18/07/2011

France Télécom has officially buried the hatchet with the Canal + group, the undisputed king of pay-TV in France, which has acquired a 33.33% stake in Orange Cinéma Séries.

Launched in November 2008 (see news), Orange Cinéma Séries presented itself as a potential rival to Canal + (see news) before admitting defeat in view of its losses, proving right the words of Manuel Alduy, head of film at Canal +, who commented to Cineuropa (see interview) last autumn: "France is a small country and few countries manage to have two rival pay-TV platforms based around film and/or sport."

After planning to create a joint venture (see news) to take over the Orange Cinéma Séries package (500,000 subscribers) and merge Orange Ciné Max and TPS Star (Canal +’s flagship film channel), France Télécom and Canal + have opted for a simpler solution in order to avoid the risk of forming a monopoly which the authorities would have blocked.

Orange Cinéma Séries’ five channels (Orange Cinemax, Orange Cinehappy, Orange Cinenovo, Orange Cinechoc, Orangecinegeant) will now be available to CanalSat subscribers. Meanwhile, Canal + will be able to extend the distribution of its audiovisual products through Orange, France’s leading Internet access provider (over 9m subscribers).

Orange Cinéma Séries’ budget is expected to decrease from €120m to €100m, thanks in particular to the savings made with the end of its exclusivity contracts with US studios. On the other hand, the number of its pre-acquisitions of French and European films will not change. In 2010, Orange Cinéma Séries acquired 26 French accredited films for €23.38m. For its part, Canal + pre-bought 155 (i.e. 59.4% of French production) for a total investment of €194.57m.

(Translated from French)