Canal+ CEO Bertrand Méheut is not pleased with the plans by Orange to launch more channels with movies and TV series, according to an interview in the French newspaper Le Figaro. “The mask has fallen down”.
During his keynote at MIPTV, France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard tried to play down his role as a media player by claiming “that now everyone has become a media player”, pointing at the surge of user generated content. But Méheut is not impressed: “Orange has posted results to the tune of €53 billion; compare this with our €4.3 billion. We are not against competition, but we should have the same weapons.”
Orange TV will launch its DTH service for France on the Eutelsat orbital positions of 13 and 5 degrees East. According to the satellite operator, 4.8 million French homes have already pointed their dish towards at least one of these positions.
