Online advertising: TF1, M6 and France Télévisions fear losses of up to €180 million

A minimum investment level imposed on advertisers for the press

The text in question is a bill presented by the Government in the Council of Ministers on November 10. It aims to steer part of digital advertising investment towards press publishers by requiring advertisers to make a minimum level of investment with general and political information (IPG) news websites.

The terms and rate of this obligation would be set by decree. For LaFA, the measure is “not neutral” for broadcasters and risks shifting advertising budgets away from television.

The organisation also notes that the mechanism departs from the initial proposal of the États généraux de l'information. That proposal favoured transparency regarding advertisers' investments rather than an obligation to direct spending, and covered a broader scope than press publishers alone.

LaFA calls for the opening of television advertising to mass retail

LaFA links this bill to the Government's refusal to open television advertising to promotional operations by mass retailers, a request it describes as “long-standing, well-argued and legitimate”. It describes this approach as a “double standard” policy which, in its view, “is no longer tenable”.

Its members also regret that the public consultation launched by the Ministry of Culture on amending the 1992 decree on advertising would, as it stands, maintain the sector-specific bans applicable to television. They believe international digital platforms are not subject to the same constraints.

LaFA calls on parliamentarians to “correct a draft that is too unbalanced” and to “restore room for manoeuvre to all media in the face of the growing capture of advertising value by major digital platforms”. Founded in November 2024, it brings together publishers, authors' unions and producers.