Canal Plus faces choice over bonus channel

French pay-TV operator Canal Plus is facing a choice of whether to use an additional ‘bonus’ channel on the country’s digital-terrestrial platform for a pay-TV or a free-to-air service, according to news information service La Correspondance de la Presse.

According to La Correspondance, Canal Plus executives are divided about whether to use the channel, which they will inherit when France completes digital switchover next year, for a version of the Canal Plus Family pay service – a choice favoured by the company’s marketing department – or for a generalist free-to-air channel, an option supported by programming chief Rodolphe Belmer.

The paper reports that CEO Bertrand Meheut is likely to take a decision before the end of the summer in order to secure the necessary rights if he chooses the free-to-air option.