Canal Plus revenues flat
French pay-TV service Canal Pluss first quarter revenues were exactly flat year-on-year at Â445m, with a Â1m drop in subscription revenues compensated by a Â1m rise in advertising sales.
Canal Plus said it planned to widen its football offer in the second quarter, showing 64 matches from the World Cup, including eight exclusive matches.
The company said that the Canal Plus channels had held their audience despite competition from digital-terrestrial channels and the showing of the Winter Olympics from Vancouver on France Télévsions channels. Canal Plus channels had an average 4.2% audience during the quarter, down from 4.5% for the same period last year.
Canal Plus in France, its overseas departments and territories and Africa had 5.2 million subscribers at the end of the quarter, with analogue customers falling below 200,000 as the companyÂs migration of its base to digital intensified. Churn in mainland France fell year-on-year from 16.5% to 13.5%.