Canal+, TF1 competition row escalates
September 8, 2022
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
Canal+ has applied for an urgent hearing at the Tribunal de Commerce de Nanterre (Nanterre Commercial Court) citing TF1 for monopolistic practices.
This appears, in part, to be retaliation to TF1´s own complaint against Canal+ after it suspended the broadcast of its five FTA DTT channels on TNT Sat, the free of charge dish service operated by Canal+ and carried on Astra.
Together with Eutelsat’s Fransat service, this is the only way to receive the national channels for seven per cent of the French population, especially in areas not covered by DTT.
On September 2nd, Canal + decided to drop the broadcast of TF1, TMC, TFX, TF1 Séries Films et LCI, as part a commercial dispute, over a new distribution contract.
Around 5.4 million viewers are affected by the blackout, representing between 10 per cent and 15 per cent audience share for TF1.