Vivendi President Ready To Invest Heavily To Revive Canal+

French multinational mass media company Vivendi CEO Vincent Bolloré is reportedly "ready to invest" up to €2B ($2.14B) in an effort to “revive the pay-TV channel Canal+, which is facing an erosion of subscribers,” according to Gwénaëlle Barzic of REUTERS. Weakened by online video options like Netflix and Qatari owned competitor beIN Sports, Canal+ “lost 88,000 subscribers” in France in the first nine months of ’15. In the face of recent difficulties of its subsidiary, Vivendi announced a two-year investment plan to develop “long term growth,” without divulging numbers. Bolloré specifically spoke of a project to bring Canal+ “up to date,” that could represent an investment of €600M ($641.2M). He also expressed the importance of the pay-TV channel to “take the offensive on the front of sports broadcasting rights,” where Canal+ has “lost a number of tenders” to competitor beIN Sports (REUTERS, 11/13).