beIN Sports to launch third French channel
August 19, 2014
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
Having reached more than 2 million subscribers in France following the World Cup, pay-TV sports channel beIN Sports has announced new ventures that include the launch of a third local channel – beIN Sports 3.
Two years after being launched by Qatari group Al Jazeera, beIN Sports will also unveil its new all new online channel on September 15th. It has the rights to sports such as handball, tennis, volley ball and athletics. A selection of Ligue 1 and Champions League matches will also air.
BeIN Sports 1 will broadcast the most important competitions, while beIN Sports 2 will cover European football championships. Online channel beIN Sports Max will keep delivering full events the regular beIN Sports channels can’t broadcast.
The beIN Sports full package is not set to change its €12 subscription fee per month.
Before the World Cup, which was fully transmitted on beIN Sports, the channel reached 1.7 million subs in France. In early July, a study from Kantar Media forecast the channel had won 850,000 new subscribers during the tournament, reaching 2.5 million.