First part of the evening: efforts to be resumed

Regularly questioned by viewers about the late scheduling of early-evening TV programs, the French Superior Audiovisual Council has carried out a new analysis, following on from those carried out in March and November 2019 and the consultation opened with national free-to-air TV channels.

Complaints from viewers focus on two grounds: on the one hand, the gradual shift, over the years, in the early evening times of TV programs and, on the other, recurring delays in relation to the times advertised in the press and on the internet.

The legal framework governing the audiovisuel sector does not prescribe a precise schedule for TV programs: TV channels are therefore free to compose their schedules as they see fit. However, they must comply with the provisions of their agreements (for private channels) and France Télévisions' mission statement, which make provision for channels to respect pre-announced schedules, subject to the constraints inherent in live broadcasts.

On this second point, the regulator has noted a slackening of efforts on the part of certain channels, on which the first part of the evening often starts several minutes after the advertised time.

For the third week of September 2021, this time lag averaged +3 min 54, whereas it had been reduced to +2 min 33 on average in November 2019. In addition, five channels, instead of two in 2019, exceed the 5-minute delay threshold, and two of them are more than 7 minutes late (see table below).

Attentive to viewers' warnings and in their interests, the regulator is keen to remind broadcasters of their contractual and regulatory obligations.

In the first half of 2022, the regulator will carry out new time surveys to ensure that channels are complying with current schemes.

Average time difference for first part-evening programs on the 19 free-to-air national channels from September 11 to 17, 2021

If you can't read Arcom's table on the average time difference for the first part of evening programming on the 19 free-to-air national channels from September 11 to 17, 2021, find the transcript below.

• The L'Équipe channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9pm, with an effective average start time offset of +51 seconds, which shows no difference from November 2019.
• The TFX channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05 pm, with an effective average start time difference of + 1 minute and 8 seconds, which is +17 seconds different from November 2019.
• The TF1 Séries Films channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9pm, with an effective average start time difference of + 1 minute and 51 seconds, which is +17 seconds different from November 2019.
• The France 5 channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 8:55 pm, with an effective average start time difference of +2 minutes, which is -34 seconds different from November 2019.
• The Gulli channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05 pm, with an effective average start time difference of +2 minutes and 8 seconds, which is +26 seconds different from November 2019.
• The Chérie 25 channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05pm, with an effective average start time difference of +2 minutes and 25 seconds, showing no difference compared with November 2019.
• The 6ter channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05pm, with an effective average start time difference of +2 minutes 34 seconds, which is +17 seconds different from November 2019.
• W9' s program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05pm, with an effective average start time difference of +3 minutes 8 seconds, which is +43 seconds different from November 2019.
• The C8 channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:15pm, with an effective average start time difference of +3 minutes 51 seconds, which is -43 seconds different from November 2019.
• The NRJ12 channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05pm, with an effective average start time difference of +4 minutes, which is +1 minutes and 18 seconds different from November 2019.
• The RMC Story channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05pm, with an effective average start time difference of +4 minutes and 25 seconds, which is +2 minutes and 25 seconds different from November 2019.
• The France 4 channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05 pm, with an effective average start time difference of +4 minutes and 34 seconds, which is +2 minutes and 52 seconds different from November 2019.
• The France 2 channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05 pm, with an effective average start time difference of +4 minutes and 34 seconds, which is +2 minutes and 17 seconds different from November 2019.
• The France 3 channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05 pm, with an effective average start time difference of +5 minutes, which is +4 minutes and 35 seconds different from November 2019.
• The RMC Découverte channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05 pm, with an effective average start time difference of +5 minutes and 17 seconds, which is +4 minutes and 17 seconds different from November 2019.
• The M6 channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05 pm, with an effective average start time difference of +5 minutes and 51 seconds, which is +1 minute and 17 seconds different from November 2019.
• The CStar channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9pm, with an effective average start time difference of +5 minutes and 51 seconds, which is +2 minutes different from November 2019.
• The TF1 channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:05 pm, with an effective average start time difference of +7 minutes and 17 seconds, which is +1 minute and 9 seconds different from November 2019.
• The TMC channel's program schedule is most frequently announced on weekdays at 9:15pm, with an effective average start time difference of +7 minutes and 25 seconds, which presents a difference of +2 minutes and 8 seconds compared to November 2019.

"(source: French Superior Audiovisual Council)".