And TNT was born

31/03/2005

To conclude a saga full of technical problems and conflictual relationships between the biggest French TV channels and the newcomers which try to enter the market, terrestrian digital TV (TNT in French) will finally reach the small screen in France, starting tonight. Tonight indeed, 14 new free access channels will start broadcasting, which is likely to change completely the spectators’ habits, and therefore the broadcasters’ strategies.

In the beginning, only a small amount of spectators will be able to go digital, for TNT so far only covers a third of the country and a €100 (average price) adaptor is necessary —unless spectators adapt their antennas, which can cost from €125 to €300. Besides, the 14 free access channels made available today in the Mpeg-2 format include all the existing terrestrian channels (though only TF1, France 2, France 3, and M6 —for Arte and France 5 wished to stay independant instead of sharing their time) and all the existing cable and satellite channels : the Parliament channel and the Senate’s Public debates (which will share a channel), TMC, and the music channel W9 (a new version of M6 Music). The only true novelties are Direct 8 which belongs to the Bolloré group, the musical channel NRJ 12, and the general channel NT1 which belongs to AB. Besides that, a new public channel named France 4 is created with a €18M budget.
Next September, TNT will shift gear, with 15 more channels, most of them coded or paying (Mpeg-4 format). What remains to be seen is how long it will take to convince the French public to get the necessary equipment for TNT—bearing in mind that analogical technology will disappear in 2010. In the transition period, all operators will be closely observing their rates to see if the current hierarchy is maintained or if on the contrary TNT is a revolution, especially in terms of where the advertisors put their money, which will have a crucial impact on the programmes themselves.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)