Advertising on French public television will be phased out starting next year and the funding made up through a levy on telecoms operators and private broadcasters, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday. The plans, which have been criticised by telecoms operators and the European Union, are part of a wider overhaul of the sprawling French public broadcasting system proposed by a special parliamentary commission appointed in February. Under the proposals announced by Sarkozy, advertising on public television would not be allowed after 8:00 p.m. starting Jan 1, 2009, and would be banned entirely from December 2011. The move will create a giant funding gap for the four main channels controlled by France Televisions, which raised EUR 834m from advertising and sponsorship in 2006, almost one-third of its total revenue. Sarkozy said fixed and mobile telecoms operators, which increasingly offer television-style content to Internet users, would be taxed at 0.9 percent of sales, a move he said would raise up to EUR 380m. Telecoms operators and European Union authorities say the tax will hurt investment in a key strategic sector. As well as reforming the funding of public television, the plan would also give the government the power to appoint the head of France Televisions, who has previously been appointed by the CSA, an independent audiovisual supervisory body. Culture Minister Christine Albanel denied that the move threatened the independence of the public broadcasters.
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