TF1 looking to switch LCI to free DTT service

French commercial broadcaster TF1 plans to ask the country’s regulator, the CSA, to allow its LCI information channel to become a free-to-air service on the country’s digital-terrestrial platform, according to a report in financial daily Les Echos, citing sources close to the decision.

The move, which has been decided in response to the decision by Canal Plus no longer to pay for exclusive carriage of the channel on its platform, is strongly opposed by NextRadioTV, owner of BFM TV, which like Canal Plus-backed i>Télé is already available free-to-air.