Vincent Bolloré and Cyril Hanouna will be heard by deputies in mid-March

Conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, owner in particular of the CNews and C8 channels, will be heard in mid-March at the National Assembly by the commission of inquiry into the allocation of TV frequencies, announced Thursday February 15, its president Quentin Bataillon ( Renaissance). Also in mid-March, Cyril Hanouna, star and controversial host of the C8 channel, will also be heard by the deputies.

Aurélien Saintoul (LFI), rapporteur of the commission of inquiry, had in January requested this hearing of “the person most recalled to the order of the PAF”, the French audiovisual landscape. On February 29, it was the boss of the Canal+ group, Maxime Saada, then the management of CNews, as well as its star presenters Pascal Praud and Laurence Ferrari who were summoned before parliamentarians.

The award procedure in question

The media regulator, Arcom, is due to launch calls for applications at the end of February for the renewal of authorizations for 15 digital terrestrial television (DTT) frequencies in 2025, including those of Canal+, C8 and CNews. The commission of inquiry launched in the Assembly in December concerns in particular this allocation procedure and “respect for the commitments made by these television services” until then. The subject of monitoring these commitments was put back on the table on Tuesday, with the request from the Council of State for more in-depth monitoring of televisions and radios by Arcom.

The decision of the highest administrative court follows an appeal from the NGO Reporters Without Borders, which considers that CNews “has become an opinion media”, which the latter disputes. Since Tuesday, a possible threat to “freedom of speech” and an “authoritarian temptation”.