Canal+ S.A. facts for kids
Canal+ S.A., once known as Groupe Canal+, is a big French company based in Paris that works in media and telecommunications. It offers its own streaming service, called Canal+, and runs subscription TV channels in France. The company also helps distribute other TV channels and services. Canal+ is a very important supporter of French movies, helping to fund most films made in France.
Until December 9, 2024, Canal+ was part of another large French company called Vivendi. After that date, Groupe Canal+ became its own independent company, Canal+ S.A., and started trading its shares on the London Stock Exchange on December 16, 2024.
The company also owns other businesses, like StudioCanal, which makes and distributes films. Besides its work in France, Canal+ has many smaller companies and operates in countries across Europe, Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and in French Overseas Territories.
Contents
History of Canal+
Starting a TV Channel and Making Movies (1984)
The TV channel Canal+ began in November 1984. At that time, France only had three TV channels run by the government. André Rousselet and Pierre Lescure started Canal+. It quickly became popular with people who worked in media and with politicians. About 186,000 people signed up to pay for the service each month.
Alain de Greef joined Canal+ in 1986. He became the head of programs and later the general director. De Greef was known for being a creative and forward-thinking person. He helped create the "Canal Plus spirit," which was about being different and using clever humor. He created popular shows like the puppet show Les Guignols de l'Info and talk shows such as Nulle part ailleurs.
The new channel started slowly, and some politicians did not like the idea of a commercial TV channel. However, André Rousselet was friends with the president, François Mitterrand, which helped the company get good deals to start. Pierre Lescure was the general director then. Canal+ became successful by showing popular American comedies and French dramas that were not available on government channels. This helped more people subscribe. Government rules also made Canal+ show several hours of free programs each day, which the company used to promote its paid service.
At first, the channel had to show films for 45% of its airtime. Later, sports, interview shows, documentaries, and other types of programs became popular. In 1985, the government allowed other private TV stations to start, which brought more competition. But Canal+ continued to grow with strong marketing. By 1989, it had almost three million subscribers. Around this time, the company expanded into other European countries like Belgium, Spain, and Germany. In 1990, Canal+ also started working in Africa with Canal+ Horizons. This made Canal+ the most successful subscription channel in Europe and second only to HBO worldwide.
In the mid-1980s, Canal+ started buying rights to American TV shows and big movies. But buying these rights from Hollywood was expensive. So, the company began making its own films. On January 1, 1987, Canal+ Productions was created to help make movies. It later worked with Universal Pictures to make films.
On March 1, 1987, another company called Ellipse Programs was started to make TV shows for all broadcasters. On April 18, 1990, Canal+ Horizons was created to share Canal+ content in African countries. Also in 1987, Canal+ became a public company, meaning its shares could be bought and sold by the public.
By December 1990, Canal+ Productions changed its name to Le Studio Canal+. Its first film was The Double Life of Veronique. By the early 1990s, Canal+ was a big supporter of the French film industry. It had to spend 10% of its income on French films and was Europe's largest buyer of American film rights. Canal+ also invested in other companies. In 1991, it bought a small part of an American studio called Carolco Pictures. However, in 1992, Studio Canal+ faced some money problems after Carolco had to reorganize its business.
Starting Satellite Broadcasting (1992)
On December 6, 1991, CanalSatellite was created. Canal+ began broadcasting by satellite in 1992 to reach parts of France that did not have cable TV. CanalSatellite, a digital satellite provider, was launched as a company fully owned by Canal+ on December 6, 1991. On April 27, 1996, Canal+ got two new sister channels: Canal+ Jaune (Yellow) and Canal+ Bleu (Blue), which were later named Canal+ Cinema and Canal+ Confort. In 1999, Canal+ worked with Vivendi to create V-Net. During the 1990s, it also expanded into other parts of Europe and the UK. Later, it bought NetHold in the Netherlands and took control of France's NC Numericable.
In 1994, André Rousselet left the board, and Pierre Lescure took his place as director-general.
