L’Equipe TV, the pay-television channel run by French sports newspaper L’Equipe, and sports news website RMC Sport were among the 34 applicants for six digital-terrestrial television licences set to be awarded in France by media regulator the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel.
Pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport and pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus, which had considered bidding for a licence for a general entertainment channel, did not submit applications despite having previously expressed an interest.
The regulator said that the six successful applications would be announced in March and the licences would be awarded by the French government by the end of May.
L’Equipe TV will partner with the Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français, the French Olympic committee, to launch a channel should it be successful in its application. L’Equipe TV was chosen over RMC Sport by the committee to be the partner on the project.