France Télévisions lays out €140m saving plan
December 19, 2025
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
France Télévisions has laid out its 2026 budget, incorporating a saving of €140 million – an unprecedented level for the French public service broadcaster.
Faced with a severe reduction in its public funding – expected to decline by €65.2 million compared to 2025 (€2.44 billion) and by more than €200 million compared to the initial forecasts – the group must also take into account a projected deficit in 2025 and the effects of inflation.
To achieve this plan, France Télévisions plans to reduce the cost of its national schedule, with fewer programmes, more reruns, the cancellation of certain shows and a possible resale of sport rights. The withdrawal of the 2026 Junior Eurovision Sing Contest is in the pipeline, as well as the reduction of commitments to French audiovisual creation, along with further staff cuts.
As president Delphine Ernotte announced in a hearing at the Senate in October, the decrease in funding won’t allow the group to meet its commitments in terms of audiovisual production, which amounts to around €440 million per year.
The reduction of France Télévisions’ investments “will have an enormous impact on local communities, on the independent production companies, on jobs” warned Director of Programming Stéphane Sitbon Gomez on December 18th before French deputies. He was heard by the National inquiry Commission on the neutrality, operation and financing of public broadcasting, initiated by far-right party UDR, an ally to RN.
The group is also counting on structural savings, property sales and a reassessment of its DTT coverage while aiming for a €27 million increase of its commercial revenues, particularly driven by digital advertising.
Despite all those trade-offs, France Télévisons 2026 budget intends to maintain investment related to technological transformation.
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