In January 1996, Le Studio Canal+ bought the film library of the company Carolco Pictures for $56 million. This was its first time buying a large collection of films. It also bought a film library from UGC DA.
On April 27, 1996, CanalSatellite launched as a digital satellite platform with 24 channels and interactive services.
On December 1, 1998, all film, TV, music, and video production activities were put into a new company called Canal+ Image, which changed its name to StudioCanal in 2000. On December 1, 1999, a new company, Canal+ Technologies, was created to develop and sell its technology for controlling access and interactivity.
The 21st Century
In January 2000, it was announced that Lagardère Group, a French media company, bought a large part of Canal+'s digital TV division. They took 34% of CanalSatellite and almost 27.5% of MultiThematiques for over $890 million. In February 2000, Canal+ announced that its TV production company, Ellipse Programme, would merge into Expand, a programming provider. The company continued to grow as it moved into Internet and multi-access content markets. On June 15, 2001, it took control of Expand, which was a leading producer of French audiovisual content.
On December 9, 2000, Vivendi bought Canal+. On December 11, 2000, Vivendi Universal was created by combining Canal+, Seagram, and Vivendi. Groupe Canal+, which included Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ Régie, and the Canal+ channel, was then fully owned by Vivendi Universal.
From 2000 to 2002, Virginie Calmels held several important roles, including chief financial officer and deputy CEO. In 2001, co-founder Alain De Greef left his position as director-general and Michel Denisot replaced him. This happened when the company was reorganized under Jean-Marie Messier, the chief executive of Vivendi. People criticized Vivendi's poor stock performance after the takeover. In April 2002, Pierre Lescure, another co-founder and CEO, also left his position.
In July 2003, Canal+ sold its animation production part, Ellipse Animation, to Média-Participations, a media entertainment company.
In June 2004, Canal+ Group sold its remaining assets. Adventure Line Productions was sold to Tele Images Group, and other parts like DMD Productions, Calt, and KM Production were sold back to their founders. Starling was sold to Sony Pictures Television.
On May 23, 2005, CanalSatellite changed its name to Canalsat.
An alternative Canal+ logo was used between 2006 and 2009.
On December 7, 2010, all Canal+ channels and the 90 CanalSat channels became available live on Microsoft's Xbox 360.
In December 2013, Canal+ announced CanalStart, a new program to help young business owners with their media and new technology ideas. CanalStart would invest money or give contracts to these new businesses. CanalStart was presented at SXSW 2014. In April 2015, CanalStart announced its first business partnership with Wildmoka, a company that creates special TV services. CanalStart was removed from the companies register on November 29, 2016.
In September 2015, Vincent Bolloré, who was the chairman of Vivendi (the parent company), became the chairman of Canal Plus. He made changes to the leadership and brought Canal+'s operations in line with Vivendi's goals.
In May 2019, Groupe Canal+ announced that it bought M7 Group, a TV provider based in Luxembourg. M7 Group operated pay-TV services in Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) and Central Europe for over $1.1 billion. This purchase helped Groupe Canal+ expand its operations into these areas. The M7 Group acquisition also meant that Canal Digitaal, a Dutch TV service, returned to its original parent company, Groupe Canal+.
Canal+ signed a special agreement with Disney in December 2019, before Disney+ launched in France on March 31, 2020. This agreement meant Canal+ would continue to have special rights to Disney content, including Star Wars and Avengers films. It would also be the only company distributing Disney channels in France. Canal+ also kept distributing National Geographic, Voyage, and Fox Play channels.
Canal+ S.A. started trading on the London Stock Exchange after it separated from Vivendi on December 16, 2024. The shares were trading at 242 pence that day.
Past Channels
Canal+ 3D started in June 2010 to show some matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in 3D. It only showed one movie and one live event each month, using 3D content from the UK and Spain. The channel stopped broadcasting on January 24, 2012, because it only had about 30,000 subscribers. Even after this, it was still possible to watch some 3D transmissions on Canal's PVRs and IPTV Networks. There were also plans to broadcast 200 hours in 3D for the London 2012 Olympics.
