The battle for the future of French media is moving from the screen to the Senate.
French broadcaster M6 and its shipping-magnate shareholder CMA CGM (Rodolphe Saadé) are aggressively lobbying to modernize France’s decades-old media rules. Their goal? To unlock a wave of domestic M&A necessary to compete with global giants like Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery.
🔓 THE REGULATORY BOTTLENECK:
- The Issue: Current French law imposes a “lock-up” period on ownership changes after a broadcast license renewal. For M6, this effectively freezes their ownership structure until 2032.
- The Fix: An amendment approved by the Senate would shorten this period from 5 years to 2 years, potentially clearing the path for deals by 2028.
- The Urgency: The window for reform is closing fast ahead of France’s municipal elections in March.
⚔️ THE CONSOLIDATION QUEUE: If the rules change, the suitors are already lined up:
- TF1: Previously attempted a merger with M6 (blocked by antitrust in 2022); CEO Rodolphe Belmer remains interested.
- MediaForEurope (MFE): Silvio Berlusconi’s group, which already controls Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1, is eyeing French entry.
- CMA CGM: Rodolphe Saadé could seek to acquire the rest of M6 to create a second French media powerhouse.
- Bertelsmann (RTL): M6’s majority owner is eager to exit/consolidate, viewing the status quo as a dead end.
🗣️ THE REALITY CHECK: David Larramendy, M6 CEO, was blunt: “Maintaining the status quo with regulations designed 40 years ago is untenable.” With global streamers now commanding 64% of weekly viewing time across key European markets, local broadcasters argue they are fighting a 21st-century war with 20th-century weapons.
💡 ANALYST TAKEAWAY: France is facing a “Media Sovereignty” paradox. To protect French-language content, regulators have historically blocked consolidation (to prevent monopoly). But by fragmenting the market, they are handing the audience to US platforms that play by different rules. This reform isn’t just about M&A fees; it’s about whether French broadcasters will exist as independent entities in 2030 or become content feeder studios for American tech.
👇 Media Strategists: Is national consolidation enough to save European broadcasters, or do we need a pan-European “Airbus of Media” to compete with Netflix?