Canal+ Group again demonstrated its importance to parent Vivendi as the pay-TV operation recorded significant revenue growth of 5.7% for the third quarter of 2023, and +3.9% for the first nine months of 2023 thanks particularly to a 23.6% increase for Studiocanal’s and growth of 3.3% in pay-television in France.
Yannick Bolloré, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Chief Executive Officer of Vivendi, commented: “Canal+ Group’s strong performances are the result of its operational excellence and a willingness to make significant investments in original content for cinema and television. Through its recent agreements with Viu, for development in South-East Asia, and with Viaplay, in the Nordic countries, Canal+ Group demonstrated its ambition to be an international player in the audiovisual field.”
The subscriber base at Canal+ continues to grow year-over-year, while revenues from international operations increased by 1.7%.
Studiocanal’s revenues increased sharply by 23.6% due to a very successful period for film releases in cimemas, both in France (including more than 4 million admissions for Alibi.com 2 and 1.2 million admissions for All Your Faces) and in other Studiocanal markets (including John Wick 4 in Australia and New Zealand, Evil Dead Rise in the United Kingdom, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir in Germany and Poland and Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom in Poland), and strong growth in international sales (international release of Retribution in August, sold almost worldwide).
In addition to the acquisition of a 12% interest in Viaplay Group, the leading pay-TV provider in the Nordic countries, the acquisitive Canal has also grown its share capital in Africa’s MultiChoice to 32.93% as of September 30, 2023 and acquired the remaining 30% of share capital in SPI International.
Locally, DAZN launched as part of Canal’s sports offer in France onAugust 12 and there is also now distribution of the Canal+ Ligue 1 channel in the DAZN app alongside Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Apple TV+ and beIN Sports.
