Last chance: ousted from TNT from the end of February 2025, C8the channel of the controversial host Cyril Hanouna is turning up the heat by announcing that on Friday, November 15, 2024, it will challenge the Council of Statedecision, theaudiovisual regulatory authority.
Property of Canal+ Groupinto the fold of billionaire ultra-conservative Vincent BolloréAt the end of last week, C8 launched a new petition of support, which has already gathered over 400,000 signatures.
L’audience on the merits before the highest administrative court will be held on the afternoon of Friday November 15, 2024, and the decision will be reserved for the following weeks. The channel NRJ 12whose frequency has also not been renewed, is also involved.
The Conseil d’Etat has already rejected in September 2024 the appeals lodged by the two chains.
A decision taken “in the public interest
At the root of their wrath is the preselection, unveiled in July 2024 by theArcomfor the reallocation of fifteen TV frequencies in 2025: the independent regulatory authority ruled out the renewal of C8 and NRJ12, whose leases expire at the end of February 2025, and did not accept the candidacy of the radical left-wing web-television Le Médiawhich has also referred the matter to the Conseil d’État.
Two newcomers were preferred: OFTV (Ouest France group) and RéelsTV (CMI France, owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky). As a basis for this preselection, Arcom stated that it had assessed “in particular the interest of each project for the public with regard to the overriding imperative of pluralism”.
The channels still in the running, however, will only obtain their broadcasting authorization once they have signed new agreements with the regulator, by the end of the year.
The empires strike back
But NRJ12 has taken the initiative and, in September 2024, referred the matter to the Conseil d’État. According to its owner NRJ Group, the channel’s “economic viability” and therefore “existence” are threatened, and in turn, “the economic model of Chérie 25 “another channel in the same group.
C8 followed in front of the justiceciting a “special situation in terms of the economic, social and competitive stakes involved” for a channel that has existed “for almost twenty years”, according to its owner Canal+. Some 400 jobs are concerned.
But C8 has been fined 7.6 million euros for the excesses of its star host. Cyril Hanouna. Arcom “especially intended to sanction the channel” for these “failings” related to the show Touche pas à mon poste! (TPMP)… even though they have already been “heavily sanctioned”, points out Canal+.
Hanouna ready to bounce back
Cyril Hanouna is prepared for any eventuality. At the end of October 2024, he assured us that, whatever happens, he will remain with the Canal+ group, where he works, to create a new show. a multimedia offering available on the Internet and in print, in addition to television.
Visit media from across the group are mobilized to keep C8. The channel is “popular”, with more than 9 million viewers a day, and “we must never despise the public”, for example, said Pascal Praudone of CNewsTuesday, November 12, 2024. “The suspicion of a political decision hangs over Arcom’s decision,” he also argued.
Politicians get involved
The renewal of frequencies has also agitated the political sphere: the LFI MP Aurélien Saintoulrapporteur of a commission of inquiry into DTT in early 2024, in July 2024 deplored the fact that Arcom had selected CNews as its candidate, accused by many left-wing politicians of promoting the ideas ofextreme right (which she disputes).
CNews has also gained access to the top spot among all-news channels several times in recent months.
The digital terrestrial television (DTT), launched in metropolitan France in 2005, still largely structures the French audiovisual landscape and remains the only means of receiving television for almost 20% of households equipped with a set.