"I am not in favor of this merger," said Ms. Veil, according to whom "Radio France and France Télévisions do not have the same strategic challenges at all".

This hypothesis was put on the table on June 8 by a senatorial report which proposed to merge France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde (RFI and France 24) and Ina from 2025 into a single public company called France Médias .

"Our production models do not coincide: radio is a sober media which produces all its content internally, TV buys a large part of its programs from outside", argues Sibyle Veil.

"A new set of this size would be difficult to manage on the social level. The merger of the two entities would be an administrative response far removed from the real strategic issues", she judges.

Asked about her desire to apply for a second term, she replied: "It seems normal to me to want to know the project for public broadcasting before committing myself. I will position myself by the fall".

Ms Veil, 44, was appointed chair of the public radio group in April 2018, for a five-year term.

These last few weeks have also been agitated by the announcement of the abolition this year of the license fee, which finances public broadcasting.

This measure was desired before his re-election by President Emmanuel Macron, under purchasing power.

The executive wishes to replace this levy with a current budget over several years, and ensures that the end of the fee will not lead to a reduction in the means of public broadcasting.

“If the public debate leads to new savings, we could no longer do so without the elimination of public service offers and missions,” warns Ms. Veil.

Unions from France Télévisions and Radio France called for a strike and a demonstration in Paris on 28 June.

© 2022 AFP