France: Media regulator Arcom launches
January 5, 2022
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
Born out of a merger between TV regulatory body the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) and online anti-piracy authority Haute Autorité pour la diffusion des œuvres et la protection des droits sur internet (Hadopi), the new French media regulator Arcom came into being on January 1st.
The new watchdog is overseen by Roch-Olivier Maistre, former head of the CSA, and is vested with wider competences regarding content creation and obligations, copyright and royalties as well as illicit streaming, including in the sports sector. Arcom will also more handle the digital issues, fake news and combatting harmful content, as well as the regulation of SVoD platforms.
“Despite being just the addition of competences, Arcom will be the support and the engine of a new public policy engaged into modernising the regulation power. It’s going to embody the new era of media and audiovisual communication,” said a statement from the new body.
Among upcoming M&A issues it will rule on are the proposed TF1/M6 merger. It must give notice to the Competition Authority before March 31st.
Staffed by some 355 executives, the new body has a €46.6 million budget.
“Arcom will continue to back the evolution of the audiovisual and now digital landscapes, while keeping in perspective the plurality of offerings and the economical balance of the sector,” the statement added.