The RTL Belgium board of directors has decided to bring the private channel back into the fold of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, relayed l’Echo.
RTL TVI, which had been living in Luxembourg for almost 15 years, is expected to return to Belgium soon. At least that seems to have been decided by the RTL Belgium group, whose chain should, in the long term, depend on the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB).
This return to the Belgian flag will allow RTL-TVI to benefit from public aid from the FWB, which until now was hardly possible when three of its channels were under the Luxembourg flag (TVI, Plug and Club RTL have been exclusively Luxembourg since 2006).
Called for a long time by the CSA, which regretted that the TV channels of RTL Belgium escape the legislation in force in FWB, the return of the group in Belgium could give it the possibility of avoiding sinking into the financial crisis post- Covid, while fears of a new social plan, which would cost jobs as well as television meetings, were real.
Decrease in turnover of 30 million euros
A draft agreement between RTL Belgium and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation will be negotiated. The drop in turnover, estimated at more than 30 million euros for the 2020 financial year, suggesting job losses and a likely impact on the quality of the supply, therefore caught the attention of the Government of the FWB which has decided to provide support to RTL Belgium in the context of the health crisis.
If this agreement is concluded, RTL will have to submit to a series of commitments such as maintaining employment, refusing to pay dividends to its shareholders as well as a commitment regarding the accessibility of programs. The Wallonia-Brussels Federation undertakes to cover up to 80% of the revenue cuts for the 2020 financial year. The planned aid will be spread over four years. “This plan will provide a clear view of the impact of the subsidies since the losses are mainly linked to a drop in advertising revenue”, details the cabinet of the Minister of Media, Bénédicte Linard. This aid is independent of the subsidies granted to the press and of the 4,930 envelope. € 000 released to deal with the crisis.
It is rumored that this state aid has been the subject of intense lobbying by the company to the divided political class on the issue. Some seemed to be reluctant to grant public aid to a private company even if the government recalls that the decision came from a consensus between PS / MR / Ecolo. “This return is important to preserve media pluralism”, Adds the cabinet in charge of the media.
RTL refused to comment at this stage.
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