Following the takeover of BFM TV and RMC by the maritime group CMA CGM, its shareholder Rodolphe Sadé was interviewed by Arcom, the regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communications. The opportunity for him to explain his strategic vision and reassure about the editorial independence of his media.
Accompanied by Nicolas de Tavernost, the former boss of the M6 group who became his media advisor, Rodolphe Saadé presented himself on Thursday to Arcom, the audiovisual regulatory authority. It was understood as part of the approval procedure which must be respected in the event of a change of control of a media group benefiting from public frequencies.
In this case, this concerns the takeover from Altice, for more than 1.5 billion euros, of RMC radio, the BFMTV, RMC Découverte and RMC Story channels as well as ten local channels of BFM and the RMC BFM Play platform. Note also that two RMC Sport pay channels are not included in the agreement in order, for SFR, to maintain an attractive offer for its subscribers – CMA CGM must nevertheless ensure the editorial production of the channels.
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BFMTV losing momentum compared to CNews
A situation that has changed somewhat since the signing of the memorandum of understanding on March 15. Since this week, the group’s main asset, BFMTV, is no longer the leading news channel in France. It was overtaken in May by CNews, now with a 2.8% audience share and still held by the very conservative Bolloré. It must be said that CNews is not only the channel of the right and the extreme right, it is also more followed by retirees who have more time to spend in front of the TV. It therefore has a longer listening time. Rodophe Saadé is not satisfied with this: he made it clear that BFMTV had to become leader again and that it was moreover “ open to international development »: he is very interested, as we know, in the Mediterranean region.
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Commitments to be followed over the long term
We felt that Rodolphe Saadé had been well advised on the editorial question, not hesitating to get involved. “ I will not intervene in the editorial lines », he said, recognizing the principle of independence of editorial staff and endorsing ethics committees and ethical charters. He also specified that a charter of independence was being negotiated at the Provence, the newspaper which he has owned for two years and which saw its editorial director being dismissed and then finally reinstated following an intervention by Saadé contesting a front page on Macron in Marseille. Today, the shipowner says he is concerned about pluralism and quality information. Which does not prevent him from putting forward his ideas, as we saw in The world where he called Europe “ more innovation and less regulation », particularly in artificial intelligence where he invested – with Xavier Niel and Eric Schmidt – in a laboratory.
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