Allow me to thank you for your invitation; I rejoice
to speak today at the opening of this NPA/ Le Figaro Colloquium, which
regularly brings together the main players in the new media and
French audiovisual landscape. The timing is all the better,
As the programme of this day itself suggests, the
French audiovisual landscape is abundant, even “bubbling”, for
use the term used in the conference program. It calls for
the share of public authorities – in the first place my Ministry –
clear directions. In my view, this is the case for decisions that the
Government took last October, which chart a precise course
on the future of the French audiovisual landscape, and on which I
will return.
If I subscribe to the term “bubbling”, I am more
reserved on the use of the term “Year Zero” to the extent that it
might suggest that we are building on sand, or
ruins… On the contrary, it seems to me that never so much has been done, in
by the Ministry of Culture and Communication, to
support cultural industries as a whole in the
transition to this “all-digital universe” that materializes day after day
of the day, and that holds as many formidable opportunities as challenges for
our French model of cultural policy.
I will not give you an exhaustive account of my action and of
its meaning. I would like to come back to only a few main points
which drive it, and which I think should count for years to
come.
My first point concerns the future of the audiovisual industry, which will
went through a period of a few years extremely rich in large
reforms. I will start by talking about digital television
terrestrial.
In a few days, France will have taken up the challenge of the transition to
all digital television, with the definitive extinction of broadcasting
on November 30, 2011. Louis de Broissia will discuss
in detail this success, but I would like to tell you what
and in passing pay him the tribute he deserves for
the excellent work done by France Télé Numérique.
The transition to digital has made it possible to increase the offer made to the French,
from 6 to 29 national television channels, of which 19 are free, with
better sound and image quality, introducing high definition on
over-the-air television, and access to innovative and
interactive, such as catch-up television or video on demand.
This passage also allowed the launch of about forty
local channels, an opportunity for our country to catch up
area. At the end of 2011, more than 97% of the French population will
covered by the DTT, exceeding the minimum coverage of 95% set by
the legislative framework.
The success with which this challenge has been met rests on
the support provided by the State and the work carried out by France
Digital TV. In the end, more than €160 million was devoted to it. In
all together, no substantial difficulties were encountered and
all digital television switching operations have given
many reasons for satisfaction. It is a real revolution,
comparable to the passage of black and white to color, which happened in
softness, and that has played on springs of national solidarity and
powerful intergenerational.
But clearly, the necessary evolution of the audiovisual landscape
facing technological challenges does not stop there.
In early October, important decisions to prepare for the future were
taken, on my proposal, by the Government: the repeal of the device
compensation channels, the launch of a call for applications for
new chains, and the longer-term preparation of a
change in television broadcast standards.
We have therefore decided to maintain the current standard for broadcasting the
TNT, the DVB-T, for the launch of the new multiplex "R7" and
"R8", which will carry six new frequencies, broadcast on
definition, which will be selected by the CSA in March. Thus,
everyone will be able to receive new channels as soon as they are launched,
in about a year, no new costs or hassles.
I also insisted that the principle of a change in the standards of
compression and broadcasting be stopped for years to come: that we
better manage the frequency resource, which is an asset
rare and precious public, but also to bring to our fellow citizens
innovative services. The generalization of the MPEG-
4 by 2015 is in particular an essential condition for
development and generalization of the dissemination of high definition,
which the Government as a whole calls for.
Regarding the move to a new broadcast standard, the only
question is the timing. Given the investments that
these developments may represent for viewers and
operators concerned, we have chosen to leave to the fleet of televisions
time to renew itself naturally. We are working on a plan
for a new DTT. This progress will be made by
in the hand with all operators and viewers.
In the short term, new channels will soon be launched,
that the French will be able to receive with their current equipment. I
however to recall a point that some commentators have
in their analyses, and that the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel
will not fail to take into account at the time of making his choices: 6
new frequencies not mechanically equivalent to 6 new
chains.
First, under the terms of the act, the APF should provide
priority to the existing chain request to move to a
broadcast in High Definition. It is therefore up to publishers to judge whether they
must file applications in this direction. Second, it is
always possible for the Government to request a
priority frequency reservation for the broadcast of a
public service that would like to switch to HD. On this point, none
decision has yet to be made, but I wanted to point out that
possibility.
With the decisions taken in October, it is a question of giving a
clear direction for the future of digital terrestrial television:
free television for all French people. These values have made
successful transition to digital terrestrial television, which we can
all be proud.
