French pay TV operator Canal+ has named current CEO Maxime Saada as president of its directorate, replacing Jean-Christophe Thiery, who is in turn to replace Vivendi chairman Vincent Bolloré as chairman of the supervisory council. Bolloré took the reins at Canal+ after the departure of Bertrand Méheut in 2015, after Vivendi took full control of […]
Vincent Bolloré’s company is increasing its hold on Vivendi through a series of measures that will see its stake in the media giant rise above 20%. Thanks to French rules that allocate double voting rights to long-term shareholdings, the latest moves by Bolloré will furthermore see his voting rights in the company rise to 29% […]
Vivendi may make a new proposal to Mediaset following the acrimonious collapse of its previously agreed strategic partnership with the Italian broadcaster and could use Italy’s Mediobanca as an intermediary, according to Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore. According to the financial daily, Vivendi could make peace overtures to coincide with its half-year results on […]
French commercial broadcaster Canal+ has taken a 50% stake in Kissman Production Group. Kissman is the prodco of Jamel Debbouze, whose comedy-entertainment series Jamel Comedy Club is a fixture on Canal+. Following the investment, financial terms of which were not disclosed, Canal+ and Kissman will work to develop new TV and digital projects in the […]
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 […]
Bolloré exec Serge Nedjar has been appointed chief of Canal+ news channel iTele. The new iTele chief is close to Vincent Bolloré, the president of Canal+ owner Vivendi. Prior to taking the new role, Nedjar has been running the Direct Matin newspaper and regional division of Bolloré Média. Previously he launched the Direct 8 DTT channel […]
Vivendi chairman Vincent Bolloré has given the strongest indication yet that he plans to reduce or eliminate the free-to-air element of French pay TV service Canal+. Bolloré told financial daily Les Echos that Canal+ was not obliged to make content available unencrypted and said that while free-to-air content could gain advertising revenue in the short […]
Manuel Alduy, the head of Canal OTT at French pay TV broadcaster Canal+ has left his post, according to local reports. Alduy’s sphere of responsibility at Canal+ encompassed SVOD service Canalplay and mobile TV app-based service MyCanal. He was one of the few remaining members of the former leadership team at the broadcaster that included […]
Canal+ France lost 183,000 subscriptions in the first quarter, taking its domestic total to 8.3 million. The ongoing problems experienced by the group in France were to some extent offset by a strong international performance. Overall the group added 170,000 subscriptions in the quarter, thanks in particular to its strong showing in Africa, taking its […]
Italy’s Mediaset is close to striking a deal to sell its pay TV operation to Vivendi, according to a report by Reuters. According to the report, citing unnamed sources, Mediaset CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi and Vivendi chairman Vincent Bolloré are personally leading the talks, with Berlusconi committed to securing an agreement Vivendi is seeking to […]
