Advanced Television

Canal+ to launch pan-African A+

July 10, 2014

From Paoli-Lebailly Pascale in Paris

French pay-TV group Canal+ has announced it will launch a French speaking premium pan-African channel A+ on October 24th.

African content – both produced in house or acquired – will fill 70 per cent of the channel’s output– with the remainder of the schedule being filled with music, cooking and entertainment shows from around the globe as well as movies.

Based in Abidjan, the new channel will be included in the basic line-up of dish platform Canalsat.

A+ is set to stimulate the monthly pre-paid subscriptions, but its model is also based on advertising and sponsoring.

“This premium channel is extending our international development strategy”, Canal+ Group CEO Bertrand Meheut said. “International activities are becoming more and more significant to us, representing from 2014 40 per cent of our results and 40 per cent of our total subscribers. We have currently taken hold in 30 countries, including Vietnam and Poland, and Africa is one of the main pillars for growth”.

In Africa, Canal+ has deployed its premium channels offer  Canal+ Afrique and dish bouquet Canalsat into more than 20 countries and claims 1.3 million subs.

It says the launch of A+ furthers the goal of developing local content and appealing to the emerging African middle classes.

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