INTERVIEW
With the coronavirus crisis, there have never been so many people in front of the TV and radio stations ... and never so little publicity. Are private channels therefore in danger? Nicolas de Tavernost, president of the board of directors of the M6 group (M6 of course, but also the channels W9, 6ter, TF6, recently Gulli, and radio RTL), believes at the microphone of Europe 1 that "we will have to find solutions to get out of this unprecedented crisis, "and that the public sector should make an effort.
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"Advertising revenue is not there"
Since the confinement, 85% of French people watch historical channels, against 77% before March 15, dropping from 42 to 47.7 million viewers. On M6, the show "Tous en Cuisine" with Cyril Lignac is a hit with more than 2 million viewers ... but advertising does not follow. The Union of Brands notes that overall, advertising revenues are already falling by 40% over a year, and the trend should accelerate further to reach "from 70% to 80% loss of revenue in April".
"Advertising revenues are not there," confirms the CEO of the M6 group. "This is true for radio, television, newspapers. We will have to find solutions to get out of this unprecedented crisis." According to him, if the government has put in place measures for the economy, "in our sector nothing happens. This worries us because we are making proposals on the tax credit (see box below), on the fact that the public sector could make an effort on advertising, which represents 10% of its revenues, while for us it is 100%, and that we will probably lose 1 billion euros this year. "
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Giving up advertising on public service, "a question of solidarity"?
Nicolas de Tavernost would therefore like advertising to be temporarily excluded from the public service, to the benefit of the private sector. "We could still find a balance in the effort, between us who must assume almost 50% of revenue loss, and the public service which has only 10%. I think that will not call into question nor its quality and performance. "
Radio France's budget, he also recalls, is equivalent to "all of the revenue from all French private, local and national stations, or around 650 million. The effort that Radio France could make of the 50 millions of advertisements which would be very useful for other radios, it is temporarily to abandon them. Besides, the public might be happy to have less advertising on the antennas of the public sector. It is a question of solidarity. "
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Culture Minister "not convinced"
For its part, according to 2018 figures, France Télévisions, 25% of the audience, has a budget of 2.9 billion, of which 350 million "only" come from the advertising network, which guarantees 90% of its revenues . The private channels representing 75% of the audience share 3.430 billion (701 million for radio), according to the unified barometer of the advertising market of 2018.
But in the meantime, "the Minister of Culture does not seem convinced" by this proposal for public solidarity with the private sector, says Nicolas de Tavernost. However, according to him, "beyond the radios and televisions, there is the whole system of creation behind it: the authors are paid by advertising revenues, cinema films are made thanks to our revenues… If we defend the creative system, we must also defend the private sector, radio, television, French audiovisual. "
The government opposed several proposals that could have relieved TVs, radios, newspapers and magazines. First idea rejected: a tax credit on communication expenses. An idea which encouraged advertisers to continue buying advertising, which they have hardly done since the start of the crisis, but which had not received a very enthusiastic reception from the Minister of Culture Franck Riester, who recalled that many sectors were asking for this kind of device. But the idea is not buried. The government believes it is more of a stimulus than an emergency. This tax credit could therefore see the light of day, but not for several months.
The proposal for a support fund of 50 million euros to support newspapers and print magazines carried by the socialist group was also rejected. The budget rapporteur recalled that there was a system of aid dedicated to all French companies and that press publishers could use it.