“Do you know how much the State gives to France Télévisions and Radio France per year? “. Difficult to escape the “rant” given this Monday evening by Cyril Hanouna on the set of Don’t touch my post (TPMP). According to the presenter, the amount would be almost 4 billion euros, of which a large half intended for the channels of France Televisions.
With a bit of demagoguery, the presenter of C8 then goes on to a comparison with other public services. “With 4 billion, we can buy cars for the police, we can redo some hospitals all the same, we could even increase the teachers and see what we could do in colleges and high schools”. “Privatize all this for me”, ends up chanting the presenter on his set.
It is quite possible to compare public services, we do not say otherwise. But Cyril Hanouna remains very vague about this distribution which is confusing and which ultimately seems to have only the purpose of defending himself from threats against his show.
FAKE OFF
4 billion euros. Yes, so the amount appears to be a certain sum. “Crazy dough,” Emmanuel Macron would even say. The amount is right: the fee – which has just been abolished – brought in 3.7 billion euros to the State, according to the public service website. From now on, according to the 2023 finance lawthe State pays about 3.8 billion euros to public broadcasting.
If France Télévisions receives around two thirds, there are more companies concerned by this amount. “The contribution to public audiovisual funds public audiovisual organizations: France Télévisions, Radio France, Arte-France, France Médias Monde (France 24 and RFI), TV5 Monde and the National Audiovisual Institute (INA)”, explains the public service website. France Télévisions also uses private companies, this is particularly the case of the producer Banijay… including Cyril Hanouna and shareholder. It is therefore difficult to imagine that the presenter was not aware of the usefulness of this funding.
Education, a budget 20 times higher
However, during the sequence, Cyril Hanouna compares the incomparable. According to him, these 4 billion should not be donated to public broadcasting and should rather be used for education, the police or hospitals. In fact, why not. Public services are deteriorating, struggling to upgrade their employees, recruit or restore their infrastructure.
What Cyril Hanouna forgets to say during this sequence is that National Education represents the largest state budget, i.e. 55.1 billion euros excluding contributions to state pensions and 76 billion euros with contributions. For hospitals, it is roughly the same order of magnitude, according to public finance specialist and president of the Fipeco association François Ecalle.
Beside, the audiovisual weighs very little. According to figures from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)the budget allocated to the public service in France corresponds to 0.16% of the country’s GDP.
Criticisms, no solution
“We can always say that we save money on a post, whether it’s audiovisual or whatever. But it would be necessary to explain where precisely we make this saving and what exactly we finance with this gain, ”underlines François Ecalle. But no solution is really given throughout this sequence.
In a new explanation offered Tuesday, January 17, still on his set, the presenter also returns to a more specific example. “You know I read an article that said that to redo the entire fleet of cars for the entire police force, it would be 75 million euros”. Gold, according to the Motor1 website article [qui remonte à juin 2020]these are additional funds allocated by the State to the national police and the national gendarmerie.
Moreover, in terms of public finances, a saving in the budget will never be linked to an expenditure elsewhere, explains François Ecalle. “Perhaps we can announce it like that politically, but never legally”.
Lights the royalty
In addition, the sequence comes after a complicated year for public broadcasting following the abolition of the license fee. From now on, it is replaced by what is called “a transfer of a fraction of the proceeds of VAT”. A common measure in public finance, according to François Ecalle.
Indeed, in total, the VAT brings a lot to the State. Almost 160 billion euros. “The State does not keep all the VAT and allocates a part to the local authorities to compensate for the local taxes that the State abolishes. He will say “I am eliminating the housing tax for you in exchange for giving you x% of the VAT proceeds, so that it always brings you the same thing”. It is the same logic followed for the audiovisual sector after the abolition of the license fee.
However, legally and since finance laws voted in 2021, the State cannot decide on these measures ad vitam aeternam. “This serves to better regulate these state allocations to other organizations”. This is in particular why the fraction of the VAT product currently runs until the end of 2024.
Hanouna takes out the oars
Finally, the footage came following an interview with Culture Minister Rima Albdul Malak given in the columns of World where it returns to the excesses in the TPMP program, without actually mentioning its name “When we arrive, in 2025, at the time of the analysis of their balance sheet for the renewal of their broadcasting authorizations, Arcom will know look at how they have complied with these obligations,” she said. There is no doubt that Cyril Hanouna now feels in danger and seeks to defend himself… by finding new culprits.
The proof being that the presenter ended up backpedaling after the reaction of Delphine Ernotte, the president of France Télévisions, on the sidelines of the “Televisionnaire” colloquium. Cautious, she felt that Cyril Hanouna had gone “a bit far”. “I know he’s someone who is very attached to the link with the public, that’s what he tries to do on his show,” she recalled. During his show on Tuesday January 17, Cyril Hanouna will end up changing targets: the problem is not France Télévisions, but Radio France.
For all intents and purposes, if the question still arises about the usefulness of public broadcasting, we will leave the last words to Delphine Ernotte: “Cyril Hanouna is a great specialist. He knows very well that public funding does not only fund France Télévisions: it funds creation, it funds sport, it funds independent journalism”.