French broadcaster grant given go-ahead

The French government’s decision to give public broadcasters a grant has been given the green light by a European court. The court upheld a decision by Europe’s state aid regulator that said the grant was legal.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy granted public broadcaster France Televisions a sum of €150m in January 2008 to cover the loss of advertising in its channels after the government banned advertising on public stations. However, rival commercial broadcasters including M6 and TF1 lobbied for the European Commission to reconsider the aid and said that the decision had been reached too hurriedly.

 

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