For the second consecutive evening, Thomas Sotto’s diary on France 2 is ahead of that of TF1 with Anne-Claire Coudray.
Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak has asked the Canal+ group to restore the broadcasting of TF1 channels on its TNT Sat offer, which allows DTT channels to be received in areas where terrestrial coverage is poor.
“I appeal to your sense of responsibility and the general interest to avoid depriving hundreds of thousands of households of the reception of all DTT channels”, urges Rima Abdul Malak in a letter sent Friday to the president of the executive board of Canal + Maxime Saada, whom AFP was able to consult, confirming information from the Parisian.
This ministerial request is made after Canal+’s decision to stop broadcasting the free channels of the TF1 group (TF1, TMC, TFX, TF1 Séries Films and LCI) when renewing the distribution contract between the two parties, due in particular to the requirement of a payment “of a very substantial remuneration”, announced Friday the group owned by Vivendi.
In an interview with the Journal du Dimanche (JDD), Maxime Saada reaffirms for his part that “the free DTT channels – such as those of the TF1 group – are free for the entire public and must remain so”. “Canal+ broadcasts more than 150 channels in France, including all the other DTT channels without exception. We do not encounter these difficulties with other DTT players, including the M6 group”, he says. “The TF1 group has a feeling of omnipotence because of its dominant position, even before a possible merger” with M6, he adds.