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The three pillars of pain - sports, money and politics – have ensnared Portugal’s public broadcaster RTP. An oversight body charged with monitoring RTP strategy and practice proposed removing chairman and CEO Alberto da Ponte and two other directors from the board, which Portugal’s government accepted. The RTP directors, faulted for obtaining football rights on their own initiative, claim no wrongdoing, refuse to resign and asked the media regulator to intervene.
The RTP Independent General Council (Conselho Geral Independente – CGI) convened this week after it was revealed that a three-year contract had been signed for Champions League football rights significantly above the bid of privately owned TV channel TVI and a €18 million deposit paid. The CGI said Sr da Ponte should be removed for not informing them in advance. He said the GCI – and the government - is interfering with “editorial autonomy.” (See more about media in Portugal here)
“As (RTP) shareholder, the State’s position is in accordance with the CGI proposal,” said cabinet minister Miguel Poiares Maduro, quoted by Jornal de Negocios (December 3). The Portuguese government created the CGI in January to act as independent supervisor for RTP board of directors on strategic policies, members named in July by the Regulatory Authority for the Media (ERC), replacing direct government involvement.
The ERC took sides, saying, “it is not for the CGI to define the program schedule contents of the public broadcaster,” noted Correio de Manha (December 4). The only exception, it said in a statement, would be in the case of “inexplicable inconsistencies.”
Neither the GCI nor the government can dismiss, directly, RTP directors, a job left to the RTP General Assembly. That body’s chairman can call a meeting to be held within 30 days. Sr da Ponte has asked “urgently” for a meeting with the Parliament’s ethics committee to provide “explanations necessary or appropriate to understand matters that have come to the public,” reported publico.pt (December 4).
The owners of French daily Libération are moving into the radio business to expand a multimedia presence. Though principals are circumspect about the possibilities, Radio Nova could be joined with the newspaper, reported Les Echos (December 4). Libération obtained a Paris digital radio license in October to be operated as Libé Radio, currently offered as a webcast.
There have been “no specific discussions,” said Radio Nova general manager Bruno Delport. Radio Nova is a Paris dance music station, officially a national channel for about a year. The station is principally owned by Novapresse, essentially the heirs of founder Jean-François Bizot, which also owns Paris station TSF Jazz. The company also owns a record label. With the settlement of M.Bizot’s estate in October the company opened a search for money. (See more about media in France here)
Several well-known French media investors surfaced, from Patrick Drahi, principal in Numéricable SFR, to Le Monde investor Matthieu Pigasse. Radio Nova’s 2014 revenue was estimated at €12 million, said BFM (November 16). M.Drahi, with others, recently injected €18 into Libération, which lost €4 million last year. When a very digital plan was proposed early this year, Libération journalists reacted by publishing “We are a newspaper” in bold on the cover.
Sometime in spring Poland’s major privately-owned broadcaster TVN will have a new principal owner, said TVN CEO Markus Tellenbach to a press gaggle, quoted by wirtualnemedia.pl (December 3). ITI Group and Vivendi-owned Canal+ officially announced in October an exit from investment in TVN. Mr. Tellenbach confirmed Time Warner and Discovery Communications are bidders still standing.
ITI Group has looked long and hard for an exit from TVN. Vivendi has had options to acquire a greater shareholding but declined to move forward, prompting a protracted auction that has seen a dozen or so companies taking a look. Many observers have seen Mr. Tellenbach’s role at TVN since 2009 as exit broker. Before coming to TVN in 2009 he was CEO of SBS Broadcasting, exiting on its sale to ProSiebenSat1. Media Group. Discovery Communications acquired the SBS radio and TV stations from ProSiebenSat1 in 2013.
