Canal+ S.A., formerly Groupe Canal+, is a French media and telecommunications conglomerate based in Paris. It runs its own eponymous over-the-top subscription video on-demand service, subscription TV channels in France, distributes third-party channels and services, and is a major source of finance for domestic film production, participating in the financing of the vast majority of films produced in France. Canal+ was a subsidiary of the French conglomerate Vivendi until 9 December 2024. Since then, the conglomerate has remained 30.4% controlled by the French Bolloré family through the holding company Bolloré.
As part of the spin-off from Vivendi, Groupe Canal+ became the independent entity Canal+ S.A. on 9 December, with a view to listing on the London Stock Exchange on 16 December 2024.
The conglomerate also has its own subsidiary companies with direct involvement in film production and distribution, such as StudioCanal. Apart from extensive operations in mainland France, the company owns many subsidiaries and operates in countries across Europe, Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and in French Overseas Territories.
Contents
History
Subscription channel and production company (1984)
The subscription channel Canal+ was launched in November 1984, when there were only three government-owned channels available in France. The company was co-founded by André Rousselet, president of the French multinational advertising company Havas, and Pierre Lescure, which proved very popular with media professionals and politicians. There were 186,000 subscribers, who committed to paying 140 francs (21.34 euros) per month for the service.
Alain de Greef (c. 1947 – 29 June 2015) joined in 1986, joining his longtime friend Pierre Lescure. De Greef was first appointed director of production, then head of programmes, and finally as director general (1986–2000). De Greef was later described as a pioneer and visionary, who set the tone and created the "Canal Plus spirit", which embodied anti-conformism along with edgy satire that became very popular. He created the satirical puppet show Les Guignols de l'Info and cult talk shows Nulle part ailleurs, Groland, and Les Deschiens.
The new channel got off to a slow start, and some politicians, including prime minister Laurent Fabius, railed against the idea of having a commercial TV channel. However, Rousselet was a personal friend of the president, François Mitterrand, and so obtained favourable terms for the setup. Pierre Lescure was director-general at that time. A combination of political connections and clever programming – giving the French public American hit comedies and French drama not available on the government channels – worked and subscriptions soon increased. Government regulations required that the channel give several hours of free programming each day, which was used by Canal+ to promote the subscription service.
The channel initially had to use 45% of its air-time on films, until the film industry pushed back. Sports, interview shows, documentaries, and soft pornography joined films as the main staples of programming at this time. In 1985, the government opened up the market to other private commercial television stations, offering some serious competition. However, aggressive marketing and policies ensured that the company kept growing. By 1989, Canal+ had almost three million subscribers. Around this time the company expanded into some European markets, notably Belgium, Spain, and Germany, where in partnership with Bertelsmann and the Kirch Group, the first national pay TV service, Premiere TV, was established. With its expansion into Africa in 1990 with Canal+ Horizons, Canal+ was not only the most successful subscription channel in Europe, but also second only to HBO globally.
Satellite broadcasting (1992)
On 6 December 1991, CanalSatellite was created. Canal+ started began satellite broadcasting in 1992, to reach parts of France not covered by cable. Digital satellite provider CanalSatellite was launched as a wholly owned subsidiary of Canal+ on 6 December 1991. On 27 April 1996, Canal+ received two new sister channels: Canal+ Jaune and Canal+ Bleu. In 1999, Canal+ partnered with Vivendi to create V-Net. During the 1990s it also expanded further into Europe and the UK, with BSkyB and TVS. Later it bought up NetHold in the Netherlands, and took majority control of France's NC Numericable (formerly CGV).
In 1994, Rousselet quit the board, and was replaced by director-general Lescure.
In January 1996, Le Studio Canal+ acquired the bankrupted Carolco Pictures' library for $56 million, making its first foray into library acquisitions. It also bought up a film library from UGC DA.
On 27 April 1996, CanalSatellite launched as a digital satellite platform, with 24 channels and interactive services. CANAL+ became available on two additional channels, Canal+ Jaune (Yellow) and Canal+ Bleu (Blue), later named Canal+ Cinema and Canal+ Confort.
On 1 December 1998, all film, television, music, video production activities, etc. were grouped into a new entity, Canal+ Image, which was rebranded as StudioCanal in 2000. On 1 December 1999, a new subsidiary, Canal+ Technologies, was created, to develop and market its access control and interactivity technology.
21st century
In January 2000, it was announced that French arms and media conglomerate Lagardère Group had purchased a major stake in the digital television division, taking 34 percent of CanalSatellite and nearly 27.5 percent of MultiThematiques, for a price of more than US$890 million. Lagardère acquired the 30.2% MultiThematiques stake then held by Vivendi. In February 2000, Canal+ announced the merger of its Ellipse Programme TV production company into the programming provider Expand. The company continued to grow as it moved into Internet and multi-access content markets. On 15 June 2001, it took over control of Expand, leading producer of French audiovisual content.
