French pay-TV giant Canal+ Group said late Monday that it is acquiring M7, an independent pay-TV company with operations in Benelux and Central Europe, for a purchase price of slightly over 1B euros ($1.12B). This is the largest overseas deal that Canal has done in about two decades and comes as the group faces…

French media conglomerate Vivendi is considering the sale of up to 50% of Universal Music Group’s share capital “to one or more strategic partners,” the company said today. Ending speculation about a potential IPO for the world’s biggest music group, Vivendi said it has ruled out a listing “due to its complexity.&#8221…

French pay TV giant Canal Plus is on course to shutter its SVOD service CanalPlay due to a sharp fall in subscriptions, Group CEO Maxime Saada has said. Speaking this week during a session with the culture commission of the French Senate, Saada revealed that subscription numbers for the service have dropped…

There's been a fair amount of hand-wringing in France this week over Canal Plus' loss of the rights to Ligue 1 soccer to Spain's Chinese-backed Mediapro for the 2020-2024 seasons. Why? Because Canal Plus has traditionally been the biggest financier of local cinema under an obligation it has to invest 12.5% of its…

French billionaire Vincent Bollore, who last week stepped down as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of media conglomerate Vivendi, has been detained by French police as part of an investigation into dealings of his family holding company, Bollore Group. According to multiple reports, the mogul’s detention was for…

Canal+ Group General Manager Maxime Saada has been appointed Chairman of the Managing Board, henceforth heading all of the pay-TV giant's operations. Saada, who joined Canal in 2004, succeeds Jean-Christophe Thiery who becomes Chairman of the Supervisory Board. That last move is significant in that Thiery will replace…

Director and graphic artist Joann Sfar is embarking on his first English-language live-action drama with Monsters’ Shrink. Canal Plus has ordered the eight-part series that’s loosely based on Sfar’s book L'Eternel. Canal’s RED Production Company will work with Sfar on the project about Rebecka, a New York…

Michael C. Hall and Sherlock‘s Amanda Abbington are set to star in Safe, an eight-part drama for Netflix and Canal Plus. The thriller from exec producer Harlan Coben is written by Shameless‘ Danny Brocklehurst. Shooting begins today for a 2018 debut. Dexter alum Hall plays Tom, a pediatric surgeon who is raising his…

Chinese internet and technology giant LeEco has faced cash difficulties over the past several months with Chairman Jia Yueting first acknowledging the troubles in late 2016. Now, after a Shanghai court ordered the freezing of assets valued at RMB 1.24B ($182M) connected to LeEco, its subsidiaries and Jia, the chairman…

As it continues to expand the brand globally, CBS Corp has entered a long-term deal with Canal Plus Group to bring Showtime to France. The exclusive content licensing and trademark agreement covers at least 10 current or upcoming series, including David Lynch’s new Twin Peaks — which will screen two episodes at the…

If 2016 is remembered for anything from an international entertainment perspective, it will be noted as the year of the paradox: when waves of right-wing anti-establishment and anti-globalization camps did, in fact, accelerate the pace of globalization. It is possible that in 2017, for example, more British companies…

TV news channels in Europe and media around the world are prepping for a long night (or day depending on the time zone) as they go full-court press on the U.S. presidential election. Beginning with Hillary Clinton heading to the polls at around 8 AM ET, many 24-hour channels began blanket coverage with at least one…