Censors eyeing The Loft

2001-05-15 09:47

Paris - France's television watchdog met in emergency session on Monday to consider action against a titillating reality TV show which has unleashed a national debate among the country's intellectuals and the media.

The Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA) met behind closed doors after coming under intense pressure to ban or censor "Loft Story", a French take on "Big Brother", the reality show aired in 27 countries.

Among the issues the CSA was to consider was whether the M6 television channel broadcasting "Loft Story" had broken any laws and the adoption of new regulations for any similar shows in the future.

"The CSA has the power and duty to come up with new laws regulating conduct that would prevent any unhealthy drift" in programming, said Henri Weber, in charge of culture and media at the ruling Socialist party.

"We expect the broadcasting authority to put a halt to an escalation of programmes that do nothing but pull spectators down," Weber said.

Dominique Baudis, the head of the CSA, told French radio that the TV watchdog would issue later Monday an opinion on the subject.

"We are faced here with a new TV phenomenon we can only react to in terms of existing legislation," he told France Inter radio.

His comments came amid mounting controversy over "Loft Story", which closely follows the adventures of 11 young men and women in a sealed house over 70 days.

The contestants, who are filmed 24 hours a day, are successively eliminated by the public until only one couple is left. The two will then have to live in a three million-franc ($405 000) house for six months in order to win it.

The show has proved hugely successful with viewers, many of whom started tuning in after two of the twenty-something contestants engaged in a late night naked romp in the loft swimming pool.

M6 in the meantime is planning to cash in further on the programme by publishing a magazine about it later this month. A CD is also in the works.

The show's participants are also enjoying their new celebrity status. David, one of the contestants who walked out of the loft after five days, was greeted like a star at the Cannes Film Festival this weekend with dozens of fans lining up for autographs.

But while the public can't seem to get enough of the show, the country's intellectual elite and M6 competitors aren't all smiles.

Not a day goes by without a newspaper or magazine reporting on "Loft Story" and questioning its propriety. The show, described by many as "trash TV", has twice been the leading front-page story in the respected Le Monde newspaper since it began going to air April 24.

There have also been mounting calls to boycott M6.

On Saturday, hundreds of protestors clashed with police after they tried to storm the loft compound to "free" the contestants.

Police used tear gas to disperse the protestors who had earlier dumped garbage bags and thrown eggs and tomatoes at the M6 headquarters in Neuilly-sur-Seine, on the western edge of Paris. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA