Orange Cinema celebrates first year with 324,000 subs

On the first anniversary of its launch Orange has announced that its Cinema Series bouquet had reached 324,000 subscribers. Launched on November 13, 2008, the five channels have been built around the concept of on demand. Almost 50% of its subscribers use the catch-up TV functionality, viewing an average of 6.7 videos each month. On demand is particularly popular with US series, representing some 70% of viewing.

The five-channel bouquet comprises. Orange ciné max, premiering new movies and series; Orange ciné happy, family viewing; Orange ciné choc, action and adrenaline; Orange ciné novo, independent cinema; Orange ciné géants, classic films.

The channels have been tied to the Orange IPTV and satellite pay platforms, angering rivals Canal+, SFR and Free, which took Orange to the French competition authority.

As of September 30, 2009 the combined subscriber totals to the Orange Cinema Series and sister channel Orange Sport stood at 2.547 million. The number of Orange digital TV subscribers in France was 2.547 million.