Some of the leading players in France’s pay-TV industry may team up in order to counter the threat from Netflix, which launched in the country last month.
According to Le Figaro, Orange is already in advanced talks with TF1 and the two parties have been joined by Canal+, which does not wish to be left behind in what could effectively be the launch of a ‘French Netflix’ service.
The argument is that although operators do not have much to gain financially from distributing the US service, they have to accept the fact that it is already proving to be popular with French viewers.
The main strength of Netflix is seen to be its algorithm, which allows the service to offer content tailored to the tastes of viewers.
Orange, on the other hand, has OCS, which allows it to offer such popular content as Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead thanks largely to a key agreement with HBO. This would be significantly boosted by a deal with TF1.
At the same time, Orange would have to reach an understanding with Canal+, which has a 33.4% stake in OCS.
Netflix initially reached an agreement with Bouygues Telecom and earlier this month also struck an agreement with Orange. Furthermore, SFR has just started distributing the service.
Given that Canal+ already regards its CanalPlay as a French Netflix, it remains to be seen whether it will be willing to launch a more inclusive service with Orange and TF1 as partners.
