French communications regulator Arcom has put back a decision on the reallocation of the four Canal Plus Group pay-TV channels on digital terrestrial television.
Canal left the TNT platform last June after Arcom rejected a new licence for Canal+ news channel C8 as part of a reallocation of frequencies.
Arcom says that following a public consultation and impact study it became clear that the economic conditions to launch a call for candidates was not favourable.
At a meeting on Wednesday, Arcom chose to postpone any reallocation for a period of two years.
“The analysis carried out by the Autorité and most of the contributions from players in the sector show that, against a backdrop of eroding television consumption and a sluggish advertising market, the sector’s capacity to absorb the arrival of viable new services, without prejudice to existing services and their ability to finance content, is limited,” the regulator said in a statement.
Arcom is launching a project to examine the economic model for DTT broadcasting, with a view to the long term, and possible ways of modernising it.
This work will examine the appropriateness of the regulation framework for television media, against “profound change” in the audiovisual industry and shrinking use of DTT.
