According to French news website LesJours.fr, which has obtained a confidential document, the Canal+ group recorded a net loss of 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2016.
In December 2015, the subscriber base (Canal + and CanalSat combined) counted 7.535 million customers. In March 2016, they were only 7.339 million. During the quarter, 381,000 subscribers dropped Canal and 185,000 became new customers.
LesJours.fr notes that the loss of 200,000 during the quarter means that losses are now accelerating: the total loss of subs during the whole of 2015 amounted to 405,000.
Last week, Vincent Bolloré sounded the alarm bells at the last shareholders meeting, stating that Canal+ could lose more than €400 million in 2016, after a €264 million loss in 2015. “Some believed that I was the cause of the losses. I am their result and maybe their solution,” he said.