Paris (AFP)
The channels will be able to broadcast targeted advertisements via the boxes according to the profile of viewers and schedule films when they want, measures they were impatiently awaiting to be better armed against the streaming giants.
These measures appear in two decrees published Thursday in the Official Journal and which will come into force on Friday.
The first decree concerns the relaxation of the regime governing television advertising. It authorizes so-called segmented advertising, that is to say targeted spots, broadcast according to certain criteria, particularly geographic or related to the profile of viewers, in the programs broadcast on the boxes of Internet service providers.
In addition, this text authorizes television commercials for the cinema for a period of 18 months. These were until now prohibited, to protect small independent films compared to American "blockbusters" with the enormous advertising strike force.
This authorization will be the subject of an evaluation report within 15 months, in order to verify, precisely, its impact on the cinema industry and to establish the profile of films that will benefit or suffer from this reform.
The second decree puts an end to a rule much criticized by the PAF channels: the one which prohibited them from broadcasting unencrypted films on certain days or evenings, such as Saturdays.
A provision that aimed to protect cinemas, decided several decades ago in the name of preserving the cultural exception but which did not apply to streaming platforms and whose channels demanded the removal.
- An "insufficient" step -
The measures endorsed in these two texts aim to put the PAF channels on an equal footing with these giants of subscription video, by relaxing the regulatory constraints that weighed on traditional television players but which do not exist. did not apply to industry heavyweights like Netflix or Amazon.
They also aim to support French audiovisual creation by helping French channels to develop their advertising revenues, which should indirectly benefit the entire industry.
A report by Oliver Wyman firm estimated that the segmented TV market could reach between 120 and 220 million euros in 2023.
These decrees, eagerly awaited by television channels and their advertising agencies, especially since their publication took months of delay due in particular to the health crisis, are part of the vast reform of the audiovisual sector presented in the last year by the former Minister of Culture Franck Riester.
Among the groups that demanded these measures, TF1 told AFP of its "satisfaction to see this first step, much awaited, come true".
"But it remains insufficient, in particular after the Covid crisis, to allow television to regain leeway and to have the same rules for everyone, in particular the Gafan" (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Netflix) , argues the private audiovisual group.
The relaxations approved this Thursday are indeed accompanied by limitations: in segmented advertisements, advertisers will not be able to mention the address of their points of sale. It is a safeguard so as not to deprive local newspapers and media of advertising revenue.
Likewise, certain sectors are still deprived of TV spots, such as commercial promotions or books outside cable channels.
Finally, to implement segmented advertising, broadcasters must first negotiate technical and financial agreements with telecom operators, whose boxes are their key.
If France Télévisions has already signed with Orange and Bouygues Telecom, TF1 and M6 are struggling to conclude, according to the daily Les Echos. A new bone of contention, after the arm wrestling around the remuneration of the chains which rocked the PAF these last two years?
© 2020 AFP