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JANUARY |
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 6 January
The Conseil issued new conditions for the production of party political broadcasts and introduced them to the various political parties and groups. This was done as part of the effort to modernize mandatory campaign time on public channels during election time.
13 January
The Conseil informed the prosecutor of the French Republic that Lebanese channel Al Manar had broadcast an anti-Semitic television film and that the channel had not entered into a legal agreement with the CSA even though it was broadcast through a satellite of Eutelsat, a company organized and existing under French law.
20 January
The Conseil welcomed the players of the audiovisual industry on the occasion of the New Year.
27 January
A draft supplemental agreement to the legal agreement entered into with M6 was adopted. It had been negotiated following the announcement by Suez group of its intent to sell a portion of its capital interest in Métropole Télévision, broadcaster of M6. Under the draft supplemental agreement, the main shareholder’s voting rights, namely RTL Group, shall be limited to 34 %.
Three calls for tenders for the broadcasting of a local channel were launched in Le Mans, Orléans and Tours.
The Conseil decided that all terrestrial digital public channels will be on a single multiplex using network R1. |
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FEBRUARY |
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3 February
The Conseil created a new working group called FM 2006, in order to prepare the calls for tenders for radio stations to be launched in 2006. Chaired by Philippe Levrier, this working group is in charge of reflecting about the new frequency plan.
Giuliano Berretta, président du directoire of Eutelsat, was heard by the Conseil regarding the position of non-EU channels broadcast by his company’s satellites. A future cooperation is considered in order to draw a list of those channels broadcast while not having entered into a legal agreement with the CSA and ensuring compliance with European regulations.
A draft legal agreement was adopted for channel Canal Événementiel.
10 February
The CSA adopted a decision regarding the ethics of radio programs. It calls on broadcasters not to broadcast before 10 : 30 p.m. language likely to hurt the sensitivity of those under 16. Pornographic and very violent programs are prohibited whatever the time.
Several radio stations were authorized to broadcast on medium waves in several large cities ; in Paris, six radio stations had received the authorization to do the same in July 2003.
12 February
France 2 was served an official notice for announcing at the opening of the news at 8 p.m. a piece of news that had not yet occurred and which turned out to be untrue : i.e., that Alain Juppé was retiring from political life. The Conseil deemed that in that particular instance, the channel had not complied with its obligation to provide accurate information to the viewers.
14 February
The Conseil moved to the tour Cristal, 7-11 quai André-Citroën in the 15th arrondissement of Paris for a period two years.
24 February
Prior to the launch of a new call for tenders to select those channels to use a portion of hertzian digital network number R5, the Conseil launched a public consultation in order to take the pulse of the various stake holders’ projects and expectations.
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MARCH |
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13 March
Marie-Laure Denis was appointed member of the CSA by the chairman of the French Senate. She replaced Jacqueline de Guillenchmidt who had been appointed to the Conseil constitutionnel on 24 February 2004. Marie-Laure Denis took up Jacqueline de Guillenchmidt’s role, and in particular the chair of the working group on Radio and the vice-chair of the working group on Pluralism and Ethics of news programs -Electoral campaigns.
17-19 March
Dominique Baudis went to the island of Réunion, a few days prior to the first round of the regional and cantonales elections to support the representatives of the CSA in charge of ensuring that the campaign was taking place in a proper fashion. He also met with radio operators and the members of the comité technique radiophonique (radio technical committee) of Réunion and Mayotte.
24 March
The Conseil issued a recommendation regarding the necessary compliance with section L. 52-2 of the Code electoral relating to the disclosure of election results. In the evening of the first round of the regional and cantonales elections, some services had announced the first result estimates prior to 8 p.m. In the evening of the second round, it, therefore, became compulsory for channels to display, hours, minutes and seconds on the screen as from 7:55 pm.
30 March
The authorization of local vendée television Télé 102 was renewed for a period of five years outside of a call for tenders process.
Three calls for tenders for the broadcasting of a local television were launched in Angers, Grenoble and in the département of Dordogne.
The French youth rating signaling scheme was adopted by the French speaking community of Belgium.
31 March
The Conseil decided that all party political broadcasts in the context of the mandatory campaign on public television shall be subtitled for deaf and hearing impaired persons.
A draft legal agreement for Chinese-language American channel New Tang Dinasty TV (NDT-TV) was adopted. |
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APRIL |
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6 April
The Conseil adopted two recommendations setting forth the rules to apply to the coming electoral campaigns on radio and television. One related to the election of Euro MPs on 13 June 2004, and the second related to the election of the Congrès et des assemblées de province in New Caledonia on 9 May 2004.
