Xavier Niel
French telecom and media entrepreneur Xavier Niel’s NJJ Médias unit has asked media regulator ARCOM to give it time to submit a bid to launch a digital-terrestrial TV channel ahead of the renewal of frequencies granted to TF1 and M6.
Interviewed by ARCOM yesterday, Iliad Group VP Maxime Lombardini, accompanied by legal advisor François Sureau, talked about the threat of younger audiences deserting free-to-air television in favour of YouTube. He said traditional TV was being “massively deserted by the young” and that there was a need for a new, more innovative entrant.
Lombardini said that the current time-frame to prepare an alternative offer was “extremely constrained” and called for ARCOM to give his group “a little more time” to prepare a viable proposition, enabling it to negotiate terms with producers and creative organisations.
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