It’s a key week that opens for Xavier Niel and his television channel project to replace M6. Indeed, this Wednesday, he will present to the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (Arcom) the “SIX”, an alternative to the M6 channel of the group of the same name. Because yes, the operating license granted to the company run by Nicolas de Tavernost expires on May 5 and a call for applications has been launched for the operation of the sixth hertzian network.
What was supposed to be a formality becomes more complicated for the M6 group with the arrival of NJJ Project 5523 in the battle. This subsidiary of the personal holding of the billionaire Xavier Niel indeed arrives with a serious, financed and ambitious project. Like the other candidates, she will have an hour of presentation to convince the media regulator.
M6 under pressure, for the first time
Until now, M6 (like TF1) has never feared losing its operating licence, renewed without a call for applications in return for certain commitments since 1987. However, Xavier Niel has no intention of making any figure in this procedure. In a press release published at the end of January, NJJ Project 5523 explained that its project was calibrated for the first television channels, and that the other DTT channels would only interest it later, “to complete its portfolio of channels in success in the current procedure”.
Already questioned by Arcom on this subject, the vice-president of Iliad, Maxime Lombardini, had indicated that the idea would be to “create a new dynamic” in the face of historical channels which “often offer the same programs for years “. With the “SIX”, Xavier Niel would like to invest massively in the creation of content, from public debate programs to entertainment, including information, also strongly committing to the financing of audiovisual and cinematographic production.
But in the event that Arcom decided to give the “SIX” a chance, no one wondered what would become of the M6 channel and the future that this would open up for his group. Behind the scenes, the war would in any case already be in full swing, as revealed by Le Point in an investigation.
