Obligations of the L'Équipe television service published by the Amaury group - Annual report 2020

Summary

In 2020, the programming of the L'Équipe channel was considerably impacted by the Covid-19 health crisis, and in particular by the cancellation of sports competitions and the drying up of sports news. The service's program supply for the year was thus marked by a significant drop in sports broadcasts and, more generally, in sports-related contdnt. In this respect, and for the first time since the channel's launch, L'Équipe failed to meet its commitment to devote 60% of its total diffusion time to sports programs.

Despite the numerous deprogrammings it had to cope with, the channel nonetheless largely met its obligation to devote 1,752 hours of its total broadcasting time to the respective program categories of sports broadcasts, on the one hand, and sports documentaries, magazines and reports, on the other. In 2020, L'Équipe once again shone the spotlight on diversity in sport. To this end, numerous women's sports competitions were shown, covering a variety of disciplines (pétanque, biathlon, handball among others). Youngsters and disabled sports were also featured on the service.

At the same time, the service's annual programming continued to diversify, as in fiscal 2019. Indeed, the genre of documentaries and magazines, entertainment and cinematic works is on the rise, while an audiovisual drama serie supply has been offered to viewers from May 6, 2020. This category of programs, initially excluded from the scope of L'Équipe's programming, was authorized by the Council in view of the numerous deprogrammings the channel was forced to face in 2020.

In addition, L'Équipe, which is subject to a contractual obligation to broadcast programs contributing to the fight against doping and the protection of people practicing physical and sports activities, did not show any such programs in 2020. In a letter dated July 29, 2021, the Council demanded that the publisher ensure compliance with this scheme in the future.

In addition, following a December 26, 2020 broadcast of a retransmission of mixed martial arts (MMA) fights on L'Équipe, the Council wrote to the TV channel on May 6, 2021 to remind it of the need to comply strictly with the provisions of its deliberation of October 21, 2020 on the retransmission of MMA fights on TV services and SMADs, as amended by the deliberation of November 18, 2020, particularly with regard to youth signage.

Finally, for the second year running, L'Équipe succeeded in increasing the proportion of women on air (16%, +4 points). However, the proportion of female presenters fell below the 10% mark (6% or -8 points).