By Anna Willard
PARIS, Jan 5 (Reuters) - French public television will stop evening commercials on Monday in a move unions say will benefit private stations and increase President Nicolas Sarkozy's grip on the media.
The publicly owned France Televisions will no longer show advertising between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. as part of a broadcasting shakeup proposing a total ban from 2011.
Unions and opposition Socialists say the reform, announced by Sarkozy a year ago, will weaken the financial foundations of the four main state TV channels, lead to job losses and strengthen private broadcasters favourable to Sarkozy.
The government says the reforms will improve the quality of programming on public television by freeing it from "the tyranny of ratings" and it has pledged to make up for any shortfall in advertising revenues.
The measures will allow the government to appoint the head of France Televisions directly and critics say France risks returning to the days of the ORTF, the tame state broadcaster of the postwar years.
"It will lead to a serious and long lasting weakening of the public media," Socialist Senator Catherine Tasca said in Le Parisien newspaper on Monday.
Culture Minister Christine Albanel, who has been in charge of shepherding the new law through parliament, dismissed the criticism of changes she said were one of the biggest broadcasting reforms in decades.
"There is always a sort of hesitation in the face of big reforms. People have the impression of liking what they know, even if they criticised it previously," she told LCE television on Sunday night.
OPPOSITION
Sarkozy's friendship with media bosses like Martin Bouygues, head of France's biggest private television broadcaster TF1 or Vincent Bollore, the tycoon whose yacht he used for a holiday after his 2007 election victory have increased suspicions.
After determined campaigning by opposition Socialists, the measures have still not passed into law and the end to advertising has only come into effect because of a voluntary agreement by the management of France Televisions.
The bill was only passed in the lower house of parliament in December after four weeks of debate and some 700 proposed amendments and debate in the Senate begins this week.
Public sector broadcast staff staged several strikes in 2008 and unions of the France 3 channel have called for action on Monday. A strike is also expected on France 2 on Wednesday.
The reform creates a funding gap for public TV which will largely be filled by a levy on private broadcasters and Internet providers and by government support.
The 2009 budget includes 450 million euros to compensate for the loss of revenue but critics fear a slowing economy and falling state revenues will make future funding vulnerable.
Industry experts say the reform will not be a jackpot for private television, but just allow them to survive a difficult advertising market. (Editing by Charles Dick)