Big boom coming on TNT. The audiovisual regulator, Arcom (formerly CSA), confirmed on Thursday the exclusion of the C8 and NRJ 12 channels from DTT at the end of February, in a decision made public. A verdict which will cause some changes to your frequencies in 2025. 20 Minutes takes stock.
The future of C8 and NRJ 12
In its press release made public on Thursday, Arcom stated that it had signed eleven agreements with the new holders of DTT frequencies, until 2035. The C8 and NRJ 12 channels are not among them. “Unsuccessful candidates will be notified of reasoned rejections in the coming days,” said the audiovisual authority. The managers of the Canal+ group channel as well as those of NRJ 12 are considering a new appeal before the Council of State against the final decision of Arcom.
Last Friday, Canal+ management already announced some 250 job cuts, including 150 linked to the end of C8 on February 28, according to the inter-union association of the Vivendi subsidiary. The day before, the group had announced the withdrawal from June 2025 of its four pay channels on DTT (Canal+, Canal+ Cinéma, Canal+ Sport, Planète), citing the non-renewal of C8 and “an additional tax and regulatory environment. and more restrictive”.
For its part, the NRJ 12 channel, which employs around a hundred people, has not communicated on possible job cuts. The channel considers that it has its place on TNT. Arcom considers that this withdrawal of the audiovisual group does not call into question “the number of services authorized to broadcast free of charge on DTT”. Thus “the question of a new allocation of this resource may be re-examined at a later date”.
Another deadline awaits Arcom: with a view to a decision in January, the regulator will “consult” the agreed channels on their future numbering, a major challenge for capturing audiences. In particular, there is talk of a block of news channels.
The arrivals of OFTV and Réels TV
At the time of its hearing before Arcom in July, the Sipa Ouest-France group (also a shareholder of 20 Minutes) had announced that it wanted to offer its future audience different programs, ranging from live to magazines, from talk shows to regional news, from entertainment to cinema. Sport will also be there. “Our project is intended for the public, not for the remuneration of shareholders holding capital,” even clarified Édouard Reis Carona, director of the Audiovisual division of Ouest-France. OFTV will require the creation of 58 positions and new television sets.
Réels TV is, for its part, the property of the CMI (Czech Media Invest) France group, whose owner is the billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who also owns the magazines Elle et Marianne. The programming of this channel will be mainly based on documentaries, with various themes: society, science, history and politics, discovery, culture. “We will give pride of place to films of original French expression, but also to a European documentary offering,” explained Caroline Cochaux, one of those responsible for the creation of this channel. The rest of the Réels TV schedule will be divided between entertainment and debate. Finally, like OFTV, Daniel Kretinsky’s channel will seek to capture an audience aged between 24 and 59. Their authorizations will begin on March 1, 2025 and September 1, 2025, respectively.
“TPMP” and Cyril Hanouna in the dark
The planned end of C8 broadcasting is particularly a blow for its flagship program “Touche pas à mon poste” (TPMP) and Cyril Hanouna. The latter denounced “a democratic”, “economic” scandal and an attack on “freedom of expression” in his show. The host announced that there would be an appeal against this decision and promised to continue TPMP “from March”, without specifying under what conditions. The day before, he had already mentioned working with “the big bosses” to find a base.