plan of €65 million by 2020. To achieve this, the public group will have to implement structural transformations that have become indispensable.
The company will pursue its management and optimization efforts, and has also announced its intention to contain the structural increase in its expenses, and in particular its payroll, which is the subject of an indicator (with a target of limiting payroll growth to €15 million over 5 years, having risen by €21 million in the last two years alone). The Board notes that control of this item will henceforth require rigorous management of replacements for retiring staff, changes in work organization, productivity gains and control over salary developments. The Board stresses the need to introduce forward-looking management of jobs and skills in 2017, a vital tool for supporting the company's transformation.
The Board notes this mutual commitment. Financial equilibrium is an imperative for the coming years, as France Télévisions finds itself confronted with a strong tension between the level of its resources and the increase in its expenses.
Generally speaking, the Board hopes that these ambitious reforms will be carried out according to the timetable set out in the COM. In fact, the creation of the single enterprise on March 5, 2009 has not yet produced all the expected savings.
The Board notes that the company is committed to transparency, publishing the amount of its managers' expenses as part of its annual report.
The Board also welcomes the company's efforts to set an example by strengthening the monitoring of purchasing and internal control and auditing. In this respect, it notes the renewal and strengthening of the production audit policy, resulting in a target of interviewing 95% of flow programs and 80% of drama and documentary series shown for more than two seasons, compared with 90% and 75% respectively, excluding documentaries, in the previous COM.
The Board is also delighted with the appointment of a deontologist in June 2016, who will present the Board of Directors with an action plan to promote transparency and fight agains conflicts of interest. This mission could be amplified by the introduction of control proceedings involving audits of the main suppliers for program and non-program purchases, as well as the establishment of rules relating to contracts entered into with former employees or managers of the company.
The company would also like the objective of transparency and prevention of conflicts of interest to be the subject of an annual presentation to the Board of Directors. On these specific points, the Board is delighted that the COM reflects the observations made when France Télévisions published its four-year review for the period 2010-2014.
- Developing professions to adapt to digital transformation
The changes currently affecting the audiovisual communications sector are also having a tangible impact on the development of professions and jobs.
France Télévisions is therefore summoned to modify its organization and operating methods, but also to follow a profound change in its professions.
The company is therefore committed to implementing a major digital awareness raising, training and adaptation scheme for all its staff. The Board, aware of the necessary reforms to be put in place, would like to see teams supported and business developments anticipated with a firm hand and a sense of dialogue.
- Delegating, in a logic of a priori trust
France Télévisions is committed to simplifying its processes in order to speed up decision-making. By the end of 2016, the company will have developed a tool to measure employees' trust in the company. Three measures are already planned for the COM period.
- Promoting public audiovisuel synergies
The launch of the public service's global news supply on September1, 2016 (Cf. above) has enabled the various public audiovisuel organizations to join forces around a mobilizing and unifying project.
France Télévisions is committed to proposing to its audiovisuel partners that they work together to pool certain developments, particularly in digital. This approach can only be encouraged by the Board, which summoned it as part of its four-year review. Indeed, it is important that the various entities of the public audiovisuel sector work together on joint projects to promote synergies and editorial cooperation.
- Optimizing in-house production means
When the four-year report was published, the Conseil raised questions about the scope and economic model of France Télévisions' in-house production facilities. In this respect, it notes with satisfaction the implementation of an ambitious policy aimed at creating the conditions for better use of in-house means and improving their competitiveness. An annual report on France Télévisions' internal means will be sent to the Board and to members of parliament as part of the COM's implementation.
- Conquering new resources
France Télévisions' commercial development is based on three main orientations: revenues linked to its production activity, advertising resources, and revenues linked to pay-per-view content on the new digital platform.
France Télévisions, while confirming its role as a partner of independent production, wishes, in accordance with the interprofessional agreement of December 10, 2015, to mobilize its dependent share generating additional revenues through the property right devolved to France Télévisions.Innovative dramas, developing established codes, can find an echo outside the national market and promote export performance. This international influence could be translated into ambitious European or international co-productions.
An indicator focusing on revenue rights and co-production shares could provide a positive incentive for the company to renew its image as a creator and producer on the international market, and encourage the emergence of new revenue streams.
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Recommendation 3 Develop an indicator for commercial revenues from drama financed by France Télévisions, particularly those from uploads. |
With regard more specifically to advertising and sponsorship revenues, the Board notes that the pathway is deliberately cautious. The business plan makes provision for a €5M drop from €329.7M to €324.7M in 2016, despite taking into account a €10M increase in sponsorship resulting from a regulatory change expected by the end of 2016.
France Télévisions has indicated that it has taken into account the uncertainties weighing on the advertising market and has included, as a precautionary measure, the hypothesis of a halt to advertising around programmes for younger viewers from 2018. The relatively cautious approach to the level of advertising revenues is to be welcomed, as the estimates provided for in the previous COM were overestimated.
The Board considers that the announced structural reforms and editorial commitments are essentially transposed into this new COM. It also considers that the COM incorporates many of the observations and notices formulated by the Conseil when it drew up its annual reports on the execution of the specifications, its report on the cultural supply published in July 2014, as well as France Télévisions' quadrennial report of December 2014.
While strongly approving in general of the reduction in indicators, it nevertheless suggests a small number of them relating to the singularity and performance of the public service supply concerning its programs and cultural appeal.
Three new indicators could be usefully added to the COM, to further differentiate public television:
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Recommendation 1 Design a program renewal indicator for each channel before the end of 2016. |
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Notice 2 Increase the visibility of cultural programs and, in the absence of a modification to the specifications, include an indicator in the COM. |
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Notice 3 Draw up an indicator for commercial revenues from drama financed by France Télévisions, particularly from uploads. |
The present notice will be published in the Journal officiel.
Paris, September 28, 2016
For the French Superior Audiovisual Council :
The Chairman,
Olivier SCHRAMECK