Canal+ brings down a black screen on the TF1 channels. Vincent Bolloré’s group decided on September 2 to cut off the broadcast of TF1 channels on its TNT Sat offer, which allows you to receive DTT channels in areas where terrestrial coverage is poor. This is not the first time that the two French audiovisual giants have fought over the subject of the distribution of the free channels of the TF1 group. In 2018, the discussions between the two groups had already turned into a commercial conflict and Canal + had decided to cut off the broadcast of TF1 for a certain time to its subscribers, causing an outcry among viewers. It is precisely this agreement that ended on August 31 and launched season 2 between the two channels.
Franceinfo looks back on this decision and the chain reactions it caused.
Act 1: the Canal+ group announces “to renounce” the broadcasting of the channels of the TF1 group
Thunderbolt Friday, September 2 in the early morning. In a press release, the Canal + group announces “to renouncer” the broadcasting of the free channels of the TF1 group, within the framework of the renewal of the distribution contract between the two parties. “Faced with these unfounded and unreasonable demands for channels which are accessible free of charge for all and which must remain so, the Canal+ group, a long-standing partner of the TF1 Group, is forced to give up broadcasting these channels in metropolitan France”justifies Canal +.
The Canal+ group announces in a press release the cessation of the broadcasting of the free channels of the TF1 group, which would have asked for “substantial remuneration” for the distribution of these channels. “Unfounded and unreasonable demands”, according to Canal +. pic.twitter.com/atxJKqKfqE
— Alexis Duvauchelle (@Duvauchelle_A) September 2, 2022
The group seems to place itself in the perspective of a long conflict, since it assures that it can “offer the whole” of the Football World Cup (November 20-December 18) to its subscribers, “backed by its partnership with beIN Sports” who owns the rights.
In practice, only households that receive television only via a satellite subscription from the Canal+ group (and who therefore do not have access to it via a box from another operator or via free DTT) will be completely deprived of TF1 channels. . According to the latest figures from Arcom (ex-CSA), 7% of French households equipped with a television receive television only by satellite. But even if they can watch TF1 channels in another way, this will force Canal+ subscribers to juggle several remote controls for this.
Act 2: TF1 “strongly deplores” the decision taken by Canal+
In a press release, the TF1 group immediately responded by blaming Canal+ which, according to it, did not “did not wish to conclude a new agreement (…) despite weeks of discussions”.
In a press release, the TF1 group “strongly deplores” the decision taken by the Canal group. pic.twitter.com/P8nSIlMrAt
— Thomas Pouilly (@thomaspouilly) September 2, 2022
“We very strongly deplore this situation, which penalizes consumers”we assure TF1, arguing that “agreements have been reached in recent years with all the operators”. “The TF1 group is distributed by all distributors Free, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, Orange, Molotov and Salto”he points out.
A reaction which is also to be read in mirror audiences of the channels of the Bouygues group, already very affected by the decision of Canal. The “20 hours” of TF1 thus gathered 4.27 million viewers, Friday evening, or a market share of 23% according to the site of Médiamétrie. A score far from the usual audiences of TF1.
Act 3: Canal + subscribers express their anger, the chairman of the group’s management board explains
On social networks, many Canal + subscribers expressed their dissatisfaction, threatening to terminate their subscription.
Meanwhile, on the support forums @canalplusthe private subscribers of the TF1 channels and faced with a fait accompli are unleashed. pic.twitter.com/2SYnScKs4A
—Louis Hausalter (@LouisHausalter) September 2, 2022
In The JDDSaturday September 3, the president of the executive board of the Canal+ group, Maxime Saada, counter-attacks while trying to reassure subscribers. “Lhe TF1 group is asking us for a 50% increase for access to the same content as today. This figure is not fanciful, as I have read. It is accurate to the nearest euro”he assures. “Our subscribers have the impression of being taken hostage. We understand them. We do not want to deprive them of the first channel in France and we regret this situationcontinues Maxime Saada. Why should a Canal+ subscriber pay for the TF1 channels they would have free of charge if they were not a Canal+ subscriber? It’s incomprehensible.”
Act 4: the Minister of Culture calls Canal+ to order
The same day, The Parisian unveils a letter written on September 2 by the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, to Maxime Saada and which franceinfo was able to read. The latter urges the group to restore the broadcasting of TF1 channels on its TNT Sat offer. “I appeal to your sense of responsibility and of the general interest to avoid depriving hundreds of thousands of households of the reception of all DTT channels”, writes the minister. This reminds us that “this situation is not in accordance with the intention of the legislator, which was to guarantee full coverage of the territory by DTT by obliging the DTT channels to make their signal available free of charge to a satellite distributor who makes it the request”. Maxime Saada has, for the moment, not reacted.
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