Six new radio stations in the geographical jurisdiction of the CTR (radio technical committee) of Marseille were authorized.
9 April
A recommendation was adopted for the preparation of the election on 23 May 2004 of the members of the Assemblée de Polynésie française.
26 April
During the symposium Écrans pâles organized by the Haut Conseil à l’intégration and the CSA, Dominique Baudis called for a better representation on television of the variety of backgrounds and cultures. |
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MAY |
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3 May
Denis Rapone, maître des requêtes at the Conseil d’État and justice advisor to the Prime Minister was appointed directeur général (chief executive officer) of the CSA following Laurent Touvet’s appointment as deputy head advisor to the Justice Minister.
4 May
Eight new radio stations were granted an authorization to broadcast in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region.
11 May
The Conseil responded to the Centre national de la cinématographie (national center for cinema) and the Direction du développement des médias (directorate for media development) regarding their request to update the definition of œuvre audiovisuelle (audiovisual work).
A draft legal agreement was entered into with Télévision Euro-Méditerranée (TEM).
12 May
Jean-Paul Cluzel, président-directeur général (chairman and CEO) of Radio France internationale was appointed as president (chairman) of Radio France by the Conseil. He replaced Jean-Marie Cavada who had tendered his resignation to the Conseil.
18 May
An authorization t was granted to Carrib’IN TV to broadcast in Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy (Guadeloupe).
A financial penalty in the amount of € 50,000 was imposed on Fun Radio following the penalty procedure for surreptitious advertising initiated on 12 November 2003.
Three new radio stations were granted an authorization to broadcast their programs in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
25 May
A videoconference with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the communications regulation authority in the U. S was organized at the CSA. The exchange of views dealt with the multi-channel television market and the role of the regulator.
28 May
The Conseil issued two recommendations regarding the disclosure of the results of the elections to the European Parliament of 13 June 2004 ; one applicable to all media in mainland France, and the other to the media in French overseas départements et territoires. |
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JUNE |
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1 June
The authorizations of fifty radio stations broadcasting in the Rhône-Alpes region were renewed for a period of five years.
2 June
Antoine Schwarz, representative of the government at the board directors of Radio France Internationale (RFI) was appointed président (chairman) of RFI by the Conseil replacing Jean-Paul Cluzel who had been appointed président (chairman) of Radio France.
9 June
The Conseil issued the time bracket for the launch of terrestrial digital television : between 1 March and 31 March 2005 for the free of charge channels and between 1 September 2005 and 28 February for subscription channels.
10 June
Lord Andrew McIntosh of Haringey, British Minister for Media, Culture and Sports met with the CSA. The topics broached with the members of the Collège (board) were terrestrial digital television and the public audiovisual industry.
15 June
The Conseil carried out a preliminary review of the radio and television campaign for the elections to the European Parliament of 13 June. No significant defaults under the guidelines set forth in the various recommendations were noted, however, the Conseil had hoped for a greater coverage of the campaign by the media. Nevertheless, it welcomed the significantly higher audience for the mandatory campaign broadcasts than during previous elections.
The Conseil decided to take responsibility for the awareness campaign relating to the youth rating signaling scheme that channels are under the obligation to broadcast every year. The Conseil deemed that the previous campaigns designed by the channels had not fulfilled their objective satisfactorily.
The Conseil informed the prosecutor of the French Republic that Iranian channel Al-Alam had broadcast an anti-Semitic documentary and that the channel had not entered into a legal agreement with the CSA.
Draft legal agreements were adopted for the following channels : TPS English Premier League, Demain ! and Arena TV.
21 June
The law pour la confiance dans l’économie numérique (on the trust in the digital economy) was enacted. In particular, it extended the CSA’s authority to television and radio services broadcast on new media (Internet, ADSL, mobile phone networks, etc.).
22 June
Three new radio stations received an authorization to broadcast in Ile-de-France : one in Ferté-sous-Jouarre and two in Paris, sharing a channel.
29 June
In a press release, the CSA paid tribute to Marcel Julllian and Georges de Caunes who had died a few days before. |
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JULY |
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1 July
Thirty-six employees of TéléDiffusion de France were integrated into the CSA’s pay roll by law. Most of them had already been working at the CSA for several years as part of a secondment program. The Law of 31 December 2003 relating to public service obligations for telecommunications and France Télécom had barred such possibility so as to ensure full independence of the regulators from operators.
5 July
Two radio stations were pre-selected for Île-de-France.
6 July
A draft legal agreement was adopted for television channel Filles TV.
8 July
The Conseil presented its work report for 2003 to the audiovisual industry and the Conseil économique et social in Paris.
