In an interview with the magazine « Wilfried », Georges-Louis Bouchez was clear: RTBF has become a hegemonic player that distorts competition and steers public debate too much. Its public funding allows it to capture the bulk of the frequencies, attract the best audiences and invest massively, to the detriment of private media.
A public broadcaster is necessary, but not under these conditions. Funding programmes such as The Voice, Le Cactus or the purchase of broadcasting rights for a World Cup with public money has nothing to do with its mission. Its monopoly stifles media diversity and its economic model prevents the private press from competing.
Thanks to its grants, RTBF captures a large share of the advertising market and outbids others for sports rights, preventing other channels and the print press from holding their ground. By offering free online content, it directly competes with paid newspapers, further undermining media pluralism.
The consequences are severe: weakening of private media, concentration of information and endangering of democratic diversity. The role of a public player is not to crush all competition.
Action must be taken! RTBF's role must be redefined, genuine pluralism guaranteed, its expansion limited and fair competition restored. A state monopoly on information would be a danger. Media pluralism must be protected by clearly defining RTBF's various missions.