Eblack screen for many viewers. After several blows in 2018, the trade war for broadcasting fees has resumed with renewed vigor in recent days. Outraged by the cost increases demanded by the TF1 group for the broadcasting of its channels, namely TF1, TMC, TFX, TF1 Séries Films and LCI, Canal+ banged its fist on the table. The group chaired by Maxime Saada and controlled by Vincent Bolloré stopped broadcasting the five channels on Friday September 2. From a source familiar with the matter, TF1 would demand a 50% increase from Canal+ compared to the price of the previous contract, which expired on Wednesday August 31 at midnight. “A fanciful figure”, we regret at TF1, which specifies that it has signed with all the other operators and distributors (SFR, Free, Orange, etc.) without any hitch. The consequences are important for the group of Martin Bouygues. Canal, a Vivendi subsidiary, represents between 12% and 15% of channel audiences. Signal interruption therefore has an impact on advertising revenue.
This pressure from Vincent Bolloré is not innocent, with perfect “timing”, even a certain art of staging, some will say. It comes at a crucial time for the TF1-M6 merger, whose leaders are to be heard early next week by the Competition Authority. Maxime Saada, chairman of the executive board of the Canal+ group, will say all the bad things he thinks about the merger on Tuesday, September 6. The company’s press release also tends to demonstrate that the TF1 group is already abusing a dominant position to set its broadcasting costs: “Faced with these unfounded and unreasonable demands for channels which are accessible free of charge for all and which must remain, the Canal+ group, a long-time partner of the TF1 Group, is forced to give up broadcasting these channels in mainland France,” he says. Canal+ drives the point home by ensuring that it can do without the broadcast of TF1 channels for the Football World Cup which is being held from November 20 to December 18, 2022. The group led by Maxime Saada says it can rely on its partnership with beIN Sports which holds all the rights to the competition and, therefore, to offer the entire event to its subscribers….
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TF1 was quick to react. In a press release, he “takes note” and “strongly deplores” the decision of the encrypted channel which makes “the choice to deprive its subscribers of the channels and services that they pay for in their subscription”. The group recalls that its channels are visible on Free, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, Orange, Molotov and Salto. It “remains open to discussions with a view to finding an agreement quickly so as not to further penalize the millions of viewers who receive the group’s channels via Canal+”. These are trade negotiations. The two parties could very well come to an agreement in the next few hours or, at worst, in the next few days.
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Distribution control
In 2018, before the forceps signing of their previous contract, discussions between the two groups had already turned into a commercial conflict. Refusing to pay to be able to broadcast channels otherwise accessible free of charge via DTT, Canal+ had decided to cut off the broadcast of TF1 to its subscribers for a time, causing an outcry among some viewers.
This unprecedented showdown within the French audiovisual landscape had dramatically illustrated the rise of operators and other intermediaries in the reception modes of TV channels, to the detriment of DTT (which can be received without any subscription ). Faced with the steamroller of Netflix, Disney+ and other American platforms, the control and monetization of channel distribution has become an important resource for television empires.
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