His presence on the show “Touche pas à mon poste” (TPMP) quickly sparked harsh comments. The majority deputy Quentin Bataillon, president of the commission of inquiry into the frequencies of digital terrestrial television (TNT), went on Tuesday April 2 to take stock of his work on the set of host Cyril Hanouna, who was himself interviewed by this commission.
His intervention was criticized the next day at midday by the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, who, in a press release, “kept to remind” that “as long as the conclusions of a commission of investigation are not made public (…) its president like its rapporteur and its members must show reserve and discernment in their positions and their public expressions, in order to guarantee the serenity of the work and the credibility of the investigations.
One sequence is particularly commented on: during the broadcast, Mr. Bataillon scratches a host competing with Mr. Hanouna, Yann Barthès, who was also heard by the commission: “I think it's the first time that I "I'm upset, he had a pretty arrogant attitude from the start, he refused to answer our questions," he described about the presenter of the show "Quotidien" on TMC. The first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, attacked Mr. Bataillon over his own arrogance of “going to Hanouna to spit on Barthès while chairing a commission of inquiry into TNT.”
Mr. Faure then asked that Mr. Bataillon be “relieved of his functions”, arguing that he had “participated in the discrediting of the Assembly”. Manuel Bompard, the national coordinator of La France insoumise (LFI), also requested the resignation of Mr. Battalion from the presidency of the commission, saying he believes that he “covers Hanouna, although he is widely sanctioned by Arcom”.
“Experimental approach”
In “TPMP”, broadcast on the C8 channel, Mr. Bataillon attempted to do educational work about the work of the commission, which was launched by LFI deputies in the fall of 2023 to shed light on the allocation of TNT frequencies, including those of C8 and CNews, brought into play this year. Its rapporteur, the “rebellious” Aurélien Saintoul, will write his report “alone” by the beginning of May, and “I imagine that it will be marked”, said the elected representative of the presidential majority, wishing “get away from the witch hunt, the hunt for presenters, journalists, channels”.
“We need to make recommendations on the framework” for the choice of frequency holders, he said. “We don't go into people's homes to tell them what is good, what is bad” and, “sometimes, the contempt that some people may have for your show is transferred to those who watch it,” argued the parliamentarian .
“I have done everything to keep the relations as cordial as possible” with Mr. Saintoul, added Mr. Bataillon, while relations have become strained over the course of the hearings, that of Vincent Bolloré, billionaire who controls the Canal group , including C8, to that of the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati.
Aurélien Saintoul was ironic about the presence of Mr. Bataillon in “TPMP”: “Thank you for your experimental approach to move the commission of inquiry forward,” he wrote on the social network X. “ Don’t forget to check if we can now name, or even criticize, V. Bolloré in “TPMP” without risking being attacked by C. Hanouna,” he added in reference to an episode from November 2022 where the MP LFI Louis Boyard, guest on the show, was insulted live. This resulted in a record fine of €3.5 million for C8.
