French channels are contesting a 1992 rule which limits their access to mass distribution advertising, in favor of digital platforms.
The Alliance of TV & Video Media (ADMTV), which brings together, among others, the management teams of TF1 and M6, announced “the filing of a complaint with the European Commission” to contest “the ban in France on television advertising for mass distribution promotional operations”. This approach aims to challenge a rule dating from 1992 which, according to the channels, “deprives them of a vital resource”.
A 1992 rule challenged
The contested rule dates from 1992 and prevents the sector from communicating on television about commercial promotional operations limited in time, unless the availability and prices of the products touted are assured for fifteen weeks. Originally, this ban was justified by the desire to protect the advertising resources of the written press and radio, recalls ADMTV.
The case was relaunched last April, when Lidl, one of France’s leading advertisers, indicated that it would no longer advertise on television after being convicted of breaching this rule.
“The media environment has been radically transformed by the rise of digital technology,” recalls ADMTV. In 2025, digital advertising reached 12.4 billion euros in France (+11%), of which more than 9.4 billion benefited Google, Meta, TikTok. At the same time, net advertising revenues from television media fell by 8.1%, to 3.24 billion euros in 2025.
For François Pellissier, president of ADMTV, this ban “deprives TV broadcasters of a vital resource, for the exclusive benefit of (the) video sharing platforms and social networks”. The complainants insist: “Distribution’s advertising investments were not transferred to the media that the regulations purported to preserve.” According to them, the result is a weakening of French television groups in favor of video sharing platforms and social networks.
According to ADMTV, the opening of television advertising to distribution promotions would bring between 150 to 200 million euros to the sector each year. “They would make it possible to finance around a hundred hours of feature films, fiction series, animation or documentaries and to maintain between 4,000 and 5,000 direct and indirect jobs in the audiovisual sector,” they argue.
The approach is supported by most organizations in the audiovisual sector, such as the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers (SACD), the Civil Society of Multimedia Authors (LaScam), the Audiovisual Production Union (USPA), AnimFrance and the Independent Production Union (SPI), according to the press release.
At the same time, the union would like to obtain from the government a regulatory modification of the decree without waiting for the outcome of the European procedure. The ball is in the court of the Ministry of Culture and Bercy.