Canal+ Hi-Tech, which was called Canal+ 16/9 until March 2005, showed films in a widescreen format (16:9) and high-definition. This channel was removed when Canal+ switched all its main broadcasts to the 16:9 format.
What Canal+ S.A. Does
Canal+ S.A. has its main office in Issy-les-Moulineaux, a suburb of Paris.
The company distributes TV channels and services from other companies. It is also a very important source of money for making French films, helping to fund most movies produced in France. Canal+ also has its own companies, like StudioCanal, that are directly involved in making and distributing films. The Wall Street Journal newspaper called Canal+ "the French film industry's biggest financial backer."
The company believes it has one of the 50 most powerful French brands in the world as of 2023. It has 26.4 million subscribers in 50 countries. Its production company, StudioCanal, has 14 production companies in Europe and the US and owns more than 9,000 film titles.
Leadership and People
Canal+ S.A. has two main groups that manage it: a Supervisory Board and an Executive Committee.
As of May 2024, Jean-Christophe Thiery is the president of the Supervisory Board.
Here are some of the main leaders:
- Maxime Saada: He is the CEO of Canal+ S.A., the president of StudioCanal, and holds other important roles in related companies.
- Anna Marsh: She is a deputy director and the director-general of StudioCanal.
- Gregoire Castaing: He is a deputy director and leads finance and strategy.
- Jacques du Puy: He is the president of Canal+ International.
Canal+ Divisions in France
Canal+ (French TV Channel)
The main brand of the company is Canal+, a special French TV channel that started in 1984. Most of the time, its signal is scrambled, so viewers who want to watch its popular shows, like new movies and live sports, need to subscribe. In the past, this meant buying a special box to unscramble the signal. Today, Canal+ is usually part of a larger TV package from satellite or cable providers.
Canal+ (Provider and Streaming Platform)
This part of the company used to be called Canal Satellite Numérique, then Canalsat. It distributes TV channels through satellite and internet TV (IPTV). Canal+ is a satellite TV package that started in 1992 as an addition to the original Canal+ channel. The streaming service, which lets people watch videos on demand over the internet, launched in 2013 as "myCanal" and was later renamed Canal+.
StudioCanal
StudioCanal is a company that makes and distributes films. It was formed in 1988 and worked with NBCUniversal until 2011. Today, StudioCanal works in several countries like Germany, Japan, and Australia. It is a major player in the European movie industry.
In 2011, StudioCanal announced it would spend €200 million each year on making movies. This helped it become a top choice outside the U.S. for making smart, high-quality films, such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which the studio fully funded.
Thema
Thema is a company within the Canal+ Group that manages the distribution of pay TV services, free ad-supported TV channels (FAST channels), YouTube Channels, and other content to cable, IPTV, and satellite TV operators, as well as streaming services. As of 2024, Thema works with over 180 TV channels worldwide and has partnerships with major pay TV platforms in many regions, including France, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Canada, Latin America, and the US.
François Thiellet founded Thema in 2005, and Canal+ bought it in 2014. From January 2024, Thema has been handling the distribution of content from the Brazilian media company Globo across Asia. Thema also has a part called Thema America that covers Latin America.
International Work
Past Operations
Movie Network, an Australian TV service that started in 1995, was created by Canal+ and other companies like HBO and Disney. A few years later, Canal+ left this partnership.
Canal Plus was the first cable TV channel to operate in Brazil in 1989. It showed some ESPN programs. Its operations in Brazil were sold in 1991.
Canal+ International
Canal+ International is a company that is part of the Canal+ Group. By December 31, 2023, it had 6.6 million subscribers in over 50 countries across Africa, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and French Overseas Territories in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean regions. As of 2024, Canal+ International also produces over 100 channels for distribution around the world.
