French government may revive ads on France Télévisions

The new French government has raised the possibility of reviving advertising after 20:00 on public broadcaster France Télévisions’ channels to finance the service.

France’s budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac raised the issue in interviews on RMC and BFMTV on the condition that the European Court of Justice, as expected, rules against the tax on telecom operators levied by France’s last government to make up the shortfall in the public broadcaster’s finances after the ending of advertising in primetime on its channels.

The European Commission has already ruled against the tax, a ruling that was ignored by the French government, leading to the case going before the court.

A revival of advertising on the public channels would meet with strong opposition from the country’s commercial broadcasters, already facing additional competition from new digital-terrestrial channels later this year.