French parliamentary report proposes merging France 2 and France 5, cutting 1 billion euros from public broadcasting
A French parliamentary report published on May 5 recommends merging France 2 with France 5, scrapping France 4 and Mouv', and cutting 1 billion euros from public broadcasting budgets. The report's author, UDR deputy Charles Alloncle, denies advocating privatization, but the commission's president, Horizons deputy Jérémie Patrier-Leitus, says its aim was "to prepare minds for privatization." RN deputy Laure Lavalette and party leader Jordan Bardella have publicly called for privatizing most of the public audiovisual sector.
A French parliamentary report published on May 5, 2026, by UDR deputy Charles Alloncle proposes merging France 2 with France 5, scrapping France 4 and Mouv', and cutting 1 billion euros from public broadcasting budgets. The report, which contains 69 recommendations (or 80, depending on the source), targets savings equivalent to a quarter of state funding for the public audiovisual sector.
Alloncle's proposals include merging France 2 and France 5 to achieve 200 million euros in savings, merging franceinfo with France 24 into a single national and international francophone channel, and scrapping France 4, its youth digital offer Slash, and Radio France's music station Mouv'. He also recommends reducing the games budget by three-quarters, saving 122.1 million euros, and cutting sports rights by one-third, focusing on events he considers part of French heritage such as Roland-Garros, the Tour de France, and the Six Nations tournament. The report further proposes that the president of the Republic appoint the heads of Radio France and France Télévisions, subject to parliamentary approval under Article 13 of the Constitution, a return to the system introduced by Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009 and reversed by François Hollande in 2013.
Alloncle recommends a duty of neutrality for public-broadcast employees on social media, with disciplinary sanctions for violations, and ending the use of 'service public' editorialists, replacing them with figures from the private opinion press. He also proposes that France Télévisions produce all news and debate programs in-house, and that a legal cap be set on the pay ratio between the CEO and the median salary at each public broadcaster.
Alloncle denies advocating privatization. 'En aucun cas,' he said Tuesday on franceinfoTV, defending the measures as 'optimisations.' However, Jérémie Patrier-Leitus (Horizons), president of the inquiry commission, said the report's aim was 'de préparer les esprits à la privatisation de l'audiovisuel public.' Patrier-Leitus called the commission 'l'échec politique' of Alloncle, noting that Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella had already declared their wish to privatize public broadcasting before the report was published.
RN deputy Laure Lavalette said she wants to privatize 'une très grande partie' of public broadcasting, except regional stations and TV5 Monde. Asked about potential buyers, she said 'on trouverait acheteur assez rapidement,' adding that 'quand TF1 a été privatisée, ils ont d'ailleurs mieux marché que quand ils étaient dans le service public.' Jordan Bardella has promised to 'engager la privatisation de l'audiovisuel public' if he comes to power in 2027.
France Télévisions president Delphine Ernotte Cunci called the report 'à charge' and aimed at an 'affaiblissement historique' of public media. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the report 'passe malheureusement à côté de l'essentiel' and is 'une occasion manquée,' adding that 'des réformes seront nécessaires' but must 'répondre à une vision.' MoDem deputy Erwan Balanant, a commission member, said he plans to publish a counter-report before the summer, accusing Alloncle of 'une volonté de casser l'audiovisuel public.' Alloncle hopes to give the report legislative form during the UDR parliamentary niche on June 25.