French pay-TV Canal+ Group is the subject of an investigation launched by French Competition Authority, suspecting an abuse of its dominant position related to the acquisition and distribution of films.
Two years after having taken on the issue, the Competition Authority indicated in a statement on September 29th that it had “notified grievances” to an audiovisual company, initiating a contradictory phase, but without specifying its identity.
According to information from daily Les Echos, confirmed to AFP, the procedure is aimed at the Canal+ group, the largest funder of cinema. In a press statement, the competition watchdog mentioned, in support of the procedure, the possible “imposition of unfair settlement conditions” and assured that the investigation would have to determine, after exchanges of “written observations and an oral session”, whether the grievances “are founded or not”.
The grievances of the Competition Authority would be linked to two provisions of the agreement signed in 2021 between trade bodies and Canal+ under which the group undertook to invest €600 million in French and European cinema over the subsequent three years. According to sources, these provisions limited the number of films available on competing free platforms to 10 and gave Canal+ the right to review its investments if a competitor approached its distribution window.
This agreement has since been superseded. Under the media windowing, Canal+ can broadcast a film six months after its release, far ahead of US platforms (nine months for Disney+, 17 months for Netflix) or other television channels (22 months for France TV). At the end of July, Canal+ reasserted its position as the leading financier of French cinema by committing to invest €980 million over the next five years.
Signed in July, the most recent agreement settled by Canal+ with the movie industry is associated to conditions guaranteeing the Canal+ group a status quo on the current media windowing and the continuation of broadcasting window at six months after theatrical release.
ATV
