France

[FR] CSA Renews M6 Agreement

IRIS 2001-8:1/17

Mathilde de Rocquigny

Légipresse

On 24 July, the CSA (Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel - the audiovisual regulatory authority) signed a new agreement with the company Métropole Télévision (M6). Appended to the decision to prolong the channel's authorisation to broadcast, this will govern the channel's obligations for the next five years. A considerable proportion of the content of the agreement results from the high-profile debate aroused by the broadcasting of Loft Story on M6. A number of points have been added to the agreement with the channel, whose ethical obligations have been reinforced, particularly as regards the rights of the individual. The CSA indeed demonstrated its concern to address the possible excesses of "reality television", based on its own recommendations which were made while the series was being broadcast (see IRIS 2001-5: 6 and IRIS 2001-6: 7). Thus Article 10 of the new agreement states: "The dignity of the human being constitutes one of the elements of public order. It may not be waived by specific agreements, even if the person concerned expresses consent". M6 must also ensure that participation in "reality television" broadcasts does not involve any renunciation on the part of participants of "their fundamental rights, in particular their right of personal portrayal, their right to privacy, and their right to claim compensation for prejudice suffered", and the CSA has expressed the desire that the channel should "undertake to refrain from placing excessive emphasis on the spirit of exclusion" in future games of this type.

Going beyond its obligations, the channel undertakes in this new agreement to invest 18% of its turnover in the production of audiovisual works and 1% of its turnover in the production of animated films. The CSA has nevertheless for the moment rejected the channel's requests concerning firstly the evolution of its musical format and secondly a relaxation of the provision limiting the average daily duration of advertising to six minutes. The CSA prefers to delay considering the evolution of M6's format until its unencrypted musical offering is sufficiently visible. The CSA also said that it wanted to carry out a study on the development of the media market before considering the possibility of relaxing the advertising regulations applicable to M6.