Busting Myths With Canal+
Earnings' Season Continues On The Media Odyssey - Ep. 14
The most common assumption made about Europe? Cord-cutting is as big a trend as it is in the US. Time to bust the myth.
While the U.S. shed 6.3M Pay TV subscribers in 2024 alone (-11% YoY), taking the US Pay TV penetration below the 40% mark, estimates put Western Europe at a 9M sub loss by 2029 (from 101.2M subscribers in 2023 and a 50.6% penetration based on a 200M HH according to Eurostat).
By then:
→ The US will have between 23.2M and 31.4M Pay TV subs;
→ Western Europe around 93M.
It’s not to say Western European Pay TV players are safe and sound but it’s important to avoid having the wrong lens when comparing notes on a US company, Comcast, and a European one, Canal+.
This week on The Media Odyssey, Evan and I each picked a company and we dug into their earnings reports. Easy to guess who chose which: Evan went for Comcast 🦚🇺🇸, I went for Canal+ 🐓 🇫🇷.
Before you go listen or watch our NEW episode:
Get to know Canal+
Fun fact, Canal+ (or Canal Plus) invented the + way before it became a thing in streaming.
The company was indeed founded in 1984 by Havas Group, one of the world's largest global communications groups, to become the 1st French Pay TV channel. In a nutshell, it was the French HBO.
Canal+ went from one channel in 1984 to a portfolio of 10 Pay TV channels, 3 Free to air channels and 30+ Thematic channels today.
They are accessible via their own devices (satellite and internet boxes) but also CTVs, Operator Set top boxes etc.
Canal+ is more than a Pay TV Channel network. It is also:
An aggregator of third-party channels and services from the French TV landscape and the best of streaming platforms (check out my piece on the French launch of Max and how Canal+ will be instrumental to its success or how I have my doubts about Disney+’s ability to thrive without Canal+).
A suite of digital platforms: myCANAL, CANAL VOD
Europe's leading studio for the production and distribution of films and series, owner of the largest catalogue of French and European films: STUDIOCANAL.
Canal+ is the main shareholder in MultiChoice, the leading (yet troubled) Pay TV operator in English and Portuguese-speaking Africa; Viaplay, the Scandinavian leader in Pay TV and streaming and Viu, Asia's leading streaming operator.
Grab your slides to easily follow my take on the Canal+ results:
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That’s it for today but before you go:
⚡️ This Week In The Streaming Made Easy Universe:
Streaming Meets Publishing
What happens when iconic French publishers partner with a US streamer? Le Monde, Télérama, and WBD’s Max are teaming up to bring a new kind of bundle. They're chasing ambitious goals and banking on audience crossover but will subscribers bite?