On June 6, TNT’s numbering changes, while a new channel will appear in the PAF: T18. But it will not be the only change. Indeed, on this date, the Canal+ group will also end the dissemination of its four paid channels on TNT – Canal+, Canal+ Cinema (s), Canal+ Sport and Planet+ – whose authorizations arrived respectively on June 5 and August 31, 2025. Which mechanically releases four channels.
The end of the paid TNT
“This radio resource will be available from June 6, the date on which the authorization of the Canal+ service will have ended“, Specifies the Arcom in its press release, recalling that Groupe Canal + had initially filed files for these four channels as part of the call for candidates of February 28, 2024, before withdrawing its applications on December 5. A decision that acted the end of the pay TNT in France, while only Paris remains on this niche and that no new actor had proposed a project during the previous calls.
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The consultation is based on a decision of the Council of State of February 19, 2025 which imposed on the Arcom to “implement the procedure provided for in article 31 of the law of September 30, 1986”. The authority must thus evaluate “if the economic situation in the sector is favorable to the launch of an appeal to applications for the four authorizations not having been awarded or if it is appropriate, on the contrary, to postpone it from two years, renewable once”.
Three scenarios under study
-In its consultation document, the Arcom has three main options for the future use of these frequencies. The first would be to authorize new television services in addition to the existing offer. However, the authority wonders about the capacity of the advertising market to support new players, in a context where the listening duration of traditional television decreases regularly. “”Television has seen its advertising revenue grow slightly, but much slower than the entire advertising market “also notes the Arcom, which anticipates a regular drop of 1.4% per year between 2024 and 2030.
The second scenario plans the authorization of existing services in improved formats (UHD or HD-HDR). France 2 has already been broadcast in UHD since January 2024, and the authority wishes to collect the opinion of the actors on the conditions of deployment of other channels in improved format. Finally, the third scenario relates to the use of frequencies for 5G Broadcast standard services, an experienced technology especially during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which would broadcast audiovisual content on mobile terminals.
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A more global reflection on the future of TNT
Audiovisual sector players are therefore invited to submit their contributions “no later than June 13, 2025 by electronic means”, a window of six weeks. The Arcom specifies that these contributions “can be the subject of a publication” and invites participants to provide two versions: “a confidential version and a public version obscuring the elements considered to be confidential”.
This consultation is also part of A more global context of reflection on the future of TNT. The government must submit a report to Parliament on “the prospects for the dissemination and distribution of television services in France” before December 31, 2025. At European level, the RSPG expert group continues its work on the use of the frequency band 470-694 MHz by 2030-2040.
