It is done: Canal+ and beIN Sports “signed an exclusive distribution agreement draft,” the amount of which “remains secret,” according to Delcambre & Piquard of LE MONDE. If the draft becomes a reality, only Canal+ and CanalSat will be able to "distribute beIN Sports channels," the current major football (Ligue 1, Champions League etc.) rights holders in France. The agreement is “subject to an authorization by the competition authority.” Canal+ has asked not only for the agreement to be authorized, but also for “the lifting of an injunction that prevents it from distributing premium channels such as beIN Sports.” The injunction against Canal+ “dates back to the merger of TPS and CanalSat” in ’06. The agreement with beIN Sports “comes at a vital time” for Canal+ parent company Vivendi. The number of Canal+ subscribers in France is “expected to decline,” with analysts expecting 200,000 to 300,000 subscribers to drop their service this year. Financially “this means a loss of” about €100M ($111M) for Canal+ France. While the price of the deal “remains secret” it is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of euros (LE MONDE, 2/17). In London, Adam Thompson reported Vivendi said, "The six Canal Plus channels have been losing money in France for the last four years. Vivendi cannot on a long-term basis continue to finance the losses of Canal Plus channels in France. The situation threatens the entire Canal Plus Group." Bernstein Media Analyst Claudio Aspesi described the potential distribution agreement with beIN Sports as a "clever move." Aspesi: "What it does, effectively, is defuse content competition as each company is now likely to maintain the rights they have today. They are doing this without having to buy them out -- so this is a good outcome if antitrust approves it" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 2/18).
