Sales 2023: €3.001 billion

Overview

France Télévisions is the French public TV holding company, with a cross-channel audience share of around 30 percent in 2022.

An updated company profile will be published shortly.

General Information

Headquarters
7, Esplanade Henri de France
75907 Paris
France
Telephone: 0033 1 56 22 60 00
Internet: http://www.francetelevisions.fr/groupe/qui-sommes-nous  

industry: TV stations (free TV, pay TV), TV and film production, distribution, advertising time marketing, publishing, multimedia
legal form: State-owned public limited company
fiscal year: 01.01. – 31.12.
founding year: 1949 Founding of RTF (Radio et Télévision Françaises); 1974 Split of ORTF (Office de la radio et de la télévision françaises, RTF successor holding company) into the television channels TF1 (privatised in 1987), Antenne 2 and FR3; 2000 Founding of France Télévisions SA, holding company for all public TV channels.

Economic basic data (in million €)

	2023	2022	2021	2020
Budget/Sales	3.001	2.970,5	3002	2.937,7
Employees	n/a	8.950	9.050	9.021

Ownership: French State (100 %)

Executives and Directors

Executive Committee:

• Delphine Ernotte Cunci, Présidente-directrice générale de France Télévisions
• Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez, director of antennas and programs
• Christian Vion, General Manager adjoint, in charge of management, production and production
• Alexandre Kara, Director of Information
• Marianne Siproudhis, Director of Marketing and Communication, Director General of France Télévisions Publicité
• Christophe Tardieu, Secretary General
• Isabelle Caroff, Director of Human Resources and Organization
• Juliette Rosset-Cailler, Director of Strategy and Pilotage of Transformation
• Philippe Martinetti, Regional Director of France 3
• Sylvie Gengoul, Directrice du pole Outre-mer
• Frédéric Brochard, Director of technologies
• Encarna Marquez, Director of Numbers
• Muriel Attal, Director of Corporate Communications

History and Profile

France Télévisions is the legal successor to the French state-owned television broadcaster RTF (Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, established in 1949) and the broadcasting group ORTF (Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, which replaced RTF in 1964). ORTF was dissolved in 1974. France 2, launched in 1963 as RTF's second channel at about the same time as ZDF, and France 3, founded in 1972, each received autonomous status.
 
In 1992, the two channels were reunited under the name France Télévision (without the "s"), and the position of joint president was created. In 2000, France Télévisions SA was created as a holding company for the public television channels, a public limited company under state control. The president's term was extended from three to five years.

Then came Nicolas Sarkozy. His New Year's address in 2008 caused great confusion – among the population, and especially in the media. The president called for more quality on public television and fewer (successful) US series, and immediately conjured up a plan for a total advertising ban on public television: the abolition of advertising after 8 p.m. starting January 5, 2009, and complete freedom from advertising starting in 2011 (now revoked). For France Télévisions, this meant having to forgo 20% of its budget starting in 2009 (€823 million for advertising and sponsorship in 2007, €618.5 million in 2008). The advertising ban (Sarkozy: "une révolution culturelle dans le service public de la télévision") immediately sparked protests. The left-leaning Libération wrote of an "800 million euro check" for Sarkozy's buddy Martin Bouyges, owner of the private broadcaster TF1 and, it seemed, the biggest beneficiary of the affair. (This turned out to be a false assumption: advertising revenues for market leader TF1 fell by a whopping €271 million in the first quarter of 2009.) Union sources claimed that the president wanted to "bleed" public television dry. Der Spiegel headlined: "Wrong, stupid, and unfair."

In February 2009, an ad hoc commission ("commission pour la nouvelle télévision publique") was established under the chairmanship of UMP MP Jean-François Copé to consider the future of public television, explore the possibilities of refinancing advertising freedom, and, as Libération wrote, also to lend a democratic veneer to the president's spontaneous announcement. The broadcasters' union called the whole thing a "masquerade," an "operation to disguise the dismantling of public television in favor of the private sector." It soon became apparent that the president would not follow the commission's recommendations, particularly an increase in the license fee.

At the beginning of March 2009, the "Law on the Reform of the Audiovisual Sector" was passed. The most important measures: the ban on advertising on public television, its future financing (a tax on private broadcasters of 31% of revenue, a tax on internet and mobile phone providers of 0.91% of revenue), and the highly controversial appointment of the director of public television by the President of France. By banning advertising, Sarkozy also decreed a new start for public television in the evening prime time – a "curious variant of presidential power" (SZ, July 6, 2010). However, the appointment of the station director by the President in particular provoked concerned reactions; both at home and abroad, the independence of public broadcasting in France was seen as being at risk. These were unmistakable signals from the Élysée: back to state television.

The process of finding a new director was turbulent. Sarkozy remained unperturbed ("France Télévisions belongs to the state, and the state appoints the director"), and various names circulated for months. On April 14, 2010, Catherina Tasca, former Minister of Culture and Communications and current Vice President of the Senate, wrote on mediapart.fr about the "state curse on France Télévisions." On June 2, the renowned cultural magazine "Télérama" published a manifesto entitled "Liberate Public Broadcasting!" (signed by 100 political and cultural figures), protesting the "unbearable regression" entailed by the direct line between the executive branch and the leadership of public broadcasting (in 1982, after one year in power, the Socialists under François Mitterrand abolished the state broadcasting monopoly). Finally, on the morning of July 5, 2010, it was announced from the Élysée: Rémy Pflimlin would be the new patron of France Télévisions.

