1. The elections and the monitoring
   of political pluralism
2. Terrestrial digital television
3. The new youth protection signaling system
4. Limiting access to pornographic programs

The elections and the monitoring
of political pluralism

2002 was a major electoral year in France with successively the presidential election and the general election. In the context of such elections, and in the context of the election to the assemblée territoriale of Wallis-and-Futuna in March, the CSA carried out the missions entrusted to by the Law of 30 September 1986 in such respect, namely the monitoring of the respect of the principle of pluralism and the organization of the official electoral campaign to be aired on public radio stations and television channels.

As regards the election of the President of the French Republic, the Conseil had adopted on 23 October 2001 a recommendation for the attention of all television channels and radio stations setting forth the conditions for the respect of pluralism during campaign time. The recommendation was adopted several months before the voting took place and the Conseil gave a presentation to the various radio stations’ and television channels’ heads of information so that they would have full knowledge of them before determining their editorial policy. The recommendation entered into force on 1 January 2002 and dealt with both the pre-campaign period and the radio and television official campaign with different rules for each period. From the date of entry into force of the recommendation until the second round of the election, the Conseil monitored day after day the operators’ compliance with the principles set forth in the recommendation through the sheer “media observatory” it had set up.

The same measures were used to monitor and organize the campaign for the general election of 9 and 16 June 2002 with respect to which a recommendation was adopted on 3 April 2002 and forwarded to all radio stations and television channels effective as from 7 May 2002.

An official radio and television campaign was organized for the first time in Wallis-and-Futuna before the elections for the renewal of the assemblée territoriale which were held on 10 March 2002. A recommendation in such respect was adopted on 5 February 2002. The recommendation applied to RFO Wallis-and-Futuna, the territory’s only broadcaster and became effective on 25 February 2002. The Conseil sent one of its representatives on location to monitor compliance with the recommendation.

As customary, in the context of the defense of one of its core principles i. e, pluralism, the CSA also monitored throughout the year the general balance of speaking time granted to political figures during non-election periods or in the news not related to the poll during election periods.

Terrestrial digital television

On 23 October 2002, the CSA selected 23 channels to broadcast on the terrestrial digital television-to-be amongst the 66 candidates that had been declared admissible following the call for tenders launched on 24 July 2001. The announcement was preceded by seven months of review and study of the various candidates’ files and by public hearings of all candidates held from17 June to 1 July. The hearings which were broadcast live on La Chaîne parlementaire gave each candidate the opportunity to present its project and give the Conseil any additional information it requested. At the same time, throughout 2002, the Conseil continued its work on many other issues relating to the implementation of terrestrial digital television, such as hertzian digital frequency planning and the reorganization of the current analogue spectrum allocation.

Over the 23 selected services, 8 will be free channels and 15 will be pay channels, 2 of which –Cuisine TV and Comédie!– will share the same channel. The Conseil also issued a tentative plan for the breakdown of the various services on the 4 multiplexes that will be available to them. Finally, on 12 November, the Conseil issued a draft plan allocating frequency networks to each of the 6 multiplexes considered for terrestrial digital television.

Particular attention was paid during the selection process to the economical balance between free and pay television. As regards free television, the Conseil conducted several economic studies the findings of which indicated that there is room for more services than are currently available, provided the number of new channels is limited to the opportunities provided by the advertising market. The Conseil thus selected 6 new free channels according to their advertising income needs which should approximately be 2 to 3% of advertising expenses on television five years after the start of terrestrial digital television and 10 to 12% 10 years after. Pay television on the other hand is characterized by a wealth of supply on cable and satellite. The Conseil, therefore, decided to select a series of key cable and satellite channels according to their chances of making it on the tough domestic hertzian television market.

Ample consideration was also paid to the soundness of the financing plan presented by the candidates. The input of new players on the hertzian television market will enhance competition between the current broadcasters on the medium. That is why the Conseil was careful to only select candidates who provided strong financial guarantees. The selection criteria involved stakeholders’ identification, rating of the shareholders’ liabilities and in particular the level of shareholders’ equity.

