The conflict between the French government and the Bolloré group which went up a notch this week when the C8 channel was fined 3.5 million euros by Arcom.
This penalty of 3.5 million euros is the strongest ever imposed on a DTT channel. It shows that Cyril Hanouna, who is contractually linked to Vincent Bolloré, is a source of audience, but also of unpredictable costs for his parent company, Canal+. This time, Arcom sanctioned insults by the host against a deputy from La France Insoumise, Louis Boyard, after the remarks of this elected official on the role of the industrialist in the deforestation of Cameroon.
Admittedly, this is not the first time that the channel has been sanctioned for a slippage by its host: it has already had to pay 3 million euros after a homophobic hoax in 2017. But what justifies the fine today, it is not only an insufficient mastery of the antenna, but also, what is more serious, an attempt to obstruct the freedom of expression. The deputy, says Arcom, has ” was explicitly prevented from expressing a critical point of view on set with regard to a shareholder of the Canal+ group “.
A remark that does not pass
In the event of a repeat offence, the regulator can go so far as to suspend the authorization to broadcast on the TNT frequency, which is a public good. The Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, knows this. She reminded the World that Arcom had intervened about twenty times since 2019 against C8 and CNews and that this body ” will know how to look » how these channels met their obligations in 2025, when their authorizations were renewed. Immediately, Cyril Hanouna went to the front: “ Privatize it to me “, he launched, about public broadcasting. An exit judged inadmissible by the minister who remembers that only Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour asked for this privatization during the presidential campaign.
On France Inter, Rima Abdul Malak did not rule out a withdrawal of the frequencies of C8 or CNews, without however deciding. The tension then went up a notch since the Canal+ group said to itself ” deeply shocked » that she devotes five minutes of her interview to the criticism of the group and that she « suggests that its licenses should not be renewed.
If Bolloré and Macron, as we know, do not like each other, it has not always been the same between Hanouna and the government. The Secretary of State for the Social and Solidarity Economy Marlène Schiappa was still discussing in June to become a columnist at Hanouna. But Erik Orsenna today speaks of Bolloré as a ” ogre “. By controlling Hachette, the businessman has just strengthened his strong position in publishing. In short, it worries publishers and writers. And so the Minister of Culture.