Tessier made prexy, France TV
Exec faces 'titanic task'
The appointment, made late Friday by French audiovisual supervisory body CSA, comes at a critical time for France's public service television, which has been hit by declining audiences and a drop in advertising, even as it remains the subject of long-awaited reform legislation. Industry insiders, who largely welcome Tessier's nomination, said the former Canal Plus exec faces a "titanic task."
For Tessier, who takes over on Wednesday, moving into his pubcaster office will mark a return to the television sector after a four year absence.
Present at the creation
He was one of the original team that helped create pay television service Canal Plus in the early 1980s. Under former Canal Plus chairman Andre Rousselet, Tessier became head of Canal Plus' international expansion.
When Rousselet resigned in 1995 and was replaced by current Canal Plus chairman Pierre Lescure, Tessier sought the No. 2 job at the pay TV service, didn't get it and ankled.
For the past four years, Tessier has been CEO of the Centre National de la Cinematographie (CNC), the state-controlled org at the heart of France's complex system of support for film and television.
Tessier's appointment is a setback for two TV vets. Outgoing France Television prexy Xavier Gouyou-Beauchamps had hoped his contract would be renewed, and Jerome Clement, president of educational web La Cinquieme and head of the Gallic side of Franco-German cultural network Arte, was also looking for the France Television job.
First of many challenges
Winning the pubcaster presidency is only the first challenge facing Tessier.
The French government has been kicking around a pubcaster reform package for over a year. The heart of the proposed legislation, which could take another year to come into effect, will be to create a "super holding" company overseeing France 2, France 3, Arte and La Cinquieme. The bill will also reduce France 2's and France 3's dependence on advertising by cutting ad time on the pubcasters, producing a shortfall of ad coin in excess of $166 million per year.
Future governments will have to make up for that drop in income, but until the law comes into effect, Tessier can do precious little to prepare the pubcasters for the change or for the transition to terrestrial digital television.
Moreover, when the new law kicks in, the super holding company will need a president, effectively putting Tessier's job up for grabs again. The current theory is that he will be promoted to the new position, although rivals will have at least the next year to push their candidacies forward.
(Nancy Tartaglione contributed to this report.)