On 9 December 2000, Vivendi acquired Canal+. On 11 December 2000, Vivendi Universal was created from the merger of Canal+, Seagram, and Vivendi. Groupe Canal+, made up of Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ Régie, and the Canal+ channel, was then wholly owned by Vivendi Universal. Legislation required that the channel was held at 49%.
From 2000 to 2002, Virginie Calmels successively held three positions: chief financial officer, deputy CEO, and then joint chief operating officer of the group. In 2001, co-founder Alain De Greef was fired from his position as director-general and replaced by Michel Denisot, when the organisation was restructured under the leadership of Jean-Marie Messier, chief executive of Vivendi. Criticism of Vivendi's poor share performance since the takeover grew, and in April 2002, De Greef's co-founder and CEO Pierre Lescure, clashed with Messier and was fired.
In July 2003, Canal+ through its division StudioExpand announced that they've sold their animation production division Ellipse Animation to media entertainment conglomerate Média-Participations and had placed the acquired animation production subsidiary under their French-Belgian publishing arm Dargaud.
In June 2004 following their sellout of Ellipsanime to Dargaud one year prior, Canal+ Group through StudioExpand announced sold their remaining assets which were Adventure Line Productions who was sold to Tele Images Group, DMD Productions, Calt and KM Production which was sold back to their founders (although the latter would eventually be reunited with Adventure Line four years later in 2008) and Starling was sold to American television production and distribution studio Sony Pictures Television.
Former channels
Canal+ 3D was established in June 2010, to broadcast some matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in 3D. It then only ran a single movie and one live event each month, obtaining 3D content produced in the UK and Spain. As a result of the channel only attracting around 30,000 subscribers, it stopped broadcasting on 24 January 2012. As a consequence of this, transmissions were only receivable on Canal's PVRs, as well as IPTV Networks Free and SFR. However, there were still plans to broadcast 200 hours in 3D for the London 2012 Olympics.
Canal+ Hi-Tech, called Canal+ 16/9 until March 2005, was dedicated to the broadcasting of films in an aspect ratio of 16:9 and high-definition television. The channel was deleted when switching Canal+ to the 16:9 format.
Description
Canal+ S.A. is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, in the suburbs of Paris.
The group distributes third-party channels and services, as well as being a major source of finance for domestic film production, participating in the financing of the vast majority of films produced in France. It also has its own subsidiary companies with direct involvement in film production and distribution, StudioCanal. The Wall Street Journal described Canal+ as "the French film industry's biggest financial backer, beloved by French cineastes".
The company purports to have one of the 50 most powerful French brands in the world in 2023, with 26.4 million subscribers in 50 countries around the world. Its production company StudioCanal has 14 production companies in Europe and the US, and holds more than 9,000 titles.
Governance and people
Canal+ S.A. is governed by a dual board system, with a Supervisory Board (Conseil de Surveillance) and an Executive Committee (Comité éxecutif).
As of May 2026, the chairman of the Supervisory Board is Yannick Bolloré.
Executive positions include:
Maxime Saada: CEO of Canal+ S.A.
Amandine Ferre: Chief Financial and ESG Officer of Canal+ S.A. and CEO of Canal+ Asia
Anna Marsh: deputy CEO of Canal+ S.A., CEO of StudioCanal, and Chief Content Officer of Canal+ S.A.
David Mignot: CEO of Canal+ Africa and CEO of MultiChoice
Christophe Pinard-Legry: CEO of Canal+ Europe and CEO of Canal+ France (Business)
Gérald-Brice Viret: CEO of Canal+ France (Programs and Channels)
Stéphane Baumier: Chief Technology Officer of Canal+ S.A.
Yassine Bouzoubaa: CEO of Canal+ Benelux and Central Europe
Audrey Brugère: CEO of L'Olympia
Pascale Chabert: Chief Content Acquisition Officer of Canal+ S.A.
Guillaume Clément: CEO of Dailymotion
Géraldine Gygi Laggiard: Chief Sport Acquisition Officer of Canal+ S.A. and Anti-Piracy Director
Corporate divisions in France
Canal+
The flagship brand of the organisation is Canal+, a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is encrypted for most of the day, and viewers who wish to watch the channel's more popular programming (new-release movies and live sport) must subscribe to the service. Previously this involved the purchase of a decoder to decrypt the signal, but today Canal+ is offered as part of a multi-channel satellite or cable television package.
Canal+ (provider and OTT streaming platform)
Formerly Canal Satellite Numérique, then Canalsat, a pay satellite and IPTV distributor (as CanalSAT DSL). Canal+ is a satellite TV package launched in 1992 as an extension to the original Canal+ analogue channel. The subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service is launched in 2013 as "myCanal", later renamed Canal+.
StudioCanal
StudioCanal is a production company formed in 1988, associated with NBCUniversal until 2011. Nowadays, StudioCanal is operating in several countries such as Germany, Japan, or Australia. For the movie industry, it is a major player at the European level.
