France Considers Relaxing Its Archaic Broadcasting Rules

France has long been known for having some heavy-handed regulations, whether requiring many stores to stay closed on Sunday or allowing judges to veto children’s names. But some of the most arcane have involved the nation’s television business. National broadcasters such as TF1 and M6 aren’t allowed to show movies on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday during prime time and can’t run ads for books, movies, or sales at retailers. And unlike broadcasters in all other European markets, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, they aren’t even allowed to tailor ads to the location or demographics of their viewers, a routine practice in the digital age.

Some rules were designed in part to protect French cinema and keep people going to movie theaters. The country—host of the Cannes Film Festival, known for its highbrow auteur movies—prides itself on its exception culturelle. Other restrictions were to buttress the nation’s regional media operators.