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| Europe |
| French CNN rival delayed by Brussels |
| 2004-04-09 |
| Mon dieu! French president Jacques Chirac’s plan to launch a CNN-rivalling French 24-hour international news channel this year has been postponed because its state funding may flout European Union rules. France flouting EU rules? Who’d a thunkit? European Commission Competition Commissioner (Competition Commisioner??!! Egad.) Mario Monti has asked the French government to provide further information about the proposed financing of the channel, called CFII (French International News Channel). "More specifically, M. Chirac, where’s my cut of le pie?" The French government plans to allocate a one-off sum of EUR 70 million in state aid to CFII, which is to be managed jointly by state-run France Televisions and the private French television station TF1. The EUR 70 million French government aid for the channel, expected to see it through its first five years, could be rejected by Brussels unless it is convinced that the channel is a public service. And Brussels will need quite a bit of The project was first announced last year by President Jacques Chirac who is keen to establish French influence in international television news reporting, until now dominated by the United States’ CNN and Britain’s BBC. The decision to set up CFII, which it is planned will broadcast in French, Arabic and English, was taken during the height of diplomatic tension over France’s opposition to the US-led war in Iraq. "This channel will encourage the expression of a French vision which is more necessary than ever in the world today," French Prime Minister Raffarin said last September when the project was announced before parliament. Ghislain Achard, Director General of France Televisions, told Le Monde that because it would take 12 months to prepare the launch of the channel, which can only begin after an official decree by the government, it is now only likely to begin broadcasting as of June 2005 at the earliest. However, unnamed sources "close to Comissioner Monti" said the project "would no doubt be approved" after further So that Kofi doesn’t feel quite so, you know, lonely. |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #1 "It is not expected to be offered to homes in France, where TF1 provides an all-news channel, LCI" Mon dieu! We cannot have actual competition between French news services! Then there might be inadvertent differences in message, which might cause discord, which might, somewhere, cause a prole to actually form an unauthorized thought. This cannot be! |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2004-04-09 7:45:44 PM |