France has decided it needs multimedia - or multimedia, as the nation must now call it, the accent mandated by the government's desire to avoid the use of an English word when there is a French one. With much the same logic - or lack of it - used to defend the language against Anglo-Saxon innovation, Edouard Balladur's government has set about creating an all- French multimedia industry. The first step showed off some decidedly unattractive Gallic traits: cronyism and behind-the-scenes maneuvering for control of France's most successful "independent" television network, Canal+.
On February 14, Andre Rousselet, the station's president, resigned in a huff after its biggest shareholders - Generale des Eaux, a cable television and water company; Havas, a publishing group; and Societe Generale, a bank - said they were combining their stakes into a common holding company, which would control almost half of the capital for Canal+. Rousselet, who suspected (rightly) that this was a government-encouraged attempt to wrest control of the station from him, did not wait around for his suspicion to be proved correct. He wrote a long article in Le Monde accusing the government of unconscionable meddling and headed for the door.
French officials have long argued that if France is to keep abreast of developments in multimedia, it needs an advanced, nationwide, cable television network. But few are willing to pay for cable when they already subscribe to Canal+ and get top-notch movies and sports from the network's satellite. As a compromise, the government recently proposed that Canal+ contribute US$76 million to the cost of cable television - in return for the renewal of its license next year. This infuriated Rousselet, who called the sum "a ransom."
The network's refusal to pay, in turn, infuriated Generale des Eaux, which has lost a fortune on its cable television network. Egged on by the government, Generale des Eaux organized the coup that led to Rousselet's departure.
If all now goes according to plan, Canal+ will form the core of a multimedia conglomerate that will also include a cable television operator (Generale des Eaux) and a publisher (Havas). In addition, France Telecom, the country's telecom monopoly, is cozying up to the group. It has recently swapped part of its telephone directory publishing operation for a 5 percent stake in Havas. With the obstructive Rousselet replaced by someone more willing to follow the nods, winks, and nudges by which much French industrial policy is made, the hope is that the group will become a multimedia world-beater.
In reality, the French face many obstacles in multimedia - the largest of them of their own making. The government's desire to create a specifically French multimedia firm limits France's ability to take advantage of technological advances made elsewhere. "To preserve French culture," the French government is also promoting quotas on imports of television shows, rock, and other pop culture. The opportunity to watch a souped-up video of Johnny Halliday, France's aging national rock star, on a souped-up version of Minitel, France's aging national computer network, does not sound like the sort of thing that will make multimedia a roaring success.
ELECTRIC WORD
The Watergate Way-Back Machine
France's Jerry Lewis Media Policy in Action
