French Public Television and Radio Workers Strike License Fee Abolition Plans and Merger Fears

Employees of France State Broadcasting Corporation France Télévisions, Radio France and France Media Monde went on strike today to protest a state-sponsored television license fee that traditionally finances their services.

The cable news channel France Info, which is open 24 hours in the morning, was rebroadcasting the news with Kral, saying that the channel was slowing down, while its radio equivalent was playing music instead of a constant stream of news. Top Free General Channel France 2 rebroadcasts parts of the morning show Télématin.

Later, thousands of radio and television workers will attend a demonstration in front of the National Assembly building in central Paris.

The television license fee, currently 138 euros ($146) per family per year, helps finance public service broadcasters and radio stations, but the government wants to replace it with a budget that will cover several years.

President Emmanuel Macron announced the incident during his election campaign in March, raising concerns in the country’s audiovisual sector.

Officials say removing the tariff will not cut back on funds, but unions (CGT, CFDT, FO, SNJ, SUD, Unsa, CGC and CFTC) say the measure will leave 3.7 billion euros ($3.9 billion). . ). ) funding hole.

The government plans to adopt this measure as part of a bill aimed at tackling the livelihood crisis, which will be voted on in Parliament on 6 July. If the invoice is not fulfilled, the license fee will remain in effect for now.

In addition to fears about the future of television licensing, the state broadcaster’s staff are also worried about France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde, and INA, which plans to merge into a single publicly traded company, France Médias, from 2025.

If the license fee is phased out on July 6, unions fear plans to accelerate the merger.

“Public sector broadcasting not only employs tens of thousands of people in the audiovisual sector in France, it also employs the vast majority of films and programs shot by independent producers,” said William Munier, general secretary of the French Association SNRT. -CGT Audiovisual. Head of UNI Media, Entertainment and Arts Europe Sector.

“But it’s not just about business or finances, it’s about preserving the independence of the French media, the diversity of our programs and our cultural diversity. “Public service broadcasting serves all segments of society and we are fighting for it.”

UNI Media, which represents 500,000 workers in the media, entertainment and arts industries worldwide, He says what happened in France is part of a broader trend of governments across Europe trying to shut down or cancel public service broadcasts.

The authority pointed to recent attempts by the Flemish government to reduce funding for the Flemish state broadcaster VRT; It will freeze licensing rights in the UK, privatize Channel 4, and impose editorial jails in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia.

“There is pressure in some countries to reduce public broadcasting, which is perceived as a thorn in government policy. “We therefore see the dangers of funds being used to discipline or restrict the role of public broadcasters,” said Johannes Studentinger, UNI Media, Entertainment and Arts director.

“Violation of public broadcasting narrows the civic space for everyone,” he continued. “License fees give public broadcasters the freedom to fulfill their mission, support communities and cultural diversity, and provide quality, reliable and unbiased reporting, which is especially important in an era of rising nationalism and falsehood.”

Uni Media is the media and entertainment group of Uni Global Union, representing more than 20 million workers in various industries worldwide.