As 2004 was the last full year of preparation for the effective launch of digital terrestrial television (TNT), the CSA spared no effort to try and provide answers to the numerous unsolved issues and to adopt the decisions necessary to organize the various aspects of the digital television revolution that was to take place during the first quarter of 2005.
Even though the issue was high on the agenda of numerous plenary sessions of the Conseil, as during previous years, other highly important events occupied the Conseil throughout the year.
The CSA reviewed one particular issue as it unfolded throughout the year : that of the regulation of non-European channels distributed by satellite falling within the jurisdiction of France and of the actions to be taken where racist and anti-Semitic language is broadcast on the air by such channels.
Local analogue hertzian televisions were also high on the agenda with the launch of calls for tenders to create new channels in eight cities, the issuance of authorizations following previously launched calls for tenders and the renewal of authorizations outside of call for tender processes.
In addition, five elections took place for which three series of radio and television mandatory campaign time had to be organized by the Conseil. On the occasion of the European elections, the Conseil thoroughly overhauled the conditions of production of party political broadcasts by political parties.
As regards the protection of children and adolescents, one of the CSA’s essential mission, a new recommendation relating to the broadcasting of pornographic or extremely violent programs (category V) which took into account the comments of the Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés replaced the two preceding recommendations previously adopted by the Conseil. In addition, as it had not been fully satisfied by the viewers’ awareness campaign relating to the youth rating signaling scheme that had been produced and broadcast by the channels during previous years, the Conseil devoted a part of its activities to producing the 2004 campaign.
During 2004, the Conseil appointed the présidents (chairmen) of two sociétés nationales de programme (national program companies), Radio France and Radio France internationale, for five-year terms. Following the integration of Réseau France outre-mer (RFO) into France Télévisions, the Conseil also appointed a director representing l’outre-mer (overseas départements and territoires) to the board of directors of France Télévisions and also appointed three directors to the board of directors of RFO.
Changes also took place within the Conseil itself, with the appointment on 13 March 2004 of Ms. Marie-Laure Denis who was designated by the chairman of the Sénat to replace Ms. Jacqueline de Guillenchmidt who had been appointed to the Conseil constitutionnel.
Finally, in preparation for the revision of the Television Without Borders directive, the Conseil organized debates and exchanges of views with the representatives of other European regulation authorities under the aegis of the European Commission.
 Terrestrial digital television (télévision numérique de terre) (TNT)
As the last stretch prior to the official launch in March 2005 of the free-of-charge terrestrial digital television channels, on 17 sites serving 35 % of the population at first, 2004 was a particularly important new step for the CSA, which kept to its program of work on all files relating to TNT falling within its remit.
The work on digital frequencies enabled to plan 88 sites representing a potential coverage rate of the French population of 68 %, with a final objective of 80 to 85 % thanks to the 110 to 115 sites planned. In addition, 306 reallocations of analogue frequencies that had become necessary in order to avoid interferences with TNT were planned and were due to have been completed by the end of 2004, at the CSA’s request.
On 8 June 2004, the Conseil finalized the detailed schedule for the launch of TNT, with a different schedule for free-of-charge and pay services. The date set was 1 March 2005 for all free channels, the broadcasting being due to start within one month, namely at the latest on 31 March 2005.
As regards pay channels, the start date for the programs was set for 1 September 2005 with a maximum delay of six months for the effective start of the commercial operation of each service.
The main urban areas due to receive TNT at launch were Paris, Bordeaux, Brest, Lille, Lyon (transmitter of Fourvière), Marseille, Niort, Rennes, Rouen, Toulouse (Transmitter of Toulouse Est) and Vannes. In addition, on 20 July 2004, the Conseil issued a list of further frequencies to be implemented in September 2005 for free services and in March 2006 for pay channels : Ajaccio, Bayonne, Bourges, Caen, Cherbourg, Grenoble, Le Havre, Le Mans, Lyon (transmitter of Mont-Pilat), Nantes, Orléans, Reims, Saint-Étienne, Toulon et Toulouse (transmitter Pic-du-Midi).
The deployment schedule on other sites will be subject to subsequent decisions, the objective being to reach a coverage rate of approximately 65 % of the population by the end of the first half of 2006, through approximately sixty sites, and 85 % of the population in 2007. In addition, the Conseil gave its consent, beginning of January 2005, for technical broadcasting tests from the Eiffel Tower to be carried out.
In the initial scheme, public channels were to be distributed on multiplexes R1 and R5. As the number of channels reserved for France Télévisions’ new service projects was reduced from three to one, the CSA regrouped public channels on multiplex R1, only.
