Forum. Since the reflection on the future of public service television was relaunched, let us ask ourselves a question prior to any discussion of structure : what is today a public service of the audiovisual sector ? I see four avenues of response.
First, in a world where hundreds of channels are potentially available, of which twenty-five free digital terrestrial television, the offer of the public television is useful if, and only if, it is complementary to those of other channels. The economic model of private groups is based on the advertising, and, therefore, is an approach to ” niche “, or, more often, targeting the GDR (” procurement officer “; the famous ” housewife “, that is to say, an asset of less than 50 years). Always target the same category, the risk is to give the impression of found everywhere the same emissions, but also eliminate certain viewers.
The public television for its part, must be “the tv of all the French” and go to the abandoned private offering. By placing the viewer, not the advertiser, at the centre of its concerns, it should provide content to all, without discrimination of age, income, or territory. Different contents, the topics addressed, the tone, the format chosen, the script used, that is not to be found elsewhere, because they have been abandoned by the private channels, or due to the risk they pose to the diffuser.
Added value, the unit of measurement
Then, while the supply of content is plenty, the unit of measurement of a programme of public service should be its added value for the viewer. What matters most may not be the audience, but what the program actually provides, how it meets the desires of the viewers in their diversity : understand, discover, have fun, learn also ! We rétorquera here that a number of cultural programs…
