Canal+
About
The Canal+ Group is the leading pay-TV group in France. It is the leader in production of premium and specialized channels and has 10.6 million subscribers to its offers. A pioneer in new uses of television, it is also a major player in film production and distribution.
Les Chaines Canal+
Programs for all tastes
Films, sports, information, comedy and drama series, documentaries and more: "Les Chaînes Canal+" offers exclusive, original entertainment for all interests via five general Premium channels: Canal+, Canal Cinema, Canal+ Sport, Canal+ Family and Canal+ Décalé.
The Canal+ channel is a premium general interest channel. It offers special sports coverage and exclusive broadcasts of new films, key cinema-industry events and hit series like 24 and Desperate Housewives, as well as other high-quality shows including Le Grand Journal and Les Guignols de l’Info . In 2008, it broadcast 400 movies and more than 35 previously unaired films every month - for its 5.3 million subscribers.
The premium offering is rounded out by TPS Star, carrying mainly cinema, sports, series and magazines.
The Canal+ Group also produces a range of some 20 special-interest channels dedicated to viewers’ favourite themes, including film (CinéCinéma channels), sports (Sport+, InfoSport), news (i>Télé), documentaries (Planète channels), lifestyle (Cuisine TV, Seasons), TV series (Jimmy, Comédie!) and children’s programs (Piwi, Télétoon ).
"Les Chaînes Canal+" is available via analogue and digital terrestrial television, satellite, cable and ADSL networks.
CanalSat
CanalSat: the leading multi-channel offering in France
CanalSat is the leading multichannel offering in France and offers 300 channels and services, including 55 channels exclusive to CanalSat.
CanalSat is available via satellite, via ADSL and TNT in the form of a "mini-package", and via catch-up TV.
A specific offering has also been developed for 3G, 3G+ and EDGE telephones with CanalSat’s partners SFR and Bouygues Telecom.
New Uses
At the leading edge of new uses of television
The leading pay-TV channel in France and a pioneer of digital in Europe, the Canal+ Group is the leader in new uses of television.
Beyond the High Definition revolution, in which it is the precursor, the Canal+ Group is at the leading edge of television on demand with its catch-up TV offerings, Canal+ and CanalSat on demand. It also operates the first legal downloading service in France, CanalPlay.
The Canal+ key, a pocket set-top box in USB format for watching Canal+ wherever viewers go, and +Le Cube, a hard-drive-equipped set-top box with advanced functionalities, are among the Canal+ Group’s latest innovations.
The Canal+ Group internationally
Canal Overseas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canal+ France, is the operator of Canal+ and CanalSat in the french overseas territories and departments and in sub-Saharan Africa. The only French overseas network, Canal Overseas operates four satellite platforms (Africa, Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific) covering a potential worldwide audience of 500 million individuals and two-thirds of all French-speaking territories. Through its Multi TV Afrique subsidiary, Canal Overseas also produces the Canal+ Horizons and Canal+ Essentiel channels.
Canal Overseas makes constant efforts to provide access to French-language channels to French-speaking people and Francophiles in a large part of the world, even in the most isolated regions. At year-end 2008, Canal Overseas had one million active individual subscribers in french overseas territories and departments and in Africa.
The Canal+ Group is also a television leader in Poland through its subsidiary Cyfra+, a 75%-owned subsidiary, which offers a package of 80 television and radio channels, 63 in Polish. At year-end 2008, Cyfra+ had 1.4 million subscribers.
Studio Canal
A major player in the film industry
StudioCanal, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canal+ Group, is the European leader in the production, acquisition and distribution of motion pictures in all media: theater, video, audiovisual and video on demand.
StudioCanal has a catalogue of over 5,000 French, British and American films, including Basic Instinct, French-Fried Vacation, The Pianist and Podium.
Alongside Canal+, StudioCanal is a key partner of French cinema, helping to finance two-thirds of all films produced in France each year.
StudioCanal operates directly in the other two largest European markets – the UK (the operations are conducted through its subsidiary Optimum Releasing) and Germany (the operations are conducted through its subsidiary Kinowelt, acquired in January 2008).
Stronger presence in the world of sports
Early in 2008, the Canal+ Group acquired Occade Sport, now called Canal+ Events, specialized in organizing sports events.
The goal is to strengthen its presence in the sports world and to develop upstream its sports-events production activities. Canal+ Events organizes, among others, the Lyon (France) Tennis Grand Prix, the Masters France tennis tournament, the Lyon marathon, Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche (France) golf trophy, and the VIP operations for the French Open at Roland-Garros.
The group has become a recognized international player after acquiring and marketing the international distribution rights for the French League 1 and League 2 and League Cup soccer championships and, more recently, rights to OM TV, the French basketball team and the French basketball championship. It distributes its products on all continents.
Management
Bertrand Meheut
Chairman of the Executive Board
Emmanuel Florent
Vice President, Strategy
Rodolphe Belmer
Executive Vice President, Content
Laurence Gallot
Vice President, Communications
Joseph Guégan
Executive Vice President, Technology and Information Systems
Sophie Guieysse
Vice President, Human Resources
Guy Lafarge
Executive Vice President, Distribution
Frédéric Mion
General Counsel
Maxime Saada
Executive Vice President, Sales
Julien Verley
Chief Financial Officer