9 July
The law relating to electronic communications and audiovisual communications services was enacted, modifying to a large extent the Law of 30 September 1986 and in particular as regards the issuance of authorizations. In addition, a final legal framework was created for digital radio, RFO was integrated into France Télévisions and the CSA’s sanction power was extended : in particular, the Conseil is now entitled to request the Conseil d’Etat to issue an order to stop the satellite broadcasting of a channel the programs of which violate certain fundamental principles.
12 July
Entitled to do so under the new law, the CSA referred to the Conseil d’Etat the case of channel Al Manar broadcasting while no agreement had been entered into with the CSA and whose programs are illegal in nature for some of them.
13 July
The Conseil decided to consult the operators regarding the allocation of a channel number to the terrestrial digital channels.
20 July
The Conseil wrote to the Prime Minister regarding the standard to be used for the broadcasting of terrestrial digital television indicating that it favored the MPEG 2 format.
At the same time, the CSA published the list of areas to be included in the second deployment phase of terrestrial digital television to be implemented in September 2005.
The authorizations of Antilles Télévision, Canal Calédonie and Canal Polynésie were renewed for a period of five years outside of a call for tenders process.
Ten radio stations were pre-selected in Guadeloupe and five in the geographical jurisdiction of the comité technique radiophonique (radio technical committee) of Nancy.
27 July
Two new radio stations were authorized to broadcast in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. |
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AUGUST |
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20 August
Following the public hearing of the representatives of channel Al Manar before the CSA, the président de la section du contentieux (presiding judge of the litigation section) of the Conseil d’État issued an order under which the Lebanese channel was under the obligation to submit to the CSA prior to 1 October 2004, a complete file to request to enter into a legal agreement with the CSA, failing which, its broadcasting would be interrupted on 30 November 2004. |
SEPTEMBER |
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3 September
The authorizations of local televisions Canal Calédonie, Canal Polynésie and Antilles Télévision were renewed outside of a call for tenders process.
7 September
In Martinique, following a call for tenders launched on 25 March 2003, channel KMT was granted a broadcasting authorization for a period of five years.
13 September
In a press release, the Conseil explained the rules that apply to radio stations that wish to be reclassified according to the Law of 9 July 2004.
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OCTOBER |
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5 October
The CSA issued an opinion regarding two draft décrets relating to the production and broadcasting of cinema works and multiplexed services.
Authorizations to broadcast on a shared channel were granted for a period of five years to local channels Nantes 7 (formerly TV Nantes Atlantique) and Télénantes. The call for tenders had been launched on 23 April 2002.
12 October
Pursuant to the provisions of the Law of 9 July 2004, the CSA carried out a public consultation regarding a new frequency allocation plan for hertzian waves and FM radio.
It also selected the spot to be broadcast on all channels in January 2005 as part of the annual youth rating signaling scheme awareness campaign.
19 October
Channels Éclair TV and La Une Guadeloupe were granted an authorization to broadcast for a period of five years following the call for tenders launched in Guadeloupe on 23 February 2003. The authorization of channel Canal Guyane was renewed for five years outside of a call for tenders process.
21 October
Following the cancellation on 20 October 2004 by the Conseil d’Etat of the authorizations issued by the CSA to six channels scheduled to broadcast in terrestrial hertzian digital mode, the Conseil launched a public consultation prior to the possible launch of a new call for tenders. |
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NOVEMBER |
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3 November
In Guadeloupe, following the call for tenders launched on 25 June 2002, channel Archipel 4 was granted an authorization to broadcast for a period of five years.
Following the call for tenders launched on 25 November 2003, three local channel projects were pre-selected : TV7 Marseille in Marseille, 7L Montpellier in Montpellier and Télé Miroir à Nîmes.
9 November
The authorization of Télé Sud Vendée was renewed for a period of five years.
Two new radio stations received an authorization to broadcast in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur for a period of five years.
19 November
A legal agreement was entered into with channel Al Manar for a period of one year only, as opposed to the usual five years and including very strict ethical provisions.
23 November
As the authorization of local channel Télé Toulouse had already been renewed twice outside of any call for tenders and as the current authorization lapses on 29 November 2005, a call for tenders was launched for the broadcasting of a local channel in Toulouse.
Sixteen radio stations were pre-selected on nineteen frequencies in the geographical jurisdiction of the comité technique radiophonique (radio technical committee) of Lille.
30 November
Noting that several programs broadcast by Al Manar subsequently to the execution of the legal agreement with the CSA did not comply with the provisions thereof, the Conseil sent an official notice to the channel and referred the matter to the Conseil d’Etat so that an order be issued to Eutelsat to discontinue the broadcasting of the channel.
Draft legal agreements were adopted for channels M6 Music Black and M6 Music Rock. |
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