PARIS – France’s long-overdue public broadcasting reform finally landed in parliament on Monday and immediately ran into a wall of opposition.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati took the floor to present her long-delayed plan to overhaul the country’s public media landscape, pitching it as the only way to save a system in decline.
“To grow stronger, public broadcasting must come together,” she said, as left-wing MPs tabled over 1,000 amendments to push the bill examination to the autumn.
As it stands, the reform proposes the creation of a new holding company named France Médias, which would merge Radio France, France Télévisions, and the National Audiovisual Institute (INA) under the authority of a single chair and chief executive officer.
That top job – appointed by France’s media regulator Arcom, itself headed by a French president appointee – would come with sweeping powers and a five-year term.
A recent report commissioned by Dati’s own ministry warned that maintaining the status quo would pose “an existential threat to public broadcasting,” citing shrinking audiences, misinformation and ultimately “a loss of legitimacy.”
Only a unified strategy under the head of France Médias could secure long-term viability, according to Dati, who rejected any suggestion that editorial independence is under threat.
For trade unions, however, the creation of such a holding company could represent “a risk to pluralism and the freedom of information,” as control could potentially be centralised in the hands of a single boss.
Another concern voiced by the public broadcasters’ staff, who have been on indefinite strike since Monday, is that the reform might serve merely as a smokescreen for “budget cuts.”
“The budgets will be merged, yet no allocation key has been specified for distributing funds among the various broadcasters,” Maria Afonso, a trade union representative at France Médias Monde told Euractiv.
“The future CEO will be able to decide how much funding goes to each outlet, without the stations having any say in the matter,” she added.
Public broadcasting: how many divisions?
French public broadcasting is a vast entity comprising dozens of radio and television channels. It employs around 17,000 people directly, along with thousands of freelancers, producers, technicians, and other service providers.
These various entities currently operate as distinct companies, with a combined budget exceeding €4 billion in 2024 – an increase of €228 million compared to the previous year, largely to offset inflation.
At the heart of the current structure are three main players: France Télévisions, which operates seven TV channels; Radio France, home to seven radio stations; and the INA, a public body responsible for archiving and commercialising audiovisual content.
These three organisations, alongside the French state, are also shareholders in the French arm of the Franco-German channel Arte. France Télévisions also co-owns TV5 Monde alongside French-speaking broadcasters from Switzerland, Monaco, Belgium’s Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Canada and Quebec.
Then there’s France Médias Monde (FMM), created in 2008, which comprises Radio France Internationale, France 24, and Monte Carlo Doualiya. Its remit is to promote France and the French language internationally, and could eventually be folded into the new holding.
Since the scrapping of the television licence fee in 2022, public broadcasting has been funded by a portion of VAT revenue – a measure cemented into law last December – and tightly regulated advertising. For example, Radio France caps its ad time to an average of 17 minutes per day on certain stations.
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany has a similar fragmented landscape of public broadcasters, with each Land having its own TV and radio services. Countries like the UK (BBC), Italy (RAI), and Spain (RTVE) operate through single national organisations instead.
A ‘political’ reform?
French President Emmanuel Macron first proposed the reform in 2017, but it was repeatedly postponed: first by the pandemic, then by the collapse of the Barnier-led government last year.
It has now returned under Dati, though opponents criticise it as more of a political totem than a genuine policy, especially as she has been increasingly open about her ambition to run for mayor of Paris in 2026.
“The minister claims public broadcasting is in crisis, but that’s simply untrue,” said Anne Guillé-Épée, delegate of the National Union of Journalists (SNJ) at France Télévisions.
She pointed out that France Inter is the country’s most popular radio station, its youth audience is growing, and public TV channels broke viewing records during the Olympics.
“With this holding company proposal, the French right is essentially trying to bring public broadcasting to bow,” Guillé-Épée added, also condemning frequent attacks on public media from far-right channels owned by billionaire Vincent Bolloré.
The far-right Rassemblement National wants to privatise public broadcasting, but its MPs may nonetheless support the bill in the French Parliament.
Meanwhile, the culture minister – embroiled in various legal proceedings – can count on backing from her right-wing party, Les Républicains, and from some MPs in Macron’s centrist bloc.
The parliamentary debate on the bill is unlikely to conclude this week, with MPs set to take up the matter in autumn.
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