Meanwhile, ad sales house Atmedia just might have been sold to Gazprom Media, reported Puls Biznesu (December 3). Atmedia specializes in ad sales for thematic TV channels but after a convulsion this year in ad selling that sent business to TVN Media, saleshouse owned by aforementioned TVN, and Polsat Media. Company executives informed employees this week of impending downsizing, according to the report. (See more about media in Poland here)
Atmedia was part of Chellomedia, mostly shed by Liberty Global last year to US publicly-traded entertainment company AMC Networks. Liberty Global cable subsidiary UPC holds a minority stake in TVN but has withdrawn from bidding for a larger stake.
Gazprom Media is principally owned by Gazprombank, in turn principally owned by Russian state energy giant Gazprom. If realized the deal for Atmedia would be the first acquisition by Gazprom Media outside the Russian Federation. The company has explored possibilities, which have mostly stalled since US and EU sanctions.
The city of Grenoble, just beneath the French Alps, set off something of a sensation late in November ending the city billboard contract with outdoor ad giant JC Decaux. By spring 326 billboards will be removed, replaced by trees. The city becomes the first European city, allege several commentators, to boot out the billboards.
Grenoble mayor Eric Piolle, aligned with the Green Party, had made replacing billboards with trees a campaign promise. The city will forfeit €150,000. JC Decaux will keep its billboards and outdoor furniture at the Grenoble train station through 2019. City revenues from the city center billboard deal have dropped significantly as JC Decaux has converted fixed installation to new and improved digital signs.
Beautification plans or simply clean-up campaigns are often part of a city politician’s promise. And rare it is when a politician actually fulfills one. Since the decision, well reported in France, organized support has popped up for similar initiatives. More or less supporting the idea, Lille deputy mayor Julien Dubois said he was “proud” of Grenoble mayor Piolle, reported Le Monde (December 2).
The next French national elections, guaranteed to fill every advertising platform, will be in 2017. So many smiling faces, so little space…
All public broadcasting in Hungary could be merged into a single operating unit under a proposal from ruling Fidesz party MPs. The merger of public TV Magyar Televízió (MTV), public radio Magyar Rádió (MR), Duna TV and the MTI news agency, said MP Monika Dunai, quoted by InfoRadio (December 1), create an “easier, more transparent and cheaper” public media structure. The proposal received consent of the Culture Committee and has moved on to the whole Parliament.
Television viewers would benefit, explained co-sponsor Tuzson Bence, as other parts of the proposal include requiring free carriage on Hungarian cable networks. Cost savings from a “less bureaucratic” public broadcaster would facilitate new channels, he said. (See more about media in Hungary here)
“We often hear that merging these entities will be more effective,” observed independent MP Szabolcs Szabó. “We need to find a better argument. An attack on commercial television can be read in the text.” Commercial broadcaster RTL Klub and the Hungarian government are arguing about a new, very harsh tax on advertising revenues.
The Hungarian government and the European Commission have been at odds over the independence of public broadcasting institutions for several years. Opposition MP Agnes Kunhalmi referred to the proposal as “mindless centralization” that would lead to job losses.
To the disbelief of many, audiovisual and print world is a significant part of the broader culture and creative sector. Consultants from E&Y, also known as Ernst & Young, on behalf of several collective representation organizations, revealed that this broad grouping is the 3rd biggest employer in the European Union, 7.1 million folks, generating €536 billion or 4.2% of EU GDP. Only the construction and food service industries are bigger in terms of employment.
The culture and creative sector, meeting the generally accepted definitions of the EU, includes actors, authors and advertising people, dancers and DJs, musicians and make-up artists, singers and sign painters as well as photographers, video game designers and reality show producers. Whew!!! The forthcoming E&Y report – Creating Growth – does not include the public sector, which employs a large number of radio and TV people, often directed by politicians reasonably confused for jugglers and clowns.
“Many of these jobs are with very flexible and reactive small and medium enterprises, sometimes consisting of only one person,” observed music collective society SACEM chief executive Jean-Noël Tronc, reported Les Echos (December 1). “It is a job category economists say is best placed to resist globalization.”
London and Paris are the European centers for the culture and creative sector, noted E&Y.
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