Paris (AFP)
France Télévisions signed Thursday with the Ministers of Culture and Overseas a "Pact for Visibility Overseas", with quantified commitments on the dissemination of overseas programs on its channels while France O must disappear at the summer of 2020.
"This is a real turning point in the history of France Télévisions and Outre-Mers, a turning point for more visibility, more exposure and a stronger citizen role," said Delphine Ernotte, the patron of the public broadcasting group.
"We are committed to make overseas territories, their news, their vitality, their wealth and their difficulties, visible to all French citizens, at any time of the day and on all channels," she continued.
The pact lists 25 commitments accompanied by 11 indicators that will be monitored each year and monitored each quarter by a monitoring committee.
For example, there will be each month on average at least one overseas program in the first half of the evening on France 2, France 3 or France 5 "ensuring diversity of genres and a certain balance between channels.
In the national news, the number of overseas subjects is also expected to increase, "a regular information meeting" will be launched on France 3 and a general daily magazine dedicated to overseas will be scheduled on a national channel. Documentaries and dramas - particularly with the continuation of the production of an overseas series - are also taken into account.
The local premium channels will also be broadcast in high definition and a new Outremers web portal will be launched in the first quarter of 2020.
The Senate delegation to the Overseas welcomed the pact that "relies heavily" on a report produced by parliamentarians and warns that it will engage in a "follow-up demanding commitments".
"The announcement of the France O judgment was a shock: we considered in our report that this decision was a mistake, that the end of this chain could have systemic consequences, the government did not want to hear it. ", indicates Jocelyne Guidez (Centrist Union? Essonne), co-rapporteur of the work of the delegation on this subject.
"However, we have always positioned ourselves in a constructive approach and we intend to continue it: this pact is an important step that must be welcomed," she said, quoted in a statement.
"The ultramarines are today worried about the disappearance of France O, this pact it is the first gesture of confidence which is posed, it must be followed of strong acts", estimated for its part the Minister of Overseas Annick Girardin.
According to a savings plan requested by the government at France Télévisions, France O, like the youth channel France 4, are set to disappear from TNT in 2020.
The Minister of Culture Franck Riester also said that the removal of France 4 would take place in 2020, while several organizations called to postpone its closure.
© 2019 AFP