TV frequencies: Cyril Hanouna, Pascal Praud and Vincent Bolloré will be auditioned at the National Assembly

Vincent Bolloré, who controls the CNews and C8 channels in particular, will be heard in mid-March at the National Assembly by the commission of inquiry into the allocation of TV frequencies, we learned Thursday from its president Quentin Bataillon (Renaissance). Also in mid-March, Cyril Hanouna, star and controversial host of the C8 channel, will also be heard by the deputies. Aurélien Saintoul (LFI), rapporteur of the commission of inquiry, had in January called for this hearing of “the person most called to order by the PAF”, the French audiovisual landscape.

On February 29, it was the boss of the Canal group, Maxime Saada, then the management of CNews, as well as its star presenters Pascal Praud and Laurence Ferrari who were summoned before parliamentarians. The media giant Vivendi, in the hands of the Bolloré family, owns the Canal group and its channels, including CNews and C8. Vincent Bolloré's words are rare. He was interviewed in January 2022 by senators worried about his growing influence in the media.

The media regulator, Arcom, is due to launch calls for applications at the end of February for the renewal of authorizations for 15 digital terrestrial television (DTT) frequencies in 2025, including those of the Canal group. The commission of inquiry launched in the Assembly in December concerns in particular this allocation procedure and “compliance with the commitments made by these television services” until then.

The subject of monitoring these commitments was put back on the table on Tuesday, with the request from the Council of State for more in-depth monitoring of TVs and radios by Arcom. The decision of the highest administrative court follows an appeal from the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which considers that CNews “has become an opinion media”, which the latter disputes. Since Tuesday, a possible threat to “freedom of expression” and an “authoritarian temptation” have been denounced on the channel.

MP Quentin Bataillon, member of the presidential majority, intends to “confront these various statements to the commission of inquiry”, he told AFP.

Those responsible for public broadcasting will be questioned by the commission of inquiry on March 7. In the second half of the same month, the final hearings will take place, with the president of Arcom Roch-Olivier Maistre and the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati. The CEO of TF1 Rodolphe Belmer was, in particular, already questioned at the beginning of February. The commission of inquiry is due to publish its report on May 8.