Public Television: Just Wait

Michael Hedges September 7, 2010 Follow on Twitter

Long gone are the easy days for public broadcasting. Politicians have searched for convenient solutions; to governance, finance, competition. At every corner, there’s a surprise. Change is hard to manage.

In the usual custom, the autumn schedule for French public television is announced in a gala Paris press conference hosted by the president of France Télévisions. Rémy Pflimlin has had the job for a scant two weeks and it was his chance to talk about “Plus belle la vie,” literally and figuratively. Diligent reporters in the room, being French, had a few questions.

Actually, reporters had some trouble asking questions as the relatively small conference room accommodated only a few, the rest being sent to a different room with only a video link. After short statements from M. Pflimlin and directors of each channel there were only a few questions from the gaggle. M. Pflimlin, like a well-versed CEO, did not attend the post-conference reception.

The new program schedules for the five channels of France Télévisions had, indeed, been prepared by M. Pflimlin’s predecessor Patrick de Carolis. There will be new series on France 2 (“You’ll be surprised.”) and the France 3 program “Plus belle la vie” is getting an image make-over. France Ô will be available in France on the national terrestrial digital network. Anything new will come next year.

The rest will remain the same, except nothing at France Télévisions remains the same. The channels will, he said, take on “more specific personalities.” The model will be Radio France; "a unique company with easily identified services and media channels.” France 2 stays the general interest channel, France 3 the regional channel, France 4 the channel for under 35 year olds, France 5 the “discovery” channel and France Ô the overseas network. “I take the line not to contradict certain decisions of my predecessor,” he explained.

To set all minds at ease, M. Pflimlin said the leadership transition at France Télévisions had gone “remarkably well.”  Of M. de Carolis; “The considerable experience of his work was unique.”

Patrick de Carolis position at France Télévisions became untenable amidst continuous disagreement with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had made reorganization of French public broadcasting a priority immediately after his election in 2007. President Sarkozy described his vision for French public broadcasting as creating a “national champion” in the model of the UK’s BBC. Critics described it as “Berlusconization.”

Through various legislative devices those changes took shape beginning with a refinancing scheme that would reduce and ultimately end advertising on the television channels replacing that revenue stream with a tax on private broadcasters and telecoms. Appointment of chief executives would come from the Presidents office. M. de Carolis was not pleased and didn’t mind expressing that displeasure. At one point (July 2008) he referred to President Sarkozy’s disparaging comparison of France Télévisions to private TV channels as “false, absurd and unfair.”

The war of wills between M. de Carlois and President Sarkozy could – and did – fill a book. Le Point journalist Emmanuel Berretta chronicled it blow for blow in Le Hold-up de Sarkozy, describing a meeting between the two as “violent.” M. de Carolis resigned in a huff. Battle lines formed within the French government. Culture Minister Christine Albanel sided with President Sarkozy, referring to M. de Carolis as a “whiner.” Jean-Francois Cope urged calm saying: “It is time for the holidays arrive.” In the end, M. de Carolis finished his term. On departure, he referred to his tenure as like being in a “force nine gale.”

When M. Pflimlin officially took office (August 23) he announced a house cleaning. General Director Patrice Duhamel and General Manager for finance Damien Curier were out. General directors for the five television channels were named, reversing the centralized management under de Carolis.

In keeping with his CEO credentials – most recently M. Pflimlin headed Presstalis, owner of newspaper kiosks in Paris – one early and obvious meeting had been with the finance department. Patrick de Carolis team left a €70 million budget surplus at France Télévisions, much of it from advertising. The in-house sales-house France Télévisions Publicité was, once, set to be semi-privatized, Publicis and Lov Group ready to take 70%. That project was taken off the table, suspended until December pending further study.

Others were looking at budgets, too. On the eve of M. Pflimlin’s press conference (September 3) Le Tribune and Les Echos published reports of the French government looking seriously at rolling back the advertising cut-off schedule by as much as two years, perhaps after the next French presidential elections. The reasoning, according to the reports, is simple. The government subsidy to French public broadcasting is €200 million a year, perhaps rising to €300 million, and these are times of belt-tightening.

The knock-on effect was obvious to M. Pflimlin. “If such a project is confirmed,” he replied to a reporters question, “the privatization of FTP (France Télévisions Publicité) would not be on the agenda anymore.”

With only a few days in the top job, M. Pflimlin already sees the great public broadcasting funding dilemma. “To develop a company,” he said following up the advertising cut-off question, “we need to work with perennial, predictable and dynamic revenues.”

In other words, just wait awhile because everything changes.

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