On November 15, 2017, Videotron, a cable system in Quebec, Canada, started carrying Canal+ International. This was the first time a provider carried the channel there. As of August 2018, Canal+ International is also available on the U.S. satellite provider DirecTV.
Africa
Canal+ Afrique, also known as Canal+ Horizons, started in 1991, first broadcasting mainly in Tunisia and Senegal. By the end of 2023, it had 8.1 million subscribers. In July 2014, a new TV channel for all of Africa, called A+, was launched. It is based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and aimed to become the top TV company in French-speaking Africa.
The Canal+ Group has other activities in Africa besides Canal+ Afrique. By 2018, the whole group offered over 200 channels, radio stations, and other services. On May 10, 2024, the Canal+ Group bought 45.2% of the shares in MultiChoice, a South African TV provider. MultiChoice has 20 million subscribers and is the market leader in English and Portuguese-speaking Africa. Their main competitor in Africa is StarTimes, which is owned by a Chinese company.
Canal+ Ethiopia stopped operating by the end of 2024.
In May 2025, the South African Competition Commission suggested that the Competition Tribunal approve Canal+'s plan to fully take over Multichoice, if certain conditions were met.
Europe
Canal+ expanded into several European countries in the 1990s. However, as of 2016, it was only active in Poland and France because many of its divisions were sold to other companies. Canal+ began returning to European markets outside of France and Poland in 2022 as a streaming service in countries like Austria, Czechia, and Slovakia.
Canal Plus came to the Nordic countries in 1997. The Nordic part was sold in October 2003, and the Canal+ brand was used under a license until 2012, when the channels were renamed C More Entertainment.
Canal+ Poland is the CANAL+ Group's second largest base in terms of subscribers, with 3 million.
Canal Group bought M7 Group in 2019, which has increased its presence in Europe. This now includes distribution brands in Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. M7 also plans to produce content for broadcast in Europe. The CANAL+ brand now exists in Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the Netherlands. As of 2024, the group also owns SPI International, which runs TV channels and digital platforms in many countries, and a part of the Swedish streaming service Viaplay.
Canal+ Czechia and Slovakia launched as a streaming service on February 28, 2023.
FilmNet in the Netherlands was renamed Canal+ in 1997. In 2005, the channels were bought by Liberty Global and renamed Sport1 and Film1 in February 2006. Sport1 changed its name to Ziggo Sport Totaal in November 2015. Film1 was sold to Sony Pictures Television in the same year. In April 2019, Sony announced that Film1 would close, but it was sold to SPI International instead. Canal+ fully acquired SPI International in August 2023. Canal+ was brought back to the Netherlands as a streaming service on January 20, 2024.
Canal+ Luxembourg (formerly M7 Group) is a TV provider based in Luxembourg. It operates several satellite pay TV platforms, including HD Austria in Austria, Télésat in Belgium and Luxembourg, TV Vlaanderen in Belgium, Skylink in Czech Republic and Slovakia, Canal Digitaal in the Netherlands, Focus Sat in Romania, and Direct One in Hungary. Canal+ bought M7 Group for 1.1 billion euros on September 12, 2019.
Past involvement in European services include:
- Canal+ Spain, launched in 1990 in Spain. In 2015, Telefónica, a large Spanish telecommunications company, bought Canal+ Spain and its satellite TV platform, which is now called Movistar Plus+.
- Canal+ Flanders, later sold and now known as Play More.
- Canal+ Belgique became BeTV when Vivendi sold the service in 2004.
- Canal+ Scandinavia, launched in 1997. The company was sold and renamed C More Entertainment, though the Canal+ brand was still used. Since 2012, it has been called C More.
- Tele+ Digitale, the Italian branch, was sold in 2003 and later became Sky Italia.
- Premiere, a German TV channel and platform launched in 1990, was founded by Canal+, Bertelsmann, and Kirch. Canal+ sold its share of Premiere a few years later. It later became Sky Deutschland.
