Race for top France Télévisions job heats up

French audiovisual media regulator the CSA has received 33 applications from candidates hoping to replace Rémy Pflimlin (above) as president of public broadcaster France Télévisions when his current term ends.

The CSA has not divulged the identity of the candidates, but has said it will draw up a shortlist that will be made public, on condition that all candidates accept this.

A number of candidates have already made it know that they want the job. Pflimlin has said that he will stand for a further term, while France Médias Monde president Marie-Christine Saragosse has also made it know that she is a candidate.

Alexandre Michelin, the European chief executive of Microsoft MSN, and journalist Serge Cimino made their interest in the job public a number of months ago. Other candidates to have gone public include Didier Quillot, former CEO of Lagardère Active and Orange France, and Christophe Beaux, CEO of Monnaie de Paris.

Other possible replacements for Pflimlin include Eric Garandeau, former president of the CNC, Serge Cimino, the SNJ union delegate at France Télévisions and Mattheiu Bellinghen, journalist at France 3 Basse-Normandie.

The CSA will take a final decision by May 22 at the latest.