Question 34082 — audiovisual and communication

Summary

Mrs. Frédérique Dumas draws the attention of the Minister of Culture to possible irregularities and lack of governance concerning the signing of a contract letter between France Télévisions and the company Air production. In a context of crisis, both health, economic, social and cultural, the Government has confirmed the maintenance of the trajectory of drastic reduction of public audiovisual resources decided in 2018. In this context it is even more essential to ensure fair treatment rules as well as to preserve the diversity of programs and the plurality of actors. The MP was also led to specifically question the Minister of Culture during the discussion of the second part of the finance bill for 2021, as part of the examination of the credits for the “culture” mission, the “media, books and cultural industries", as well as the financial assistance account "advances to public broadcasting", concerning the contract signed between France Télévisions and the company Air Production. On May 24, 2017, Ms. Delphine Ernotte, president of France Télévisions, personally signed a “confidential” letter to the company Air Productions owned by the host producer Nagui, thus securing her services with the company France for three years. Televisions, in return for an envelope of 100 million euros. It appears that the clauses of this agreement could be questionable and distorted in relation to usage. In any event, regardless of the provisions and the structure of this contract, it is expressly provided that commitments concerning stock and flow programs of an amount greater than 10 million euros must be subject to notice. advisory to the commitments subcommittee of the France Télévisions group. The commitments subcommittee was established by the internal regulations of the board of directors of France Télévisions. It is precisely indicated in this multi-year 2017-2020 contract signed between the company of producer-host Nagui and the president of France Télévisions that “all these commitments must be validated by the investment committee of television programs. France Télévisions and by the board of directors of France Télévisions for daily broadcasts. However, it appears that these procedures may not have been respected. Thus, several questions arise in light of this contract signing. Is it not up to the higher audiovisual council in its missions to provide itself with the means to verify whether the procedures planned within the public service have actually been implemented? respected? Can the Minister of Culture assure, as minister responsible for public broadcasting and, as such, guarantor of its good governance, that there is concrete evidence of the validation of this so-called confidential agreement by the program investment committee and by the company's board of directors, in particular through, for example, an agenda and a minute? A simple statement Can leaders without a written record be enough for a commitment of such significant amounts? Furthermore, the contract concluded in 2017 expired in June 2020, before the renewal of the president of France Télévisions, Ms. Delphine Ernotte, in August 2020, and before the departure of the general director responsible for on-air and programs, Mr. Takis Candilis. D'autre. Questions therefore appear necessary. Madam Minister of Culture does she know what exactly the new contract is? Does she know if it was only extended for a few months as was the case with the contracts of many stream producers or if it was renewed for three years like the previous one? If yes under what conditions? Through what procedure? Have the relevant management bodies of the company been consulted? Have they validated the terms of this contract as expected? through internal procedures? Does the Minister of Culture know who was in charge of its negotiation? Did the CSA fulfill its role of supervision and control? Does effective and concrete proof of this control exist? Finally, notwithstanding compliance with call for tender procedures for markets, is it normal for France Télévisions to be authorized to contract with production companies or any other company in business relations with group entities which do not publish their accounts annually? Has an independent and transparent audit of the accounts of the company Air production been carried out by FTV over the past three years and while this contract has obviously been extended and the programs are still on the air? Why was no request in this sense made by the CSA even though in its report on France Télévisions published in January 2020 it notes a very strong increase in the volume of production with the company Banijay, of which the company Air production is a subsidiary? Beyond the questions about this contract, other questions also arise in terms of governance and transparency concerning the managers of France Télévisions. In September 2016, Mr. Takis Candilis left Lagardère studio and was appointed general manager of Banijay studio, fiction production company subsidiary of Banijay group. In February 2018, Mr. Takis Candilis was appointed deputy general director for broadcasting and programs at France Télévisions. At the end of August 2020 he left France Télévisions. Barely two months later, he joined the Banijay group again to serve as fiction advisor. During the duration of his mandate, the Banijay group will also have absorbed the company Endemol to to become one of the world's largest program production groups. She therefore asks him to please answer the following questions. How can we justify that the general director of content of a public group can, a few weeks after his departure from this group, return to important functions in a company with which he had direct business relations before and during his mandate? The sharp increase in business volume of the Banijay group having already been noted between 2015 and 2018 by the CSA in its latest balance sheet report, in what proportion did it occur over the 2018-2020 period? Is it up to the CSA to analyze it and draw conclusions? Are there not rules or, at a minimum, ethical principles which would prevent situations of interference between a public interest and private interests of a nature to influence or appear to influence the independent, impartial and objective exercise of a function? Why does the general director of content, when he is one of the highest executives of the France Télévisions group, not have to satisfy the obligation to subscribe to a declaration of assets and interests with the HATVP? Could he retain mandates in other companies and, in this regard, was he subject to the obligation to sign a declaration on conflicts of interest, as the management of France Télévisions imposed on all employees of the company in January 2020? She asks him to please respond to all of these points.

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