A few days ago, the HACA published a statement on the situation following the broadcast of NCI in HD on CANAL+ in Côte d'Ivoire.
"Following the television channel NCI's acquisition of the broadcasting rights for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the distributor CANAL+ International decided to broadcast NCI in high definition (HD). In letters dated November 7 and 10, 2022, respectively, LIFE TV and RTI referred the matter to the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HACA) to denounce this decision by the distributor CANAL+ International, claiming discriminatory and unfair treatment compared to other national DTT channels. Following these referrals, the HACA
Board of Members held an extraordinary session and heard all parties and their lawyers' written and oral observations on Friday, November 1, and Monday, November 14, 2022, before adjourning the case for deliberation on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, for a decision to be rendered. As the deliberation was extended to November 18, 2022, the HACA received notification on that same date of the withdrawal by LIFE TV and RTI of their appeals against the decision of CANAL+ International. As a result, the College of Members of the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, meeting in extraordinary session on November 18, 2022, by videoconference, acknowledged LIFE TV and RTI's withdrawal of their appeals.
At the same time, CANAL+ explains that since November 8, it has been broadcasting the NCI (Nouvelle Chaîne Ivoirienne) television channel to high definition (HD) on the CANAL+ satellite package in order to offer the Ivorian population the Qatar 2022 World Cup in high definition (HD), and specifies that this provision has also been taken for all African television channels included in Canal+ offers and holding the rights to the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Furthermore, CANAL+ is committed to doing everything possible to broadcast the other Ivorian channels in high definition on its satellite package before the end of March 2023, in accordance with its commitments to the HACA.
Already broadcast in HD on DTT, the other Ivorian channels, notably RTI1, RTI2, La 3, A+IVOIRE, LIFE TV, and 7INFO, have already made the necessary investments to enable their signals to be broadcast in high definition (HD) on CANAL+ packages.
It should be noted that Canal+ subscribers with SD decoders will need to upgrade their equipment in order to take advantage of this HD offer.