The clarification which has been made is all the more important as the
audiovisual landscape is undergoing profound upheavals, marked by
a logic of concentration and strengthening of existing groups,
in the perspective of a possible revolution in French customs,
with the expected rise of connected TVs. It was therefore important to send
actors a clear message about the rules of the game, so that they can
build their strategy and develop their offer to our fellow citizens. It
we also found it necessary to provide some security
in the reconfiguration of the audiovisual landscape: it is to this
The decision to abolish the channel system was taken in the light of
compensatory measures, even if we still diverge on the substance with
the interpretation of the European Commission, for which the directives
of the Telecom Package should govern the allocation of frequencies
audiovisual. It is also up to us to give the impetus
modernization, by fostering the emergence of new
programs, new forms of television, including a range of
complement that is missing today in the DTT landscape.
In choosing to launch an open call for applications, the principle of
protection of pluralism and diversity of content remains cardinal. It
is not a question of coming back to the framework and
limitation of concentration in the audiovisual landscape. Our reflection
is now more about ways to bring some
stability, without hindering the development of new offerings.
Audiovisual frequencies are goods belonging to the
public domain, whose scarcity makes them valuable. Licensees
of these frequencies must be aware of it.
The upheavals in the audiovisual landscape make
all the more central the missions assumed by the public service
in a landscape that is crumbling, where the prevailing logic
is no longer the scarcity of program provision, but on the contrary
that of hyper-choice.
On this point, the Contracts of Objectives and Means of France Télévisions
and Arte France sign the strong commitment of the State to support
strategies of these two organizations: strategies that focus on creation
and development on the internet to strengthen their role as
This is a reference guide, innovative for all our fellow citizens.
In the context of ongoing parliamentary debates, which include
on the resources allocated to public broadcasting, it seems to me necessary
to insist on these points: the example expected from the audiovisual industry
and the ambitions we must nurture for him.
The ambitions set for France Télévisions in the draft contract
objectives and means for 2011-2015 are high: federate all the
public, benefiting from the complementarity of the
«bouquet» France Télévisions, and investing massively in creation
original, the only one able to exist and gather in a universe where
program offerings have increased. The COM project therefore plans to
public resource growth of 2.2% per year on average. By
elsewhere, France Télévisions will invest, each year, at least 420
million euro in audiovisual works
heritage (fiction, documentary, animation, live performance) and 60
million euros in cinema. Overall, priority is given to
program spending, which will grow by 2.8% per year, or more
quickly as resources.
These objectives are sustainable and cannot be questioned on the grounds that
hearings of a few programs, on which all
commentators pay their attention, without even noting the successes
of the group, particularly in terms of
information, fiction or sports.
These commitments reflect a deep conviction that I
wants to share with you: the power of audiovisual media
remains strong. It retains an important power of prescription, to
the time when usages increasingly include content
that they say delineated.
I come to the second major point in my speech: how
support our cultural industries, and in particular
content industries, in the digital revolution, the
ocean» of the internet, whose translation for audiovisual is called
the connected TV.
The facts are there. As programs become available
from tablets or smartphones, see an image, follow a
audiovisual programme no longer passes through the TV only.
I know that this change in usage is causing fears, fears and
apprehensions, particularly because of its possible impact on the
traditional television. Some Cassandre fear an evolution
advertising revenues, which contribute to the economy of the
audiovisual sector and which contribute to the financing of
audiovisual and film. The first reviews show
yet the dreaded phenomenon of "cannibalisation" of
hearings and revenue does not take place. On the contrary, supports
digital and traditional media reinforce and complement each other. According to
an annual survey of Mediametry, television consumption has
reached a record level in 2010: 3h32 per person per day.
Two phenomena symbolize this complementarity in what it is
agreed to call the “screen company”. First, the
parallel consumption, particularly high among young people
generations who browse smartphones or tablets while watching the
television, sometimes around the same program. Then, the television
connected, which combines the audiovisual and internet worlds on a
same screen.
The multiplication of screens and the evolution of practices therefore represent
an opportunity. Opportunity for the French, who can access
a greater diversity of content, which circulates more.
Growth opportunities for the audiovisual sector, from creators to
producers, but also for publishers, whose
The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection, Public Health and Consumer Protection, Consumer Protection and Consumer Protection, Consumer Protection, Consumer Protection and Consumer Protection.
This opportunity for the creation and funding of quality content is
however conditioned. I will not be a victim of angelism or
of the technological illusion. The advent of the
connected TV could feed some fantasies, but force is to
recognize that some fears are true.
I am thinking in particular of the protection of the rights of creators in the
connected television can be an accelerator of the
piracy and illegal viewing of content. You know my
commitment and that of the whole Government in this fight.
Have no doubt that the same values, respect and
of the value of creation, animate us in the reflection on television
connected. At a time when a part of the value will be precisely offset
to research and prescribing instruments, allowing
access any type of content, it will come back to the engines of
responsibility for access to the
contents - liability incurred as a result of their membership in
an ecosystem that puts creation at its core.
Another concern I think is valid, even if there are answers:
it concerns international competition, and in particular
the environment in which players such as Apple, Amazon,
Netflix or Google. That competition exists, of course, and will
increasing. But I am convinced that we have the means to
propose adequate responses. The mission we have launched,
together with Eric Besson, on connected television will
recommendations in the coming days. Without
anticipate the content of this expected report, I know that our operators
can adapt and meet the challenge of connected television.
The first of the answers, I think, is to focus on
programs and on original creation. This is the whole issue of the
cultural diversity in a world of global image, interchangeable,
standardised. This is the heart of my action in Europe, in order to
show how the diversity of the image is inseparable from policies
strong and proactive in favour of creation. The prevailing impression
often in a landscape where the supply proliferates is that of a choice that can
become a non-choix, for lack of markers and identifiers. This situation of
profusion must lead audiovisual actors to favour production
ambitious works, "strong brands", likely to be declined
on multiple media so as to constitute a "universe" and not a
programs. Public channels, which contribute massively
the financing and visibility of creation, have perfectly captured the
the need to evolve their offering. It is about meeting expectations
and the uses of new audiences, both in terms of content and
methods of dissemination. Our goal is to give them the means to
ambitions, as I mentioned earlier.
These "strong brands", because they commit substantial budgets,
ask directly the question of the financing of creation. To
the image of the entire sector is indeed our funding model,
based in particular on production contribution obligations,
investments by public chains, and support mechanisms
managed by the CNC, which must be adapted.
In view of the central role played by television channels in the
audiovisual production, the adaptation of our support systems to the
creation is one of the areas that must be addressed now. We
The Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural
to strengthen chain investment and revive the virtues of a
mechanism that ultimately benefits them from their initial investment in
creation. It is one of the conditions of sustainability and survival for our
cultural model in the image world of the 21st century.
For their part, the support mechanisms of the CNC are constantly evolving
to take into account the transformations of the creative sector.
The automatic support of the CNC has been opened to production for internet
with the publication of the decree on "Webcosip". This enlargement comes
complement existing CNC support systems, including the
selective support that has been in place since 2007 for
new media, as well as the decree on Media Services
on-demand audiovisual services. We must continue along this path, in order to
further develop support for web productions.
NCC Support Account funding has also been adjusted
so that new operators benefiting from image diffusion
contribute to creation. As you know, this is still the case in this
time: I ensure that the taxes financing the support account are
adjusted by not slowing down the economy of an emerging sector and
accompanying its development. Faced with this new landscape, we
have an imperative: adaptation; we have a requirement: the
pragmatism.
In this regard, I would like to send a message to
Internet, which may have worried about the recent reform of the tax on
television services of the CNC.
As I have already said, this reform is intended to restore equity
between operators, and to put an end to
circumvention that some had developed. But this reform does not
will not mean for them an increase in the tax burden. I have
fully aware that these actors are now contributors
important to the creation, and that in the development of television
connected, they are “national champions” on which we
must count. They also play a positive role in the
development of the legal offer of online music. My will is therefore
to associate them with the virtuous circle that today allows the
French film creation to develop and shine
internationally - in ways we need to think about
ensemble.
I have no doubt that on all of these issues, this symposium will
to enrich and mature reflection. New media are at the heart of
a profound change in the functioning of our modes of sociability,
of our cultural practices, but also of the very idea that we can
exercise democracy. Public actors, intellectuals,
the thinkers of the image cannot today make the economy of a
in-depth reflection on the modes of regulation of the universe
audiovisual in the digital age but also on image education
today. In a world that has erected the image – including the image of
self - as a fetish, it is a question of restoring meaning to the notion of creation
to restore coherence in the face of a world that
sometimes resembles chaos, or more precisely in the face of chaos born of
the multiplication of simulacres. In the age of infinite reproducibility of
public policies must be able to offer guarantees and
protection, but also foster and encourage innovation. This
ambition I make mine. This ambition is that of the Ministry of
Culture and Communication, in all its components
missions.
Thank you.
Discours
Address by Frédéric Mitterrand, Minister of Culture and Communication, on the occasion of the opening of the colloquium "Univers tout numérique – Année zéro" (NPA / Le Figaro)
Ladies and gentlemen Presidents, Directors, Ladies and gentlemen,
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