The Competition Authority announced on Friday the opening of an "
in-depth examination phase
" of the merger of the television group TF1 with its competitor M6, a second stage for this highly contested project which is upsetting French television.
A merger of TF1, owned by the Bouygues group, and M6 (put up for sale by the German Bertelsmann), would have the effect of creating a French giant in the market for audiovisual rights, channel distribution and television advertising, with around 75% of French turnover in the latter sector.
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The new entity would hold “
sometimes significant market shares
” in these areas, concedes the Authority in a press release.
The latter now wants to continue “
its analysis of the impact of the development of new uses in terms of the consumption of audiovisual services and the competitive pressure exerted by the digital operators put forward by the parties to the operation
”.
Clearly, the institution must examine whether the rise of digital advertising, largely captured by the American web giants, will redefine the video advertising market and reduce the market share of television channels.
The review is expected to last 65 days
After analysis and consultations, the Authority will define the "
remedies
" to mitigate any harm to competition, for example a sale of channels or the separation of advertising agencies.
To take the lead and comply with audiovisual regulations which impose a maximum of seven national frequencies for the same group, TF1 and M6 already announced at the end of February that they would sell two small DTT channels to Altice Media (BFM , RMC), which thus poses as a challenger to the future giant of the PAF, and would return the TNT frequency of Paris Première.
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Opposed to the project announced in May 2016, the operator Free had launched a series of appeals against this instruction, without success for the moment.
The public rapporteur of the Council of State decided on Tuesday for a new rejection of the requests because of the "
purely preparatory nature
" of the instruction.
The in-depth examination by the Competition Authority lasts "
in principle
" 65 days, excluding negotiations on additional commitments.
Its decision is expected in the fall of 2022, for a possible completion of the merger, which must also be validated by Arcom (ex-CSA), at the beginning of 2023.