StudioCanal announced in 2011 that it would spend €200 million a year on movie production, establishing its position as "the first port of call outside the U.S. for intelligent upmarket movies" such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which is fully financed by the studio.
Canal+ Distribution
Canal+ Distribution (formerly Thema) oversees distribution of Pay TV services, FAST channels, YouTube Channels, and other content to cable, IPTV, and DTH operators and streaming services. As of 2024, it covers over 180 TV channels worldwide and has partnerships with major pay TV platforms in France, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Canada, Latin America, and the US.
Thema was founded in 2005 by François Thiellet, and acquired by Canal+ in 2014. At this time, it was the parent company of Nollywood TV. From January 2024, it has handled the distribution of Brazilian media giant Globo's offering across Asia, including Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore. There is a subdivision called Thema America that covers Latin America, which in January 2024 partnered with SPI International to offer more channels.
In October 2025, Thema was rebranded into Canal+ Distribution.
International operations
Past operations
Movie Network, an Australian premium television service launched in 1995, was founded as a partnership between Canal+, HBO (a subsidiary of Time Warner), The Walt Disney Company, MGM/UA and Village Roadshow. A few years later, Canal+ dropped out of the partnership.
Canal Plus was the first cable TV channel to operate in Brazil, in 1989. It operated on the MMDS system and broadcast part of ESPN programming. Its Brazilian operations were sold to Grupo Abril in 1991.
Canal+ International
Canal+ International is a subsidiary of the group. By 31 December 2023, it had 6.6 million subscribers in over 50 countries across Africa, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and French Overseas Territories in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean regions. As of 2024, Canal+ International also produces over 100 channels for international distribution.
On 15 November 2017, Quebec cable system Videotron began carrying Canal+ International, marking it the first provider to carry the channel. It is also the second attempt at making Canal+ available in Canada since the former paid Canal+ Canada channel on Dailymotion, launched in 2013.
As of August 2018, Canal+ International is on U.S. satellite provider DirecTV in HD on channel 2010.
Canal+ Afrique was launched as Canal+ Horizons or Canal Horizons in 1991, initially broadcasting mostly in Tunisia and Senegal. By the end of 2023, it had 8.1 million subscribers. In July 2014, the launch of a new pan-African TV channel - A+ - was announced. Based in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), it aimed to become the leading television company in French-speaking Africa.
The Canal+ Group has other activities in Africa as well as the Canal+ Afrique service; by 2018, the whole group's offerings including over 200 channels, radio stations, and other services, while the Canal+ Afrique's platform offered more than 50 channels. On 10 May 2024, the Canal+ Group bought 200 million shares (45.2% of the capital) in the South African subscription provider MultiChoice, which, with 20 million subscribers, is the market leader in English and Portuguese-speaking Africa with a mandatory offer to acquire remaining shares. Their main competitor on the continent is the Chinese-owned StarTimes; however, estimated audience shares by 2028 are 32 million for Canal+/MultiChoice and 19 million for StarTimes.
After 3 years, Canal+ Ethiopia was shut down by the end of 2024.
In May 2025, the South African Competition Commission recommended that the Competition Tribunal approve the proposed full takeover of MultiChoice by Canal+, provided certain conditions were met. The takeover became effective in September 2025, and is valued at over $2.5 billion.
Channels in France
Canal+ Cinéma(s) – premium TV channel devoted to movies
Canal+ Sport – premium TV channel devoted to sports programmes
Canal+ Kids – premium TV channel devoted to family programming
Canal+ Docs – cable TV channel devoted to documentaries
Canal+ Grand Écran
Canal+ Foot
Canal+ Sport 360 – premium TV channel, delayed broadcast of Sport from Canal+
Canal+ Box Office
Canal+ Live – cable TV channel devoted to live sports coverage
Canal+ Premier League
Ciné+ OCS – set of six thematic movies and series television channels
Comédie+ (formerly Comédie!) – cable TV channel devoted to humour
Europe 2 Pop TV – cable TV channel devoted to only French-language music videos from the 1980s to nowadays
Golf+ – cable TV channel devoted to golf
Infosport+ – cable TV news channel devoted to sports
Piwi+ (formerly Piwi) – cable TV channel devoted to preschool programs
Planète+ – cable TV channel devoted to documentaries
Other divisions
Canal+ Luxembourg – television service provider based in Luxembourg
Canal+ – subscription video on-demand streaming service derived from MyCanal service (Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia)
Canal Digitaal (Netherlands)
Focus Sat (Romania)
HD Austria (Austria)
Online.nl (Netherlands)
Skylink (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
Télésat (Belgium, Luxembourg)
TV Vlaanderen (Flemish community in Belgium)
StudioCanal – film producer and distributor
StudioCanal Home Entertainment (North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland)
SAM Productions (Scandinavian)
Arthaus (Germany)
Red Production Company (United Kingdom)
Tandem Productions (Germany)
SPI International
Dizi
Film1
FilmBox
Kino Polska
MediaBox Broadcasting International - themed television channels such as DocuBox, FashionBox, FightBox and FunBox.