Candidates pull bids for French HD DTT
March 5, 2012
Two of the 32 candidates bidding for six HD DTT channels in France have pulled out before broadcasting regulator CSA holds a series of meetings with bidders.
Le Figaro managing director Marc Feuillee said that cable, satellite and ADSL channel La Chaine Meteo’s project was too risky economically and uncertain with regard to advertising, and would take too long to break even. Les Echos also reports that Urb TV, a planned channel on urban cultures, has withdrawn its candidacy. Urb TV is backed by the advertising consultancy owned by Bastien Millot Bygmalion, Yassine Belatar and Luc Besson.
Meanwhile, NextRadio TV has referred France’s olympic and sports committee to administrative court to contest its support of L’Equipe HD, a rival of NextRadio’s planned channel RMC Sport HD. CSA is due to announce the six licence winners at the end of March.