Broadband TV News speaks exclusively with Erwan Luherne, MD of SPI International, about the company and its plans for the future.
How do you leverage SPI’s unique strengths to attract and retain customers?
SPI has demonstrated its market prowess, establishing itself as a formidable presence, especially in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) markets, with its diverse portfolio of channels and digital services that provide good content curation at competitive prices.
The company’s leading brand, FilmBox, renowned as the Home of Good Movies, combined with its SVOD offering FilmBox+, have already gained widespread recognition in numerous territories within the CEE region. Notably, in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia and many other countries, the FilmBox channel has maintained its position as a major pay-TV movie provider for many years. With the addition of strong linear channels and a performant SVOD offer, SPI brings a strong value to all operators that we work with.
As an experienced channels creator and curator, SPI has the resources and experience to diversify the channel offerings within the expanded Canal+ Group and launch brand new Canal+ branded channels in the various European markets. With a dedicated focus on optimising the resources of the Group’s companies, we are enthusiastic about cultivating even greater synergies among them.
Another valuable asset we recognise in SPI is its swift and efficient responsiveness to customer requests, showcasing a commendable level of agility. A recent example that signifies this agility is the launch of the Smart Channels innovation within the FilmBox+ streaming app. FilmBox+ offers both premium on-demand content and live channels, where live channels generate 50% of total watch hours on FilmBox+. In an effort to enhance user engagement and retention, SPI has introduced Smart Channels. These channels provide a distinctive lean-back TV experience, seamlessly integrating on-demand videos into a linear channel format. This innovation significantly broadens the platform’s channel offerings with minimal exertion. We are committed to harnessing further innovative thinking from the SPI team in our future endeavours.
We are excited to always give value to our channels and services. SPI’s “Home of Great Entertainment” motto is set to enhance the value proposition that we are delivering to our partners. SPI’s goal is always delivering the best aggregation of content by offering more avenues for premium content curation in our channels and SVOD service. SPI wants to elevate the user experience but also streamline the process of discovering high-quality programming, ensuring users have access to the best in entertainment.
Could you provide any insights into upcoming projects or expansion plans that you’re particularly excited about for SPI?
SPI’s extensive experience as a creator and curator of TV channels, coupled with their proficiency in assembling complementary linear TV channels and SVOD service, plays a pivotal role in driving our company’s expansion efforts. SPI, as the Home of Great Entertainment, offers a diverse range of content in various formats to cater to a multitude of tastes. We are eager to broaden our B2B partnerships across our key territories.
Currently the TV markets are evolving very fast and require a strong reactivity for developing the products requested by viewers and subscribers. Canal+ Group and M7 Group strongly believe in SPI International’s capacity to support their strategy, in Europe especially, by developing valuable new TV channels and services for European key markets. With this new shareholder structure and management, SPI International will benefit from full synergies and expertise from Canal+ Group affiliates which may enhance its business results.
SPI is always expanding its footprint with strong and productive partnerships with operators. FilmBox channels are the engine of our development and we are constantly improving them to always provide the best entertainment to our viewers. We have recently finalised a very nice partnership with United Group for a multi-territory agreement, allowing wider access to our FilmBox channels. We are delighted with this partnership and it is in this spirit that we wish to cooperate with all the operators, by delivering them a rich and affordable channel offering.
What services and/or products will SPI be focusing on in the next few years?
SPI, with the FilmBox brand, has a strong portfolio of pay-TV offerings, including linear channels and SVOD service, that addresses profitability challenges in the face of declining ARPU and rising content costs for pay-TV platforms.
FilmBox brand channels, including FilmBox, FilmBox Premium, FilmBox Extra, and FilmBox Stars, offer a robust catalogue of movies. Complemented by FilmBox+ which allows viewers to access these channels and on-demand content anywhere, anytime at competitive prices, empowering B2B partners to enhance their content offerings for comprehensive customer entertainment.
FilmBox portfolio of channels and SVOD service, FilmBox+, will be the key focus for us in the coming years, integrating with more B2B partners and launching more FilmBox offers with key regions worldwide.
How does SPI plan to harness synergies through its collaboration with the Canal+ Group?
Canal+ Group and M7 Group have full confidence in SPI International’s ability to bolster their European strategy. SPI possesses both the resources and expertise required to create and edit TV channels and SVOD services within the expanded Canal+ Group. For example, SPI actively aids Canal+ Group in the introduction of Canal+ branded channels in CEE markets. Recently, SPI International, spearheaded the comprehensive development and introduction of Canal+ Action and the SVOD service in the Czech Republic. This encompassed programme acquisition, on-air promotion, and technical support services. In the upcoming year, we have strategic plans to broaden the reach of our Canal+ Action offering across additional territories.
Moreover, SPI’s FilmBox pay-TV channels are very popular and have great potential to strengthen the Canal+ offering in important CEE regions. We’re dedicated to elevating the value proposition of FilmBox by expanding our content library and tailoring feeds to cater specifically to each territory. This enhanced Canal+ package will include both Canal+ and FilmBox channels, along with the FilmBox+ SVOD service and other partner SVOD options, providing a wide range of content for different tastes.
We firmly believe that this collaborative endeavour, focused on optimising the collective resources of the Group’s member companies, holds significant promise for future initiatives.