Canal Plus, Orange agree to pact

Deal will extend reach of competitors

By JOHN HOPEWELL

After months of phony war, France’s two media giants, Vivendi’s Canal Plus Group and France Telecom-Orange, have signed what looks like a historic peace pact.

Under the multiyear deal, FT-Orange will offer its triple-play clients, who receive Orange TV services via its new satellite feed, both CPG’s premium paybox Canal Plus and multi-channel digital bouquet CanalSat.

The deal follows months of supposed hostility, pumped up by the Gallic media, between CPG and FT-Orange, after FT-Orange launched a satellite TV service this August to reach clients, principally in rural areas, who could not receive Internet TV via broadband.

FT-Orange followed up in November with a five-channel premium pay TV bouquet, Orange Cinema Service, which tapped product from Warner Bros. Intl. Television, HBO and MGM, and was seen as a direct competitor to Canal Plus.

But both CPG and Orange have more to gain than lose by sealing a distribution accord.

Facing an already maturing market, CPG subscriptions were being hurt by Orange’s lack of active promotion of Canal Plus and CanalSat to Orange’s broadband TV clients.

According to Francois Godard at Enders Analysis, in regions in France that can’t be reached by broadband TV, there are about four million Canal Plus subscribers and four million Orange ADSL customers, with the majority of both client bases taking both offers.

The agreement will allow these customers to receive both CPG’s and Orange pay TV via Astra, consolidating FT-Orange’s triple-play base in satellite TV areas.