CSA’s Key 2010 Figures

The CSA held 50 plenary meetings during which it issued, 19 opinions to the Government, 7 to the Autorité de la concurrence (competition authority), and 1 to the Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes (electronic communications and posts regulatory authority); 3 recommendations were also issued to editors in preparation for elections; and 30 public hearings were held.

Radio

With respect to analogue radio in mainland France (métropole), the Conseil granted licenses to use 300 frequencies; carried out 3 public consultations in preparation for the issuance of calls for tenders; processed 12 partial calls for tenders in relation to 358 frequencies; renewed or approved the renewal without calls for tenders of 210 licenses; in outre-mer (French overseas départements and territoires), it issued 11 licenses, renewed or approved the renewal without calls for tenders of 16 stations ; opened 1 public consultation prior to a call for tenders in Nouvelle-Calédonie; reaffirmed its commitment in favour of the launch of digital terrestrial radio, and authorised 2 long-term experimentations in Nantes and Rouen; it entered into 1 new legal agreement (convention), and received 30 registrations (déclarations) for radio services broadcasting otherwise than off-air.

Television

As part of its continued efforts to extend DTT broadcasting, the Conseil authorised broadcasting by 440 new transmitters; issued 1 call for tenders, and selected 1 new pay channel; with respect to on-demand audiovisual media services, it authorised off-air terrestrial broadcasting experimentations, and issued 1 call for tenders; DTT was launched in outre-mer France with 1 first multiplex with 8 to 10 channels, depending on the geographical area.

In mainland France, the Conseil issued 17 new licenses, thereby increasing the number of local television channels to 50; it launched 5 public consultations relating to the licensing of new local channels; in outre-mer, it granted a license to 3 local channels, and renewed the license of an additional 1; it entered into 8 new legal agreements (conventions) and received 9 registrations (déclarations) relating to services broadcast or distributed by networks not using frequencies allocated by the Conseil.

The Conseil issued 91 formal notices (mises en demeure), initiated 7 penalty proceedings, and handed down 4 penalties, following various breaches by operators. It also welcomed 42 foreign delegations.

Totalling over 3,800,000, the number of visitors to the Conseil’s website, www.csa.fr, increased by 18% compared to 2009. RSS feeds are now the primary means of access to the site: they resulted in 700,000 visits. The monthly average number of emails sent to the Conseil through the site was 524, compared to 388 in 2009; the increase is mainly due to a significant number of questions relating to the switch-over to digital-only television in 10 régions over the course of the year.