Paramount+ and Canal+ Expand Partnership in France

Paramount Group’s Paramount+ streaming service and France’s Canal+ Group announced an expansion and strengthening of their partnership in France, following the launch of the streaming service via the pay-TV giant in 2022.

“This strategic collaboration aims to expand the distribution of Paramount+ and its premium content in France, enriching the value proposition of Canal+ subscribers,” the companies said.

Under the updated agreement, Canal+ subscribers will now have access to Paramount+ at no additional cost, regardless of their subscription plan. “As part of the extended agreement, all Paramount+ content is now accessible directly on myCanal and the Canal+ universe on its decoders and all partners’ set-top boxes,” the partners shared.

Additionally, the Canal+ Group will continue distributing all of Paramount’s pay TV channels, including MTV, Nickelodeon, the Paramount Channel, and Comedy Central. They will also acquire premium content for their channels and services, including Paramount Pictures films premiering on Canal+ six months after their theatrical release in France and at least two Showtime series per year.

Some of the Paramount+ content affected by this deal includes originals like the upcoming Taylor Sheridan series Landman, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter, Demi Moore, and Jon Hamm, as well as Tulsa King, Lioness, and Star Trek. Acquisitions such as The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2, along with movies like Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, are also covered under the agreement.

Marco Nobili, executive VP and international general manager at Paramount+, expressed delight in reinforcing and expanding their relationship with Canal+, a key international partner. “This new partnership broadens the reach of Paramount+ to all Canal+ direct-to-consumer subscribers, enabling us to more than double our market penetration via Canal+ Group’s platforms. This solidifies our position as the fourth-largest service in France, reaching more than 15 percent of homes in France,” Nobili stated, citing data from Omdia, Advanced TV, and NPA Conseil-Harris Interactive.

Nobili further added, “This renewed agreement also expands our collaborations across various business areas, including linear distribution and licensing, while we prepare for future streaming growth with the launch of the Paramount+ advertising tier in France.”

Pascale Chabert, director of content acquisitions and main partners at Canal+ Group, also commented on the milestone. “We have just reached a new milestone in the historic partnership of more than 30 years between Paramount and Canal+,” Chabert noted.

She concluded, “Paramount is the most emblematic studio in Hollywood, and Paramount+ is one of the main platforms in the market. This expanded partnership constitutes another step in the Canal+ Group’s desire to aggregate the best content and applications in the market.”

Meanwhile, French media and telecom giant Vivendi is currently considering a London stock market listing for its Canal+ business as part of a division into multiple companies to reduce its conglomerate discount.

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