Radio Channel Slides To The Right, Regulator Blunts Show Host
Michael Hedges September 13, 2021 - Follow on Twitter
Media proprietors exert undeniable control over their broadcasting and publishing assets. It is the benefit - and sometimes peril - of ownership. Outside of some public broadcasting structures, listeners, viewers and readers either accept what is distributed or, well, not. Most often, though not entirely, private sector media owners seek to monitize the most attractive product offer. There are certain variations.
 Groupe Lagardère chief executive Arnaud Lagardère recently expounded on newly found advantages for the company’s national radio channel Europe 1 in a relationship with TV channel CNews. “We were the only major radio station that was not close to a news channel and they wanted to convince me we should have stayed like this, isolated,” he said to ournal du DimancheJ, quoted by AFP (September 5). “For Europe 1 also, it has been a blessing to have Vincent Bolloré.” Lagardère Group subsidiary Lagardère News, formerly Lagardère Active, publishes Journal du Dimanche (JDD) and magazine Paris Match and operates national radio channels Europe 1, Virgin Radio and RMC.
M Balloré principally controls French conglomerate Vivendi, which owns television company Canal+, which operates TV channel CNews. Earlier this year he took control of the Groupe Lagardère board of directors through a share capital acquisition, assisted by billionaire Bernard Arnault, principal owner of luxury goods company LVMH, and commenced a corporate restructuring. It is not quite an acquisition by Vivendi but M Largardère kept a job but lost control.
There was never a question of eventual “synergies” between Europe 1 and CNews. M Balloré indicated such earlier in the negotiations. "The idea is to keep the integrity of this group,” said M Lagardère, quoted by AFP (June 30). “I don't see why, to please some detractors, we should continue to isolate ourselves. We need to make partnerships on information, on sport, on music, on cinema, and who better than the Canal+ Group to offer us this kind of partnership.” Horrified at the prospect of integration with right-wing “opinion” TV channel CNews, Europe 1 unions and editorial staff went on strike for five days.
Europe 1 is a statutory national general interest radio channel, founded in the 1950s by M Lagardère’s father. It’s national audience had been in free-fall for several years, due to a combination of branding errors, on-air staff changes and competitive pressures. The channel held a respectable third place in the national Médiamétrie audience estimates against public channel France Inter, RTL (RTL Group) and (later) RMC (NextRadioTV) until 2017. In the most recent radio audience estimates (April-June 2021) Europe 1 ranked 9th overall. M Lagardère noted that Europe 1 had “lost around €20 million each year for 2 to 3 years,” largely faulting effects of the coronavirus pandemic. “Independence is supported by the ability not to lose money, if not to gain it.”
CNews arrived in 1999 as a digital all-news free-to-air TV channel. originally as I-Télé. Its precipitous editorial shift to right-wing “opinion” has engaged a certain audience in France, now leading other digital all-news channels LCI (Groupe TF1) and BFMTV (NextRadioTV), but not even close to TF1 or public channel France 2. Face à l’info, the daily talk show hosted by Eric Zemmour, reached an estimated audience share of 5% in May 2021. It had been widely reported that M Zemmour, a loud and huffy xenophobe, show would soon be simulcast on Europe 1.
Alas, that plan has gone awry. French media regulator Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA) told media outlets to “account” for M Zemmour’s presentations in all broadcasts "relating to the national political debate,” said its statement (September 8). “The rules of pluralism guarantee the smooth running of democratic life. The CSA's mission is to ensure their fair application, while respecting the editorial freedom of the audiovisual media, which are solely responsible for their programming.”
Canal+ was fined by the CSA €200,000 last March for failure to strike on-air remarks on CNews by M Zemmour about child migrants France being “rapists,” “murders” and “thieves.” Canal+ has appealed. In France, CNews is compared to US right-wing channel Fox News, principally owned by the Murdoch family, and M Zemmour to former US president Donald Trump.
M Zemmour is widely expected “soon” announce as a candidate for the 2022 French presidency. He has suggested as much. Posters have already appeared on Paris streets. Once that happens, French law requires all other candidates access to respond. It is not exactly “equal time” but close enough to give every broadcaster a major headache. The CSA ruling implicitly considers M Zemmour a political candidate.
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