Canal Plus revenues flat

French pay-TV service Canal Plus’s first quarter revenues were exactly flat year-on-year at €445m, with a €1m drop in subscription revenues compensated by a €1m 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 company’s migration of its base to digital intensified. Churn in mainland France fell year-on-year from 16.5% to 13.5%.

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