As regards the employment of the capacities of multiplex R5 thus freed, the Conseil launched, a public consultation process on 24 February 2004 which gave rise to 89 contributions dealing with the possible use of the resource for the broadcasting of television services as well as the introduction of new technologies related to high definition or mobility. Given the capacities available on multiplex R5 and the great variety of requests to use them, the Conseil has decided to continue the consultation on allocations to be considered with the different players.
With respect to free terrestrial digital television and public channels, the only new service present on behalf of France Télévisions, in addition to France 2, France 3, France 5, Arte and La Chaîne parlementaire, is Festival, whose name is due to change to France 4. Seven free-of-charge private channels were selected by the Conseil in addition to TF1 and M6 : LCI, M6 Music, Direct 8, iMCM, NRJ TV, NT1 and TMC.
The free of charge channels were given a number by the Conseil on 7 December 2004, by lot drawing following a public consultation carried out in order to collect the operators’ views and to set out the rules. Pay channels and local services will be allocated a number at a later date.
Fourteen pay channels were also selected by the Conseil : AB1, Canal+, Canal J, Ciné Cinéma Premier, Comédie, Cuisine TV, Eurosport France, I-Télé, Match TV, Paris Première, Planète, Sport+, TF6 and TPS Star.
The authorizations of six channels scheduled to be present on the bouquet (I-Télé, Sport+, Planète, Ciné Cinéma Premier, Canal J, iMCM) were cancelled by the Conseil d’État. Such cancellations resulted from a limitation to the number of authorizations that a single operator was entitled to have under a previous version of the law prior to 9 July 2004 under which Canal+ had too many. Following the decision by the Conseil d’État, the CSA launched a new call for tenders on 14 December 2004 to assign the six channels thus made available.
Finally, as regard the transmission mode for terrestrial digital television, the use of the Mpeg 2 standard which was the only standard available when the Conseil issued the authorizations in 2003, was confirmed by the Prime Minister on 8 November 2004 for the free channels only. As regards pay channels and high definition channels, however, the Prime Minister decided on 23 December 2004 to impose the use of the Mpeg 4 standard.
The regulation of non-EU channels : Combating racism and anti-Semitism
Defining specific regulations for non-EU channels falling within the jurisdiction of France was one of the major issues with which the CSA dealt in 2004 and it occupied it throughout the year.
The Conseil had to adapt its means of action to this new challenge which deals with both, the mere principle of such channels being subject to the control of a regulation authority in Europe and, actions to be taken when such channels broadcast racist or anti-Semitic programs. The prohibition of incitements to hatred or violence on the ground of race, nationality or religion is one of the main principles of European audiovisual law. Such principles were incorporated into French law by means of the Law of 30 September 1986, as modified, under which the CSA is the guarantor of such principles.
Since its creation, the Conseil has always exercised extreme vigilance in this regard. However, it was confronted with an entirely new situation with the broadcasting on French territory of non-European services received in Europe by satellite – such as for instance channels Al Alam and Al Manar – which included programs which raised particular issues in terms of racism and anti-Semitism. The scale of the issue was revealed with the broadcasting on Lebanese channel Al Manar, relayed by Eutelsat, of the television film Al Shatat.
During a first phase, the Conseil did not have the appropriate legal means to efficiently combat this kind of programs. The Conseil was very vocal in demanding them. They were granted through the adoption of the Law of 9 July 2004 which modified the Law of 30 September 1986. The Conseil was thereby entitled to request from the Conseil d’État that a satellite operator falling within the jurisdiction of France (société anonyme Eutelsat, organized and existing under the laws of France, being the only one) be required to discontinue the broadcasting of a service whose programs violate the principles set forth in the law when they include in particular incitements to hatred on grounds of race, gender, mores, religion or nationality.
Endowed with this new legal power, the CSA referred the case of Al Manar to the Conseil d’État requesting that Eutelsat be required to discontinue the broadcasting of Al Manar, sous astreinte (with a penalty levied in proportion to the period of non-compliance). The Conseil d’État ruled a grace period to enable the channel to enter into a legal agreement with the CSA. However, a few days only after the agreement was entered into, the channel broadcast further intolerable remarks which led the Conseil to request and procure from the Conseil d’État, the termination of the broadcasting of Al Manar on Eutelsat. In addition, the CSA initiated a penalty procedure against the channel with resulted in the agreement being terminated.
Local hertzian televisions
2003 had already been a particularly busy year as regards local hertzian television, and the same was true of 2004 during which the Conseil mobilized a great deal of its resources to this topic. It launched calls for tenders for the creation of new analogue services in eight new cities (Marseille, Montpellier, Nîmes, Orléans, Tours, Angers, Le Mans, Grenoble), with a view to creating about fifteen stations which may collectively sell their advertising slots to national advertisers.
In Toulouse, the authorization that had been granted to Télé Toulouse in 1987 could not, by law, be renewed a further time without a call for tenders being launched. Authorizations were also granted in Nantes (Nantes 7 and Télénantes on the same frequency), in Guadeloupe (Carrib’IN, Archipel 4, A1 Guadeloupe, Éclair TV) and in Martinique (KMT). Five authorizations were renewed outside of a call for tenders process (Télé 102, Télé Sud Vendée, Antilles Télévision, Canal Guyane, Tahiti Nui Télévision). The procedures for the renewal of the authorizations of TV 8 Mont Blanc, Clermont/1ère and TV7 Bordeaux were also initiated.
Finally, the Conseil welcomed the new legal framework applicable to local channels under the Law of 9 July 2004 relating to electronic communications and audiovisual communications services which renders the creation of local channels easier.
Elections and the reform of the rules applicable to party political broadcasts on radio and television
2004 was a particularly rife year as regards elections : five elections took place for which the Conseil had to set the rules and which it had to monitor and for which it had to organize three series of mandatory campaign time on public radios and televisions :
• the élections régionales et cantonales on 21 and 28 March ;
• the élection du Congrès et des assemblées de province de Nouvelle-Calédonie on 9 May ;
• the élection des membres de l’Assemblée de Polynésie on 23 May ;
• the European elections on 13 June.
On the occasion of the European elections, the Conseil implemented a far-reaching reform relating to the production conditions of party political broadcasts following a consultation initiated in 2003 with all political parties.
The three main principles behind the reform were the following :
• preference for short programs that may be systematically broadcast at times when the audience is largest ;
• political parties no longer have to use centralized recording studios and are free to select the ones they want to use ;
• relaxing of the terms and conditions relating to film clips in party political broadcasts : where the proportion of film clips could not be higher than 50 % of the duration of each program, the proportion is still 50 % but assessed on the entire time allocated to each party.
The protection of children and adolescents : new recommendations and new awareness campaign
In order to avoid any conflict between its own recommendations as regards the protection of children and adolescents on television and those of the Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés, and to ensure that they fully respect individual freedoms while effectively protecting minors when category V programs (pornographic or very violent programs) are broadcast, the CSA adopted a new recommendation on 15 December 2004 which cancelled and superseded the previous two recommendations that had been issued in 2003.
In addition, on 15 June 2004, the Conseil decided to produce the annual awareness campaign relating to the youth rating signaling scheme and chose a director for it, in consultation with, hertzian channels, the Défenseur des enfants and Collectif interassociatif Enfance et Médias.
Following the implementation of the new signaling scheme on November 2002, which classifies programs by age, the CSA had requested the channels to supplement such introduction with an annual awareness campaign. Such a campaign was thus broadcast by broadcasters at the end of 2002 and of 2003 but the messages did not seem to the Conseil to be clear enough nor adapted to the objectives pursued.
The Conseil’s initiative, which it insisted on carrying out in a context of consultation and transparency, entailed an extremely large financial investment. By doing so, the Conseil showed how seriously it takes the mission of children protection entrusted to it by law.
The Conseil launched a call for tenders in July 2004 and set up an advisory committee to which, in addition to the conseillers and the members of the CSA, participated a representative of each hertzian channel (TF1, France 2, France 3, France 5, M6, Canal+), a representative of the Défenseur des enfants and delegates from Collectif interassociatif Enfance et Médias. Two experts were also invited to participate : Mr. Patrice Huerre, child psychiatrist and Ms. Élisabeth Baton-Hervé, specializing in family and media relationships.
The proposal selected was that which seemed closer to the Conseil concerns : convey a clear message to parents by showing the relationship children have with television within their own families without condemning a particular channel or a particular program.
The Conseil gave its approval to a spot presenting a father and a son watching television while a scary scene is shown. By symbolically showing the difference between how an adult and a child perceive the images, the spot shows that it is the adults who are responsible for what younger ones watch. The slogan is crystal clear and reminds adults that what children see is different from what adults see.
Pursuant to the agreement into which the channels had entered into with the CSA and under which the Conseil had recommended that the spot be broadcast between 7 p m and 11 p m, the spot was broadcast by channels starting on 3 January 2005 at the required time. All broadcasters, except TF1, expressed their desire to associate themselves to the campaign by co-signing the spot which was also broadcast by most cable and satellite channels.
The appointments of the chairs of Radio France and Radio France internationale
The CSA is endowed with the authority to appoint the présidents (chairs) of the sociétés nationales de programme (national program companies). It exercised it on two occasions in 2004. By a decision dated 12 May, the Conseil appointed Mr. Jean-Paul Cluzel as director of Radio France to oc | 
