French Public Broadcaster France Télévisions Calls For Lift On Evening Advertising Ban

French public broadcaster France Télévisions Sports Dir Daniel Bilian "has called for a ban to be lifted on advertising" on the broadcaster in the evening, according to L'EQUIPE. For the past five years, advertising on France Télévisions’ channels has been banned between 8pm and 6am, with the state "providing a subsidy to the broadcaster to offset the loss in revenue." However, the state’s subsidy has decreased from €420M in '12 to €115M ($152M) this year. Bilalian said that "the opportunity to sell advertising in the evening would 'generate significant commercial revenues for us.'" He added, "The return of advertising at halftime during sporting events in the evening would be extremely strong given the audiences" (L'EQUIPE, 8/26).