Arnaud de Puyfontaine


Vivendi keeps its cool as police raid Paris offices

Vivendi has maintained that it will find a way out of its current impasse with Mediaset after police raided its Paris offices yesterday following a request by Italy. French police accompanied by representatives of Italy’s financial police, the Guardia di Finanza, searched Vivendi’s HQ in Paris for evidence pertaining to the Milan-based investigation into possible […]

Telecom Italia gets new CEO & okays Canal+ JV

Telecom Italia (TIM) has confirmed the widely anticipated appointment of Vivendi exec Amos Genish as its new CEO and approved the creation of a joint venture with Canal+. The joint venture will aim to create a new premium video service and content creation unit for the Italian market. According to TIM, the JV with Canal+ […]

Vivendi chief confirms Telecom Italia-Canal+ JV plan

Plans to create a pay TV joint venture between Canal+ and Telecom Italia (TIM) are set to be put forward before the TIM control and risk committee in August before being submitted to the board for approval, according to Vivendi CEO and Telecom Italia (TIM) executive chairman Arnaud de Puyfontaine. Speaking to analysts after TIM […]

Canal+ reverses subs drops, eyes earnings gains

Canal+ subscriber additions outnumbered cancellations for the first time in many quarters in the three months to March, and the struggling pay TV outfit’s parent company Vivendi said it expected a reversal of the downward trend in earnings in the second half of this year. In a call with investors, Vivendi’s CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine […]

Altice debuts food net with Jamie Oliver shows

Altice is launching a new cooking brand with a TV channel, print magazine and digital site, and in tandem has closed a deal for Jamie Oliver programming. My Cuisine will encompass a new TV channel to be distributed in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and French-speaking Africa, a print magazine and digital properties including a mobile […]

Vivendi CEO: ‘no resolution’ in Mediaset stalemate

Attempts to find a resolution to the battle between Vivendi and Mediaset have so far failed, according to the French media giant’s CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine, speaking to the Financial Times. Despite press speculation in recent weeks that a new deal was in the offing, there has been no discussion between the pair since July […]

Canal+ loses subs, programme budget cut

French pay TV operator Canal+ continued to lose domestic subscribers during the first half, with the total number of services sold declining by 272,000 to 8.19 million in June, as €150 million (US$170 million) is cut from the programming budget. The Vivendi-owned pay TV operator is to implement a programme of costcutting in a bid […]

Mediaset and Vivendi in war of words

The war of words between Mediaset and Vivendi over the latter’s second thoughts about buying the Italian broadcaster’s struggling pay TV unit shows no signs of abating. Mediaset on Friday accused Vivendi of being in breach of trading rules by releasing what it described as “totally subjective” information about the company’s performance during normal trading […]

Vivendi pulls out of Mediaset deal

Vivendi has pulled out of its planned acquisition of an 89% stake in Mediaset Premium and submitted an alternative proposal to take a 20% in the pay TV outfit. This follows the emergence of what Vivendi described as “significant differences” in its analysis of Mediaset Premium’s results. Vivendi said that its CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine […]

Bolloré to ‘step down’ as Canal+ chair in handover

Vincent Bolloré is set to quit as chairman of Canal+ this summer, with his son Yannick likely to join the company’s board, according to a report by French daily Le Figaro. According to the paper, citing an unnamed source close to the matter, Bolloré intends to hand over the reins at Canal+ sometime over the […]