Al Jazeera to charge €11 for French sport channels

Al Jazeera is to charge a subscription price of €11 a month for its Sport 1 and Sport 2 channels in France, at the low end of the expected range of between €10-15, according to local reports.

Al Jazeera holds a significant part of the rights to Ligue 1 football in France, including pay-per-view rights  previously held by Canal Plus’s Foot Plus service.

Analysts have estimated that Al Jazeera would need to win three million subscribers to achieve profitability. The broadcaster is in discussion with distributors like SFR, Orange and Free to carry the channels and pay-per-view matches. While deals with ISPs are likely, it remains uncertain whether Al Jazeera will strike a deal with its chief competitor, Canal Plus, whose CEO Bertrand Meheut recently criticised the Qatari broadcaster’s “irrational” economic model.