The Conseil also paid attention to the commitments made in terms of the creation of European and French-speaking cinematographic and audiovisual works. Where the commitments made were more than the required minimum under regulations, they will become full terms and conditions of the agreements to be entered into with the relevant broadcasters.

Finally, the Conseil only selected candidates who committed to gradually cover the zones to receive signals from the 110 broadcasting sites identified through the terrestrial digital television spectrum allocation process.

The negotiations relating to the agreements to set forth the obligations and commitments of terrestrial digital television broadcasters started at the end of 2002. Once the agreements are entered into, the Conseil will issue to each service the customary license to use the radio-electric medium which will specify to which frequencies such right applies.

The Conseil hopes to be able to issue the public channels’ licenses to use the medium at the same time.

All broadcasters of a single multiplex will be entitled to jointly suggest within two months a multiplex operator which shall receive the CSA’s authorization. Later on, the distributors in charge of marketing paying services will have to register with the CSA. In addition, the agreements entered into between broadcasters with respect to their systems’ interoperability shall be forwarded to the CSA.

As regards frequencies to be allocated to the broadcasting of terrestrial digital television from the 110 planned sites, the Conseil issued on 24 July 2001, a first list of 29 geographical zones. On 3 April 2002, it published a second list of frequencies identified for 30 new sites.

On 29 November, the frequency list relating to the afore-mentioned 59 sites was updated and a draft allocation plan of these frequencies to the networks was published. Work is currently under way for the allocation of the remaining 51 sites.

When the 110 sites are all in operation, terrestrial digital televisions signals will reach 80 to 85% of the French population.

The new youth protection signaling system

The purpose of the youth protection signaling system which has been in use on national unscrambled television channels at the CSA’s instigation since 1996 is not to completely ban from television screens any portrayal of violence or eroticism but to enhance vigilance of both the broadcasters through their categorization of each program and the selection of an appropriate broadcasting time according to whether children are watching television at that time, and of parents who are warned by the signs appearing on the screen.

Following two studies carried out in 2000 and in 2001 which particularly focused on parents, it appeared that most viewers were still unclear as to the meaning of the various color symbols and the accompanying written warnings. The Conseil, therefore, asked the channels in June 2002 to change them so that they be more easily understandable.

The Conseil asked that parents be given practical guidance in terms of age as is the case with other media such as cinema, video games and children literature.

The new system came into force on 18 November 2002. Prior to its adoption an ample public debate was organized and long negotiations took place with both hertzian channels and cable and satellite channels. The system now consists of black and white signs and the following wording:
– not advisable for those under 10 (–10)
– not advisable for those under 12 (–12) or rated 12 in movie theaters in the case of movies (–12)
– not advisable for those under 16 (–16) or rated 16 in movie theaters in the case of movies (–16)
– not advisable for those under 18 (–18) or rated 18 in movie theaters in the case of movies (–18)

Limiting access to pornographic programs

As early as January 2002, the Conseil met with cable and satellite bouquet operators and asked them to implement a specific double locking device so that watching pornographic programs classified in category V of the youth protection signaling system would result from a wilful action by adults. The CSA’s concern at the time was the feasibility of a stricter access control with respect to digital broadcasting and in particular for terrestrial digital television. The first meetings revealed that double locking would be difficult to implement for all households and in particular for those receiving Canal+ in analogue mode as is the case for more than half of Canal+ paying viewers. In addition, some of the decoders already on the market for digital broadcasting do not enable double locking.

In this context, a public debate was launched at the end of February 2002, when a first version of a report by the CIEM (Collectif interassociatif enfance et médias) entitled “L’environnement médiatique des jeunes de 0 à 18 ans : que transmettons-nous à nos enfants ?” (The media environment of youths from 0 to 18 years of age: what are we conveying to our children?) was forwarded to the Minister of Family which soon turned into a debate for the entire nation. The report was officially issued on 3 May and underlined for the authorities’ attention how watching pornographic programs c