It is often by citing the example of the BBC that the Minister of Culture, Franck Riester, praised the merits of a regrouping of the public audiovisual sector. And he could now take inspiration from the English group to decide on the future of its youth channel, France 4, said Cyril Lacarrière, Thursday on Europe 1.
The BBC could backtrack
In February 2016, the BBC made the choice to switch its BBC 3 channel to digital and therefore to say goodbye to the linear. At the time, the big boss of the BBC justified his decision by emphasizing that all the studies showed that young viewers watched more content online than on traditional TV. Another element far from being anecdotal: this transfer allowed the BBC to save more than 30 million euros.
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Four years later, the BBC is considering bringing back BBC 3 among its linear channels. Several recent studies tend to show that a large audience is available on linear television: exactly the same argument as 4 years ago… but backwards. According to a spokesperson for the English group, rather than going to consume online content from the BBC 3, the young audience went to Youtube and Netflix.
A decision will be made in the coming weeks
So is this example going to give the Minister of Culture something to chew on? While the fate of France 4 seemed sealed, the past few weeks have questioned the government's decision. Many associations are asking for the chain to be maintained, especially since France 4 has also played the role of assistant professor during confinement.
Wednesday morning, Franck Riester assured that the decision concerning the future of France 4 would be taken in a few weeks. It will not be long before we decide: the youth channel should normally close on August 9.