The dedicated Belgian music channel MCM Belgique will close down on December 31. The international public channel RTBF Sat will meanwhile cease transmissions in mid- February.
Lagardère has decided to close down MCM Belgique because of the slowdown in the TV advertising market, as well as the difficulty of reaching a young audience on Belgian cable networks. Digital cable is only very slowly progressing in the French speaking part of the country. The channel was launched about 15 years ago and ad sales were handled by RMB.
The closure of RTBF Sat is due to severe budget cuts at the French language public broadcaster. The only RTBF channels on satellite (Eutelsat Hot Bird) that will remain are RTBF La Une and RTBF La Deux as part of the encrypted TeleSat DTH bouquet.
