Xavier Niel, soon on television?
The billionaire and press boss, also at the head of Iliad and Free, has applied, with his "Six" project (which suggests that he is mainly targeting channel 6), to take over the TNT frequency of M 6 as part of its joint renewal with that of TF1, unveiled on Monday Arcom, the media regulator.
Eighth fortune in France according to the Forbes ranking, Xavier Niel submitted this application via his company NJJ Project 5523. As will be the two other logical candidates, TF1 and M 6, who are aiming to renew their frequency there, Xavier Niel will be auditioned by Arcom on February 15 for 1h30.
This candidacy once again marks the billionaire's interest in television: he had already tried to buy RTL's stake in the M 6 group twice, in May 2021 then in October 2022 after the failure of the merger project between TF1 and M 6. The last time, Xavier Niel made an offer in tandem with the Berlusconi family (MediaForEurope group).
The owner of M 6, the German media giant Bertelsmann, had finally chosen not to sell.
“A new entrant will create a new dynamic”
“In the absence of having been able to lead to an acquisition, we are studying today with great attention and interest the opportunity to be a candidate for the allocation of frequencies available in May”, said Maxime Lombardini in November. , vice-president of Iliad, parent company of the operator Free owned by Xavier Niel, during a hearing before Arcom.
“A new entrant will create a new dynamic,” he argued.
Xavier Niel is already very present in the media: he is a shareholder of the Le Monde group (Le Monde, Télérama, La Vie, Le Monde diplomatique, Courrier international), of the Nice-Matin group, of France-Antilles or of Paris-Turf.
It is also the sole investor in the new online investigative economic media "L'Informé", launched in the fall of 2022.
He also co-founded Mediawan in 2015 with Pierre-Antoine Capton and Matthieu Pigasse.
This group, behind the successes of the film "Bac Nord" and the series "Dix pour cent", is present in the production, distribution and broadcasting of films, series and TV shows ("C à vous", "C in the air" in particular).
Mediawan took control in December of the production company Plan B Entertainment, co-founded and chaired by Brad Pitt.
It employs 1,500 people, for a turnover of around one billion euros.
Objective 2025?
Launched in December by Arcom, this call for candidates for the renewal of the two frequencies is the first since 1987, the year of the privatization of TF1 and the arrival of M 6 on the sixth hertzian network.
A priori, it seems unlikely that Xavier Niel's project will be preferred to a renewal of M 6, which has been established for a long time in the audiovisual landscape.
But by showing his interest, the billionaire might want to place himself for other renewals, scheduled for 2025. On January 16 in Le Monde, the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul-Malak, had hinted that Arcom might not renew in 2025 the authorization to issue CNews and C8 (the channel of controversial host Cyril Hanouna).
These two channels belong to the Canal + group, which is in the bosom of billionaire Vincent Bolloré, reputed to be very right.
They have been sanctioned several times in recent years for controversial remarks.
"A minister should not say that," replied Monday in Le Figaro Maxime Saada, chairman of the executive board of the Canal + group.
“Whatever we think of CNews or Cyril Hanouna, it is unbearable to wave the threat of the closure of certain channels on the pretext that they do not reflect your ideas.
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