France’s Canal+ cancels terrestrial TV offerings ahead of London IPO

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The French media company Canal+, owned by Vivendi, will take its paid channels off terrestrial TV in France, effective from June 2025.

In a press statement published on Thursday evening, the group blamed “an increasingly restrictive tax and regulatory environment” – and highlighted the loss of its C8 channel from terrestrial TV.

The French broadcast regulator, Arcom, refused to renew a licence for C8 earlier this year.

This came after the entertainment channel racked up €7.6m in fines for breaching broadcasting standards, many linked to controversial remarks from presenter Cyril Hanouna.

On the tax front, meanwhile, Canal+ flagged two complaints. One is linked to VAT and the other over an alleged increase in the levy it pays to CNC, France’s national cinema centre.

The government wants to exempt some of Canal+’s activities from the reduced 10% VAT rate, applied to cultural goods and services.

The lower levy is designed to make cultural offerings more affordable, although the state argues some of Canal+’s services should be taxed at 20%.

This could cost Canal+ an adjustment fee of €655.6m.

Slow withdrawal from terrestrial TV

Some industry voices have contested Canal+’s stated motivations, instead suggesting that the departure from terrestrial TV has been a long-term plan.

CEO Maxime Saada has tactically hovered in his support for terrestrial TV, although he has progressively reduced Canal+’s renewal duration for its terrestrial licence.

In 2023, Saada reduced the validity period for the licence from three years to 18 months.

Canal+ estimates that it still has 70,000 terrestrial subscribers.

Thursday’s announcement also arrived just ahead of Canal+’s plans to list on the London Stock Exchange later this month.

The firm is expected to have a market capitalisation of between €6bn and €8bn.

That would make it the largest primary listing in London since 2022.