A joint-venture between pay-television channel L’Equipe TV and the French Olympic committee has been granted one of six new digital-terrestrial television channel licences in France after the application was approved by Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel, the French media regulator.
“The Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel’s choice has been guided by the viewers’ interests in order to enrich the current … range of channels with complementary programming, meeting a demand for creativity and innovation,” the regulator said. “Given the commitments made by the candidates, the council expects a significant increase in activity for French television production.”
A total of 34 applications were received for the six available slots, according to French newspaper Le Parisien. The channels will launch before the end of 2012 in some of France’s biggest cities, such as Paris and Marseilles, and are expected to reach 50 per cent of the country by the second quarter of 2013.
Sports news website RMC Sport, which lost out to L’Equipe TV in its bid to become a partner of the Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français, the French Olympic committee, for a new sports channel, failed to secure a licence in a separate application.
Earlier this month, media company NextRadioTV, RMC Sport’s parent company, sued the committee after claiming the governing body did not follow the correct procedures in partnering with L’Equipe TV, which is run by French sports newspaper L’Equipe.
The five other channel applications to be awarded licences by the regulator were focused on other types of programming, including films, dramas and documentaries.