Canal+ France chief takes sideswipe at Salto plan

Canal+ France chief Franck Cadoret has said he is “sceptical” about the prospects of the planned OTT TV joint venture between public broadcaster France Télévisions and commercial broadcasters TF1 and M6.

Speaking at an awards event organised by NPA, Cadoret was quoted by financial daily Les Echos as saying he was sceptical about the prospects for the planned Salto service as it was based on making people pay for content that had already been available free on digital-terrestrial TV.

In a swipe at TF1, Cadoret remarked that it was currently “fashionable” to “make you pay for things that are free”.

It emerged this week that TF1 has filed a legal complaint against Canal+ in May after the pair failed to strike an agreement over the terms under which TF1’s channels are distributed on the Canal+ platform. The broadcaster’s legal filing is reportedly based on the claim that Canal+ has been commercializing its channels without its permission since the expiry of the pair’s contract.

Regarding Salto, Cadoret said that it was difficult to get consumers to pay for content, event with a premium offering such as football. He added that the three broadcasters’ audience profile was older than groups that are disposed to take up online subscription services such as Netflix.