Asia-Pacific
In May 2009, K+, founded by Canal+ and Vietnam Television (VTV), was launched. K+ provides satellite TV and streaming services to Vietnamese homes, offering five special and exclusive channels, and up to 170 standard and high-definition channels across different types of programs like sports, movies, and news.
Canal+ Myanmar, originally launched by Forever Group as 4TV in 2006, became a joint company with Canal+ Group in 2017. Canal+ has been working in Myanmar with Forever since 2018.
In June 2023, Canal+ partnered with PCCW to expand the streaming service Viu, which serves Asia and the Middle East. In February 2024, Canal+ increased its ownership in Viu to 30%. Also in 2023, CANAL+ partnered with the Onati group to broadcast its content in Polynesia.
French Overseas Territories
Canal+ Group has 800,000 subscribers in the French Overseas Territories. Canal+ International's companies operate in the Caribbean (Antilles, French Guiana, and Haiti); the Indian Ocean (Réunion, Mayotte, and Mauritius); and the Pacific (New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, and French Polynesia).
Channels in France
- Canal+ Cinéma(s) – a special TV channel for movies.
- Canal+ Sport – a special TV channel for sports programs.
- Canal+ Kids – a special TV channel for family programs.
- Canal+ Docs – a cable TV channel for documentaries.
- Canal+ Grand Écran
- Canal+ Foot
- Canal+ Séries – a special TV channel for TV series.
- Canal+ Sport 360 – a special TV channel that shows sports from Canal+ at a later time.
- Canal+ Box Office
- Canal+ Live – a cable TV channel for live sports.
- Canal+ Premier League
- Ciné+ OCS – a group of six TV channels focused on movies and series.
- Comédie+ (formerly Comédie!) – a cable TV channel for comedy.
- CStar Hits France – a cable TV channel for French music videos from the 1980s to today.
- Golf+ – a cable TV channel for golf.
- Infosport+ – a cable TV news channel for sports.
- Piwi+ (formerly Piwi) – a cable TV channel for preschool programs.
- Planète+ – a cable TV channel for documentaries.
- Planète+ Aventure – a cable TV channel for adventure documentaries.
- Planète+ Crime – a cable TV channel for crime documentaries.
- Polar+ – a cable TV channel for crime TV series.
- Seasons – a cable TV channel for documentaries about hunting and fishing.
- Télétoon+ (formerly Télétoon) – a cable TV channel for animation.
- CNews (formerly i>Télé) – a free news channel.
- C8 – a free general TV channel.
- CStar – a free channel mainly for music.
- MyCanal, now CANAL+ – a streaming service for Canal+ subscribers to watch channels live and on-demand. It also has a free service for Canal+'s free channels.
- Canal+ International – an international French special channel in North America that shows programs from Canal+ and its other channels.
Other Parts of the Company
- Canal+ Luxembourg – a TV service provider based in Luxembourg.
- Canal+ – a streaming service based on the MyCanal service (in Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic, and Slovakia).
- Canal Digitaal (Netherlands)
- Direct One (Hungary)
- Focus Sat (Romania)
- HD Austria (Austria)
- Online.nl (Netherlands)
- Skylink (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
- Télésat (Belgium, Luxembourg)
- TV Vlaanderen (Flemish community in Belgium)
- StudioCanal – a company that produces and distributes films.
- StudioCanal Home Entertainment (North America, the United Kingdom, and Ireland)
- SAM Productions (Scandinavian)
- Arthaus (Germany)
- Red Production Company (United Kingdom)
- Tandem Productions (Germany)
- SPI International
- Dizi
- Film1
- FilmBox
- Kino Polska
- MediaBox Broadcasting International - TV channels with specific themes like DocuBox, FashionBox, FightBox, and FunBox.
- Stopklatka.pl
- Zoom TV
- Canal+ Brand Solutions – an advertising network for the group's channels and the cinema company UGC.
Images for kids
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Canal+ logo
