On 23 October 2002, the CSA selected
23 channels to broadcast on the terrestrial digital television-to-be
amongst the 66 candidates that had been declared admissible
following the call for tenders launched on 24 July 2001. The
announcement was preceded by seven months of review and study
of the various candidates’ files and by public hearings
of all candidates held from17 June to 1 July. The hearings
which were broadcast live on La Chaîne parlementaire
gave each candidate the opportunity to present its project
and give the Conseil any additional information it
requested. At the same time, throughout 2002, the Conseil
continued its work on many other issues relating to the implementation
of terrestrial digital television, such as hertzian digital
frequency planning and the reorganization of the current analogue
spectrum allocation.
Over the 23 selected services, 8 will be
free channels and 15 will be pay channels, 2 of which –Cuisine
TV and Comédie!– will share the same channel.
The Conseil also issued a tentative plan for the breakdown
of the various services on the 4 multiplexes that will be
available to them. Finally, on 12 November, the Conseil
issued a draft plan allocating frequency networks to each
of the 6 multiplexes considered for terrestrial digital television.
Particular attention was paid during the
selection process to the economical balance between free and
pay television. As regards free television, the Conseil
conducted several economic studies the findings of which indicated
that there is room for more services than are currently available,
provided the number of new channels is limited to the opportunities
provided by the advertising market. The Conseil thus
selected 6 new free channels according to their advertising
income needs which should approximately be 2 to 3% of advertising
expenses on television five years after the start of terrestrial
digital television and 10 to 12% 10 years after. Pay television
on the other hand is characterized by a wealth of supply on
cable and satellite. The Conseil, therefore, decided
to select a series of key cable and satellite channels according
to their chances of making it on the tough domestic hertzian
television market.
Ample consideration was also paid to the
soundness of the financing plan presented by the candidates.
The input of new players on the hertzian television market
will enhance competition between the current broadcasters
on the medium. That is why the Conseil was careful
to only select candidates who provided strong financial guarantees.
The selection criteria involved stakeholders’ identification,
rating of the shareholders’ liabilities and in particular
the level of shareholders’ equity.
The Conseil also paid attention to
the commitments made in terms of the creation of European
and French-speaking cinematographic and audiovisual works.
Where the commitments made were more than the required minimum
under regulations, they will become full terms and conditions
of the agreements to be entered into with the relevant broadcasters.
Finally, the Conseil only selected
candidates who committed to gradually cover the zones to receive
signals from the 110 broadcasting sites identified through
the terrestrial digital television spectrum allocation process.
The negotiations relating to the agreements
to set forth the obligations and commitments of terrestrial
digital television broadcasters started at the end of 2002.
Once the agreements are entered into, the Conseil will
issue to each service the customary license to use the radio-electric
medium which will specify to which frequencies such right
applies.
The Conseil hopes to be able to issue
the public channels’ licenses to use the medium at the
same time.
All broadcasters of a single multiplex will
be entitled to jointly suggest within two months a multiplex
operator which shall receive the CSA’s authorization.
Later on, the distributors in charge of marketing paying services
will have to register with the CSA. In addition, the agreements
entered into between broadcasters with respect to their systems’
interoperability shall be forwarded to the CSA.
As regards frequencies to be allocated to
the broadcasting of terrestrial digital television from the
110 planned sites, the Conseil issued on 24 July 2001,
a first list of 29 geographical zones. On 3 April 2002, it
published a second list of frequencies identified for 30 new
sites.
On 29 November, the frequency list relating
to the afore-mentioned 59 sites was updated and a draft allocation
plan of these frequencies to the networks was published. Work
is currently under way for the allocation of the remaining
51 sites.
When the 110 sites are all in operation,
terrestrial digital televisions signals will reach 80 to 85%
of the French population. |