Merger put forward for French public media 

15th May 2024

France’s government wants to merge the country’s currently-disparate public media system into one entity. But the project, while still in its early days, has left some unsettled.   

France Télévisions
Header image: France Télévisions' building in Paris. Credits: Omarukai/Creative Commons

IN BRIEF: 

  • The French government has approved the first step of a reform proposal on the merging of the different public media organisations into one single entity.
  • The reform would consist of a fusion of the public broadcasters in two phases, with the creation of “France Média” – the all encompassing organisation – in January 2026.
  • The reform is causing concern among some, who fear that the identity and specific characteristics of each organisation will be lost.

IN FULL: 

– By Charlotte Pion

A “two-stage merger” combining France’s biggest public media entities, both domestic and international, has been put forward by the government. Under the proposals, several public media institutions would become one single entity by 1 January 2026.  

 However, the proposal has already faced concern and criticism from those who would be most affected by it, with Radio France particularly reluctant for fear of losing its distinctive character in the merger. 

Explaining the rationale behind the proposal, France’s Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, said it was the right “political moment” for a merger, and that public media is at “risk of weakening” due to international streaming platforms.  

Read more: France: Media concentration inquiry highlights value of public media

The merger passed its first hurdle on 14 May, with the Deputies approving the legislative amendment with 30 votes in favour and 14 against. The text for the bill will next be debated in the National Assembly on 23 and 24 May.  

Horizon 2026: a two-stage merger  

The reform presented by the government proposes bringing together France Télévision, Radio France, France Médias Monde as well as the Institut national de l’audiovisuel (an archiving institution which also provides research and training) under a single holding company called France Médias in 2025.  

Following the creation of the institution, the merging of all the different public broadcasters – including France Télévisions and Radio France – would take place at the start of 2026.  

“Having a single governance structure, merging, encouraging cooperation and synergies, that’s an objective we all need to have”, said Dati.  

Under this new plan, FranceInfo – currently a domestic news channel run by France Télévisions – would become an international channel, encompassing the role of France24 from France Médias Monde, a channel broadcasting worldwide in four languages (French, Spanish, Arabic and English). 

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A change of governance and structure would also mean a rethink on how the new public media organisation would be funded. In a draft law published on Monday by the National Assembly, the MEPs have suggested a review of the way in which public media are funded. While French public media used to be funded through a licence fee, since 2023, it has been funded through a proportion of VAT. Any new model would seek to provide the organisation with a more protective system of deductions from government revenue.  

At the head of this holding company will sit a CEO appointed by presidential decree following an advisory opinion from Arcom, the broadcasting regulator. In the second phase, the CEO of the holding company would then become CEO of the single company, France Médias. 

According to France Info, the new entity will have a budget of €4 billion and will affect 16,000 employees.  

Strike and disagreement 

The creation of a single public media entity has not been supported by everyone. Journalists at France24 and Radio France in particular were not in favour of the government’s plan for public media, for fear that they would lose their specific identity and distinctiveness by being merged into France Info. Indeed, the syndicates at France Médias Monde deplored the fact that the statements made by MP Quentin Bataillon during the presentation of the reform “reveal a clear lack of understanding of the specific characteristics and challenges of external public broadcasting, in particular those of France 24”.  

“I very much fear that, in reality, all this will lead to radio, speech, discussion, dialectic and debate being crushed by the power of the image”  – Jacques Toubon, former Minister of Culture 

The merger is also perceived as a manoeuvre to reduce funding, according to the Unions of the public broadcasters.  

“I very much fear that, in reality, all this will lead to radio, speech, discussion, dialectic and debate being crushed by the power of the image” said the former Minister of Culture Jacques Toubon to FranceInfo.   

 While the CEO of Radio France expressed her disagreement with the project, she sais she is however in favour for more cooperation between the different public media organisations.  

As reported by 20 Minutes, the Unions of the four public media companies have called for a mass strike on 23 and 24 May to march on the National Assembly who will debate on the same day. 

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