SFR unveils plans for extensive raft of TV services

Michel Combes

Altice-owned SFR has confirmed plans to launch new TV services following the news that owner Altice is to fold all its media assets into the telecom operator, with SFR acquiring Altice’s 49% stake in NextRadioTV, the group founded by Alan Weill, now head of Altice’s media arm.

SFR has announced plans to launch five new media-related services – SFR Presse, SFR Sport, SFR News, SFR Play and SFR Family. SFR Presse gives SFR customers access to all the press titles of the Altice Media Group, which include Liberation and L’Express magazines, via Android and iOS apps and the web. The service is available to non-subscribers for €19.99 a month.

SFR Sport, an anchor TV service, will be the vehicle for SFR’s coverage of the English Premier League. The service will comprise five channels, SFR Sport 1, which will include the Premier League, SFR Sport 2, which will cover the Aviva Premiership rugby competition, Pro A basketball, tennis, skiing and other sports, SFR Sport 3, an extreme sports channel, SFR Sport 4K and SFR Sport 5, which will cover martial arts.

SFR News will include the existing BFM TV, BFM Business and Israeli i24 channels, as well as two new services – BFM TV Sport, which will launch in time for the Euro 2016 football championship, and BFM TV Paris, which will launch in October. I24 will become an HD channel.

SFR Play is a live and on-demand entertainment service that will include TV series, movies and factual shows available both live and in catch-up mode. The offering will be built around SFR’s existing Zive SVOD service, which will exclusively distribute Dustin Hoffman-starring The Medici: Masters of Florence in 4K this autumn.

Altice’s Israeli subsidiary HOT will adapt and co-produce TV series in France based on its existing output from next year.

SFR Family is designed to complement the TV and press offering by providing up to 40GB of mobile data to be shared between family members, with the ability to share content across multiple devices.

SFR Presse and SFR Family are available immediately, with content from the other services to be added to existing offerings as they become available, starting in June.

More broadly, SFR will now comprise three entities – SFR Telecoms, SFR Medias and SFR Publicite. The group’s acquisition of the NextRadioTV stake values the latter at €741 million, with Altice Media valued at €241 million.

SFR will make its channels available to rival operators, with several showing interest, according to CEO Michel Combes.