BFM TV

Altice France’s Weill concedes defeat in battle with Orange

Altice France CEO Alain Weill has admitted defeat and will make the group’s TV channels BFM TV, BFM Business, RMC Découverte and RMC Story available free of charge to operators after Orange this week came good on its threat to cut their signal in the absence of a deal between the pair. BFM TV disappeared […]

Orange may follow Free in dropping Altice France channels

Orange may follow rival French service provider Free in dropping Altice France’s TV channels over disputed carriage terms, according to CEO Stéphane Richard. Speaking on the France 2 TV channel, Richard said that Orange was likely to follow Free by refusing to pay for the carriage of free-to-air channels BFM TV, RMC Découverte and RMC […]

Altice France looking to expand local TV network with Grand Lille TV stake

Altice France has entered into exclusive talks to take an indirect stake in local TV channel provider Grand Lille TV, which operates three channels in the Lille region. Altice has asked media regulator the CSA for authorisation to rebrand the three channels – Grand Lille TV, Grand Littoral TV et Grand Lille Info– as BFM […]

Watchdog rules in Free’s favour in channel carriage dispute with Altice France

French media watchdog the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA) has ruled that service provider Free has the right to refuse to carry the channels of Altice France and associated services. The ruling deals a blow to Altice France, which has been in dispute with Free over the terms under which BFM TV, RMC Découverte and […]

Altice France unveils new TV features

Altice France has unveiled a number of new value-added services to its TV offering. The group has launched a new catch-up TV interface and services for its BFM TV, BFM Business, RMC Story and RMC Découverte channels. Altice said that its new offering included an immersive interface that gives rapid access to video-on-demand services. Catch-up […]

Altice groups its media activities together

Cable, telecom and content investor Altice is to group its audiovisual media units, which include news channel BFM TV, in a single building in the XV arrondissement of Paris, near other media groups including TF1 and France Télévisions, according to a report in French news magazine L’Express, which is owned by the group. Altice recently […]

Altice joins forces with NextRadioTV’s Weill in new media unit

Patrick Drahi’s Altice is to create a joint venture with NextRadioTV founder Alain Weill to take over the French thematic channel provider. Will and Altice will be partners in a joint venture in which will Weill will control 51% of the economic and voting rights and serve as executive chairman. Weill will then transfer his […]

French news channels in employment offer to head off LCI decision

French free-to-air news channels BFM TV and Canal+-backed i>Télé have reportedly sent a letter to media regulator the CSA promising to recruit two thirds of the staff currently employed by TF1-backed news service LCI if the latter closes down.  The move, reported by financial daily Les Echos, is seen as a last-ditch move to prevent […]

Canal+ and BFM TV move to head off LCI threat

Canal+ and BFM TV have moved to head off the threat of TF1’s news channel LCI becoming a free-to-air digital-terrestrial service ahead of a French Senate vote on the matter.  Last week Canal+, which owns rival free news channel iTélé, and BFM TV submitted two studies to show the adverse impact on the market of […]

TF1 reportedly puts putative pay TV plan on ice

French news service BFM TV has reported that commercial broadcaster TF1 has put a plan to launch a low-cost satellite TV platform, which it has considered in secret over recent months, on ice for now. According to BFM TV, TF1 has been considering a plan to launch a mini-bouquet on Eutelsat’s satellite platform in recent […]