As a result, and not surprisingly, there was a reversal of the advertising ban. What the Paris National Assembly passed on November 16, 2010, had already become apparent in spring 2010. Total freedom from advertising would not be achieved. A complete ban on advertising was "incompatible with the state of public finances." At the same time, there would be no reintroduction of advertising after 8 p.m., which could alleviate the strained financial situation somewhat and which a Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance had speculated about in August 2012. Culture and Media Minister Aurélie Filippetti resolutely rejected the idea on August 24, 2012. This initiative had not been discussed with the government. Moreover, as the media director, she was not only responsible for budgetary problems of public broadcasting. Rather, it was about rethinking the roles and responsibilities of public television. Therefore, there would be no change regarding freedom from advertising in the evening.

At the end of 2012, the mood within the broadcasting group was subdued, and forecasts were bleak. France Télévisions was (and still is) facing a double crisis: declining advertising revenues and significantly reduced government subsidies. Despite these bleak prospects, however, the audience figures for the full year 2012 published on January 2, 2013, were encouraging. For the first time in over ten years, all of the group's broadcasters recorded increasing or at least stable market shares. Overall, France Télévisions achieved an audience share of 30.3% (an increase of 0.4%).

management

In August 2015, Delphine Ernotte Cunci succeeded her predecessor, Remy Pflimlin, as Director-General of France Televisions. Ernotte Cunci is the first woman to head the broadcaster. She prevailed over seven competitors in the selection process, including former TF1 CEO Pascal Josèphe. The selection committee explicitly based its decision on Ernotte Cunci's experience and knowledge of the changing TV and streaming market. Previously, she held a senior position at the telecommunications group Orange France, where she was responsible for the expansion of high-speed internet connections.

Business Units

All of France's public TV channels are grouped under the umbrella of the France Télévisions holding company (29.9% market share of the entire group in 2011), from the venerable chaîne généraliste, the public flagship France 2 (14.9% market share in 2011), the more regionally oriented France 3 (9.7% market share), to the cultural and educational channel France 5 (3.3% market share), all of which can be received as digital terrestrial television TNT (French DVB-T). In addition, France 4 (formerly "Festival"), the successful film, series, comedy, and music channel (target group: 15-34, 21% market share), and France Ô (with programs from overseas territories), which has also been available in France via TNT since July 14, 2010, are distributed via cable, satellite, and TNT. (The 2012 market share figures for the individual France Télévisions channels are not yet available.)

A word about RFO (Réseau France Outre-mer): The TV and radio broadcasting group in the French overseas territories, which existed under various names since 1954, was renamed Réseau Outre-Mer 1ère effective October 30, 2010. Outre-mer 1ère broadcasts the nine local overseas channels and more from France Télévisions (France 2 to 5, Arte) via TNT, which is now also available on La Réunion, Martinique, Guadeloupe, New Caledonia, and French Guiana.

France Télévisions also holds stakes in the broadcasters Arte France (45% and above 50% to Arte), TV5 Monde (49%), and the specialty channels Mezzo (40% FTV, 60% Lagardère), Planète Thalassa (34% FTV, 66% Canal+), Planète Justice (34% FTV, 66% Canal+), Gulli (children's programming, 34% FTV, 66% Lagardère), and EuroNews. It also has other subsidiaries in the advertising (FTP France Télévisions Publicité), rights distribution (France Télévisions Distribution), and film production (France 2 Cinéma, France 3 Cinéma).

Current developments

There's still no new media reform law, and no new president (of France Télévisions). Rémy Pflimlin, the old man appointed by Sarkozy's grace, is primarily concerned with managing the financial crisis. Lengthy negotiations with various ministries are focused on targets, financial support, and austerity programs. France Télévisions isn't doing well. Deep red figures, plummeting ratings. Time and again, we read about an unprecedented crisis in public television. The business magazine Le Point describes it as a "dramatic situation."

Speaking of crisis: The dire state of public finances and the economic woes of the French state (recession, record unemployment) are also having an impact on the public broadcaster it relies on. Since Sarkozy's media reform of March 2009, i.e., since the abolition of advertising after 8 p.m. and the introduction of state compensation payments, France Télévisions has been subject to adjustments to the state budget, or rather, the state broadcasting holding company must contribute to the "rehabilitation of public finances" and make do with less in the future. "France Télévisions is costing the state a great deal of money," one can now read, "in these difficult times." Hence the budget cuts: in 2013, state subsidies will fall by €85 million (to €2.45 billion). All this against the backdrop of the crisis in the advertising market, which will lead to further cuts. A loss of €133 million for 2013 is now expected. Le Monde sums it up: Rémy Pflimlin finds himself "between the hammer and the anvil," between the Ministry of Finance (which is demanding further savings) and the Ministry of Culture/Media (which is reminding the broadcaster of its "public service duties and obligations"). A solution to the dilemma seems "illusory." "It's mission impossible for Rémy Pflimlin," say the private competition.

And now? What can be done? One thing is clear: Pflimlin and his general directors must cut costs. He says: "Adjustment measures" are necessary. This includes the usual savings in program offerings and more repeats, as well as job cuts through severance packages. Voluntary early retirement, in other words; the number of jobs at stake here is 650. Also being considered is an extension of the broadcasting license fee to second homes (which would generate approximately €400 million annually), a different license fee model, such as a household levy based on the German model, and/or a further license fee increase, after the fee in France was already increased by six euros per month (to €131 annually) in 2012. In this respect, France is still significantly below the level of its neighboring countries (€175 in Great Britain and €215 in Germany). And, of course, a recurring theme comes up: the reintroduction of advertising in the evenings. Rémy Pflimlin, the person most familiar with the entire malaise of his broadcasting group, has often considered this a viable option. But it's unlikely to work. The government doesn't want to risk further destabilizing the advertising market, which is already in a slump.

Author(s): Collaboration: Christian Wagener