In front of the deputies, Cyril Hanouna denounces a “relentlessness” against his broadcasts

“I’m disturbing,” assured the controversial host before the National Assembly’s commission of inquiry into the allocation of TNT frequencies.

Far from the exuberance he displays in “Touche pas à mon poste” (TPMP), the host was dressed in a black shirt and suit. Heard Thursday March 14 by the deputies, Cyril Hanouna presented himself as a champion of a television “popular” and denounced a “relentlessly” against its broadcasts, minimizing the controversies.

“I am disturbing”, assured Cyril Hanouna during his highly anticipated hearing by the National Assembly’s commission of inquiry into the allocation of TNT frequencies. A relentlessness that he attributes to “other groups” audiovisuals, attracted according to him by its viewers and the advertising revenue that goes with them.

“When we have a sanction, it’s a tragedy for us”

“I think that there is really a form of lobby which means that people want to take me out of the audiovisual landscape”added the presenter of TPMP on C8. “The facts for which we are here today represent 0.1% of the airplay” over a total of 5,000 hours, he continued, while conceding that “for some of them”they “shouldn’t have happened.”

“We have fines which, for me, are disproportionate.”

Cyril Hanouna, host

in front of the deputies

The host-producer is no stranger to slip-ups and his broadcasts have earned C8 a barrage of sanctions from Arcom, the media regulator, for a total of 7.5 million euros.

He claimed to pay part of it from his “personal funds” and those of his company H2O. “When we have a sanction, it’s a tragedy for us (…) We’re not crazy, I don’t come on the air to try to create a bad buzz”launched the one who swears he wants “helping people”.

“No one can say who I’m voting for.”

Cyril Hanouna, who assured that conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, owner of the C8 channel, “never got involved” of its broadcasts, also declared having “always wanted TPMP to be a popular show”. He launched it in 2010 on France 4, a public channel, then exploded in the media after its transfer in 2012 to Direct 8, now C8.

He and CNews, another channel in the fold of Vincent Bolloré, are accused by left-wing figures of promoting far-right opinions. “No one can say who I vote for (…). I am here to give everyone a voice”replied Cyril Hanouna, arguing that he indifferently invited Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), Jordan Bardella (RN) or Eric Zemmour (Reconquête!).

Furthermore, he assured that “very little fake news” came out of his show. However, she was singled out for a sequence on an alleged drug made from children’s blood, adrenochrome, or for having wrongly presented guests as BRAV-M police officers.