Summoning expressions of interest to show television services in the Paris region

The French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication wishes to gauge the interest of market players in showing new local services in high definition on digital terrestrial television (DTT) in the Paris region.

This call for expressions of interest comes at a time when two services, BFM Paris and TV Pitchoun Paris IDF, have stopped broadcasting their programs in March 2025, so that the Paris region now has four local television services on DTT, all shown on the local Multi 7 multiplex:

• Télé Bocal (9pm to midnight) and Night TV (midnight to 1am) on a channel (number 31) shared between several services;
• 20 Minutes TV (number 32);
• Le Figaro TV IDF (number 34).

The radio resources available in the Paris region could thus enable :

- the diffusion of a full-time service on the R1 multiplex [1], whose coverage in the Paris region is represented by the orange and blue zones on the appended map;

- on the Multi 7 multiplex [2], whose coverage in the Paris region is represented by the orange zone on the map: the diffusion of a full-time service and that of one or more services within the 1am - 9pm time slot on the shared channel [3].

However, the discontinuation of the two above-mentioned services, with their distinct editorial lines, raises the question of the economic model for local channels on DTT in the Île-de-France region - the in mainland France where the share of TV reception via DTT is the lowest [4] - in a general context of shrinking advertising revenues [5]. It is in line with questions, also valid at national level [6] or in other regions, about the capacity of the advertising market to accommodate the supply of new channels, or the challenge of capturing the public's attention.

Interested parties are invited to share :

• their assessment of the local television situation in the Paris region, the development prospects for existing services and the capacity to develop new services in this area;
• any plans they may have for the area, indicating whether the plan is for a full-time or part-time service, and if so, the time slot envisaged. They will need to specify their planned schedule and business model. To this end, they can contact Multi 7 and the company operating the R1 multiplex (GR1) to obtain information on the costs involved in showing a television service in this zone; requests sent to the dedicated address contact_diffusion_IDF@arcom.fr will be relayed to the two companies.

Contributions must be sent electronically by June 20, 2025 at the latest to aactnt@arcom.fr with the message subject "Call for expression of interest in DTT diffusion in the Paris region".

[1] Authorized by decision no. 2015-418 of November 18, 2015.

[2] Authorized by decision no. 2017-837 of November 15, 2017.

[3] The Authority points out that under the provisions of article 41-3, 5°, of the law of September 30, 1986: "Any television service shown by terrestrial hertzian means that serves a geographical area with a population inventory of more than ten million inhabitants is considered to be a national service". Given the population covered by the services shown on both multiplex R1 and multiplex Multi 7, any service likely to be managed in this way will be considered a national service within the meaning of the anti-concentration scheme.

[4] 29%, compared with a national average of 37.1%. Source: Tendances audio-vidéo 2025 study.

[5] See in particular the study "Évolution du marché de la communication et impact sur le financement des médias par la publicité".

[6] In this respect, please refer to the document put out to public consultation on April 30, 2025.