Case study: France Telivisions

Résumé du document

Because the French revenue court concluded in its public report of 1998 that France Télévisions did not manage either to keep its running costs under control, or to develop adapted structure plus investment operations to suit the group strategy, a law was set up on 1st, August 2000 to create a group as a holding company able to play a central role in the steering/management of public TV channels. It turned out to be a success. In five years France Télévisions became France's biggest audiovisual group and 2/5 of French people now watch the group's channels each day. Despite the clear improvement of the company's management illustrated by those positive results, the group redefined its strategy more than three times over the past few years, and the French revenue court now worries about the undergoing weakening of the company taking its 2004-2008 balance sheet into account. This depicts a clear deterioration of the company's financial situation.

Extraits

[...] a increase in comparison with 2005. The turnover at this occasion was superior to 57 M Human: France Télévisions university (16,000 days of probationers training) Analyse over 3-5 years with 140 experts of technological and editorial evolutions of the group jobs Individual interviews New instrument panel for human resources Social management skills : the Infocentre and SIGRH (system of information on human resources management) Agreement on health costs and social insurance An individual social report for each employee Physical: 33,3% of public share for France for France 3 and for France More than 20 million of TNT exclusives of the population), advantageous for France 4 which has seen his audience double in one year 14 Technological : Development of high-definition TV (France 2 HD, TNT HD, programs in innate HD) Broadcasting of TV chains on mobile phones (10 million of potential users with about 15% active TV users) Execution of works relative to Broadcast Mobile TV Qualitative barometer (relying on a group of 10,000 viewers who are canvassed by samples of 1,500) Indicators : the affinity index(which enables to observe by age range the public who is looking the chains' programs) and the accumulated audience (which measures the number of viewers having watching, on a given period of time, a program offered by one of the France Télévisions chains) different from the commercial chains such as TF1 or Canal + Intangible: Strong identity values : o o o o o culture information and citizen debates sport a group reflection of the diversity of french society innovation A policy of creation supported and promoted by the public through the qualitative barometer Competencies Innovation and creation Mobility inter and extra subsidiaries of jobs are filled by group employees) Training of its employees in order to make the group jobs evolve Active surveillance and inner audit of the holding's subsidiaries Information system of common management (Ariane) Capabilities Policy based on : quality diversity (Label: «Sur France télévisions vous avez tous les choix») complementarity Setting up of new common directions (aiming at modernising logistics, improving the 15 communication and the sharing of competencies within the group and realising economies) Responsible for the management of all subsidiaries that it Power of arbitration and coordination of the holding Ability to set ambitious goals Competitive advantages France Télévisions had a public share in 2008 and hold the first position in the PAF (Paysage Audiovisuel Français). [...]

[...] By-products control (France Télévisions Distributions) France Televisions Distribution is in charge of developing the business fields of TV programmes' international distribution, cultural productions' publishing and copyrights' exploitation. It particularly aims at increasing international financing for public TV programmes. Coordination and development of interactive programs and services (France Télévisions Interactive) FTVI is an economic interest group which includes France France France RFO and France Televisions SA. It was set up to manage the coordination and the development of the group's activities in the fields of programming and interactive services. [...]

[...] Group's subsidiaries Thematic channels Thematic channels were conceived to prolong the group's public service mission in the cable TV and satellite TV markets. They contribute to France Televisions socio-cultural mission by broadcasting international news as well as music, fiction, and world's exploring and knowledge. Each channel defined its main editorial line: At the group's scale the objective is to offer a wide variety of specialized programmes and to maximize the supply. Cinematic production (France 2 Cinéma, France 3 Cinéma) France 2 cinema and France 3 cinema actively take part to the dynamism of the French and European cinematography. [...]

[...] Technological - Independent measuring of media's viewing audience ratings thanks to Mediametrie - Globalisation of information through the development of medias and information and communication technologies - Development of the hybrid TV also called “connected by PHILIPS and SAMSUNG - Development of the Internet which has drastically changed the gathering, the spreading and the processing of information - Teleconferencing for business and sharing of best practices across sites internationally - Modernisation and diffusion of data-based management tools E. Environment - Energy consumption controls - Restriction on the production of paper - New standards for newspaper in order to limit the deterioration of the environment . F. Legal - CSA's regulations . [...]

[...] As a result, France Televisions is forbidden, since January 1st, to broadcast ads from 8 PM to 6 AM. In 2012, France Télévisions is supposed to broadcast no ads on its channels The French “Cour des comptes” is worrying about the weakening of France Televisions because its last year balance sheet reveals a “deteriorating financial situation”. That's why, the French government paid 415 million euros in order to compensate for the suppression of advertising after 8 pm in 2009. This measure is a part of the public broadcasting reform, initiated by Nicolas Sarkozy. [...]