CSA holds fresh hearings on move to free DTT

French media regulator the CSA will this week hold public hearings on the impact of the possible migration of digital-terrestrial pay TV channels LCI, Paris Première and Planète+ to the country’s free-to-air platform.

The move comes after the French Conseil d’État in June overruled an earlier CSA decision on the move by TF1, owner of news channel LCI; M6, which owns entertainment service Paris Première; and Canal+, owner of documentary channel Planète+, to take their services free-to-air.

The CSA had ruled in July 2014 that the arrival of three new channels could not be supported by growth in the advertising market and that the financial situation of existing free-to-air services was still fragile.

The Conseil d’État described the CSA’s procedure in relation to the channels as “irregular” and ordered it to look at the proposals again.

The regulator will, over the course of Tuesday and Thursday this week, hear submissions from NextRadioTV, Oange, Fiducial Médias, NRJ, ACCeS, SCAM and France Télévisions on the impact of such as move.