2023-06-07 19:42:45
How to finance public broadcasting? This question is at the heart of the report on the future of public broadcasting unveiled this Wednesday, June 7 and voted on the day before by the members of the parliamentary mission led on the subject for six months. The deputies Jean-Jacques Gaultier (Les Républicains) and Quentin Bataillon (Renaissance), respectively president and rapporteur of the fact-finding mission, tabled the same day a proposal for an organic law on this question of financing, which they hope to see adopted before the tabling of the finance bill for the year 2025.
Since the abolition of the TV license fee, or contribution to public broadcasting (CAP), in July 2022, it is indeed by fraction of VAT that this public service is financed. This means that an envelope is deducted from the revenue from this consumption tax and allocated to the operation of France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde and INA. But this system, thought to be temporary, must be reviewed at the end of 2024.
Sustain the financing of public broadcasting by fraction of VAT
It is this mode of financing that the two deputies intend to perpetuate. “A budget that would have to be voted on every year would harm the proper functioning of our public audiovisual sector, and this option is moreover feared by the leaders of each group”assures Quentin Bataillon.
Other members of the mission, like Sophie Taillé-Polian (Nupes) on the contrary advocate a proportional contribution to household income. A disagreement shared by the other Nupes members and registered in the list of their contributions to the report.
Compensate for lost revenue from banning ads after 8 p.m.
The left-wing opposition nevertheless shares at least one objective with the president and the rapporteur: that of seeing advertising disappear on the channels of France Télévisions between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. In their report, the two deputies hear, “in the spirit of the law of 2009”, prohibit advertising and sponsorship on this time slot; the latter having become “indistinguishable” first, underlines the president of the mission.
To compensate for the financial loss associated with this disappearance, Jean-Jacques Gaultier and Quentin Bataillon recommend compensating it “to the nearest euro” by assigning to France Télévisions groups “a fraction of the proceeds of the tax on digital audiovisual services” – which must be paid by digital groups which, such as GAFAM, generate more than 35 million euros in turnover on French territory. A risky bet for the Nupes deputies, who are asking “guarantees of this compensation, in the absence of major reinvestments to give leeway to public broadcasting”.
A “strategic holding company” to facilitate joint projects between entities
Moreover, so that the various entities that make up the public audiovisual sector “strengthen their synergy and the uniqueness of the public service”the rapporteur of the mission supports his desire to group them together in a “strategic holding company”. A recommendation which is reminiscent of that made by Senator Laurent Lafon (UDI) in the bill he tabled on 21 April. “What we are proposing on our side is a light holding company, a governance structure that would play the role of leader and facilitator between the entities”specifies Quentin Bataillon.
A structure whose chairman and managing director would be appointed by the board of directors of the company, after assent of Arcom and the commissions in charge of cultural affairs of the assemblies, in order to“ensure the independence of public broadcasting”. A guarantee that does not convince Sophie Taillé-Polian, stressing that “nothing specifies who will make up the said board of directors”.
#Funding #public #broadcasting #future