Vivendi’s Multi-Fined French C8 Channel Loses Terrestrial Frequency

Controversial French free-to-air channel C8, a subsidiary of Vivendi’s Canal Plus Group, is set to lose its TNT frequency, following a bombshell decision by France’s Arcom audiovisual and digital communication authority.

The body is in the process of renewing the 15 licenses for France’s terrestrial frequencies and has been auditioning existing frequency holders and new applicants since the spring ahead of a decision.

There have been questions over whether C8 would retain its frequency for some time.

C8, which is home to the controversial populist presenter Cyril Hanouna and his provocative chat show Touche pas à mon poste, has racked up close to $8.2 M (€7.6M) in Arcom fines on various counts of lack of honesty and political plurality in recent years.

French deputy Sophie Taillé-Polian, a member of the left-wing and ecologist Génération.s party, launched a campaign in February for C8 and its equally controversial sister channel CNews to be stripped of their frequencies, citing sanctions against the channels for “disinformation, racism, sexism, incitement to hate, non respect of pluralism and lack of honesty.”

C8 was among two existing frequency holders, alongside NRJ12, missing from a list of preselected candidate channels announced by Arcom on Wednesday.

The decision does not mean the end of either channel but it will dent their audiences, with an estimated 20% of the French audience still accessing TV via terrestrial channels.

CNews, which is often referred to as France’s Fox News, has retained its frequency and is on the preselection list.

Two new channels have secured a frequency, regional network Ouest-France TV’s OF TV and Réels TV, backed by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s CMI group.

In a presentation in mid-July, CMI France President Denis Olivennes said Réels TV would be a generalist channel on which 50% of the content would be documentary, with talk shows and entertainment taking making up another 25% each.

Arcom said in a note accompanying the preselection list that its decision had been taken in “the interest of each project for the public with regard to the priority imperative of pluralism of socio-cultural currents of expression.”

The body said that 25 candidates made applications for a frequency. The existing frequency mandates end in 2025.

The Full-List Of Pre-Selected Channels: