05/01/2009

Today marks a major change in the history of the small screen in France with the removal of advertising on France Télévisions between 8pm and 6am. This overhaul – which will conclude at the end of 2011 with a total ban on advertising on public TV channels (France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 and France O) – heralds a period of uncertainty.

What will the impact be on audiences, as the prime time is brought forward to 8:35pm? What will the consequences be of the transfer of advertising revenues to private networks, who now have a second commercial break during films and dramas? Will the compensatory financing allocated to France Télévisions (€450m guaranteed per year for the period 2009-2011 from a 0.9% tax on the turnover of Internet providers and a 1.5-3% taxation on the advertising income of private networks) be sufficient to maintain current investment in the acquisition of works?

Early 2009 should also see an end to the ongoing drama of Margaret Menegoz’s replacement as head of Unifrance, the promotional agency for French film abroad.

So far, only one possible successor has emerged: producerAnne-Dominique Toussaint (Les Films des Tournelles). However, the name of René Bonnell (Octave Films) has been circulating for several months and surprises are not to be ruled out.

The first half of 2009 should also see the ratification of an amendment to distribution windows. The National Film Centre (CNC) is proposing to bring forward the opening of the video distribution window – which includes the sale and rental of DVDs (currently six months) and VOD services (currently 33 weeks) – to four months after the theatrical release of films.

Other suggestions include bringing forward by two or three months the broadcast of films on pay-TV networks (currently one year after theatrical release) and showing features four to five months earlier on co-producing free TV networks (currently 24 months). Meanwhile, subscription VOD may follow the second pay-TV window (with obligations) or the broadcast on free networks (36 months).

(Translated from French)