France Ô, a free-to-air channel owned by public-service broadcaster France Télévisions, has acquired rights for a four-part television series about mixed martial arts, despite the sport being banned from French television by the country’s media watchdog, Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel.
According to French newspaper l’Equipe, the programmes, each running for 52 minutes, will be broadcast on the channel in primetime at some point this year. The CSA said that although broadcasts of MMA action were prohibited, “stories” about the sport were not.
“We have confidence that the channel will not show the sport’s shocking images,” the regulator said. “However, we remain vigilant.” The watchdog said commercial broadcaster Direct 8 had recently been warned after showing sequences of action from the Ultimate Fighting Championship MMA series.
French viewers are able to watch MMA on international pay-television channel RTL9, which has rights for the UFC. The channel is not subject to the French watchdog’s regulations as it is based in Luxembourg. It is available in its home country, Belgium and Switzerland as well as France.