Paris (AFP)

The numbering of the TNT channels will not change for the time being, indicates Monday the Superior council of audio-visual (CSA) which, after having consulted the professionals on the subject, will study the uses of the televiewers.

The challenge ?

The future of TNT numbers 14 and 19, so far assigned to France 4 in mainland France, which is scheduled to close in summer 2021, and to the Outremers France Ô channel, which ceased broadcasting at the end of August 2020 (its channel is currently used by the pop-up culture channel Culturebox).

The question of their possible reallocation has been agitating the French audiovisual landscape for two years, especially as some channels, less well located on DTT, covet these channels.

The CSA had therefore launched at the beginning of December a public consultation to survey the interested actors, proposing to them to express themselves on different scenarios and to bring their proposals and comments.

At the end of this consultation, the CSA "draws the lesson that there is no need to proceed immediately to renumbering operations" and will "continue its work in particular by carrying out a study on the uses. and the behavior of viewers, "he said in a statement.

Completed on February 1, the consultation "collected 29 contributions" from nine audiovisual groups present on TNT, six other players in the audiovisual sector and "fourteen individuals", details the CSA in a document published on its site.

The council eventually turned to the scenario that received the most votes, namely the status quo.

The other scenarios - reassignment of numbers by successive draws, reassignment to the last arrived channels, downward numbering shift and grouping of channels by thematic block - received only a minority of positive opinions.

The news channels were particularly divided on this question, between on the one hand BFMTV and CNews, favored by the current numbering (they occupy the numbers 15 and 16), and LCI and Franceinfo, located at the very end of the list (channels 26 and 27) and who could have benefited from a thematic grouping.

© 2021 AFP