On November 4, 1984, a television UFO landed on the terrestrial scene. A private pay channel, the first of its kind, Canal+. Launched by the Havas group and its boss André Rousselet, the fourth channel then had a cultural vocation, largely focused on cinema. It diversifies quickly and reveals itself to be innovative, irreverent, subversive.
After a few difficult months, the encrypted channel finally took off, carried by a wind of daring. Forty years later and when it was bought in 2015 by the Vivendi group, in the hands of the very conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, what has become of the “chain of friends”, the flagship of the group which now sails alongside the controversial CNews and C8?
“When it was created, because its economic model had nothing to do with that of competing channels, Canal+ had no other choice but to build a very strong identity, remembers semiologist and media analyst Virginie Spies. In the 1990s and again at the beginning of the 2000s, the Canal spirit is a unique mix of genres, which leaves as much room for information as for its caricature, for investigation as for the discovery of talents. » Thus the channel reveals Les Nuls, opens the era ofinfotainment with “Nulle part autre”, offers a platform to a host of artists in the “Top 50”, gives time to the investigation in “Special Investigation”.
For Vincent Bolloré, in 2015, Canal+ is “a little too much derision”
But after the golden age of absolute freedom, overtaken by the financial and advertising issues accentuated by the competition introduced by TNT, the impertinent calms down. « Already ten years agothe channel had largely lost its uniqueness and tended to fit into the mold of formatted television.describes Virginie Spies. Not enough for Vincent Bolloré's taste. In February 2015, the brand new owner of Vivendi, the group to which the 4th channel belongs, told France Inter that the Canal spirit is “a little too much derision”.
With the Breton billionaire at its head, the channel quickly lost many of the faces and programs that had shaped the Canal spirit. Signature shows are removed one after the other, the proportion of unencrypted broadcasts is reduced dramatically and humor, investigation and information almost disappear from the air, with rare exceptions. There remains a little sport, Ligue 1 football – since lost – and cinema. Of the latter, we must not forget that “he too is in the genes of the 4”recalls Virginie Spies.
The encrypted channel, a major ally of cinema
“Canal+ has always been a major ally of cinema, and that has not changed with the arrival of Vincent Bolloré,” says Alain Le Diberder, former director of programs at Canal+ and author of The New Audiovisual Economy (Ed. La Découverte, 2019). “By investing massively in French creation, to the tune of 200 million euros per year, more than any other player in France,the Canal group retains considerable political weightunderlines the specialist. This is what allowed him to shake up the media timeline and to obtain the distribution of films only six months after their theatrical release. »
A contribution so essential – Canal participates in the financing of more than half of French cinematographic creations and devotes around 90 million euros per year to the production of original series – that the encrypted channel and its platform version myCanal do not suffer from the reputation sulphurous of their sisters C8 and CNews. “It’s the flagship that cannot be sunk”analyzes Virginie Spies. The premium channel, the historic channel, which continues its path a little apart and with the backing of the creative world. And this despite some notable interventions by Vincent Bolloré, notably in the cancellation of the purchase of Thanks to God in 2018, film by François Ozon retracing the fight of the victims of Father Preynat. The announcement, also, of the adaptation by Canal+, via Planete+, of Éric Zemmour's book French Suicide in series, caused some stir. In mid-October, one of the group's unions, +Libres, said it regretted that, “once again, the group serves as ideological support for ideas that in no way support the company’s objectives”.
A hybrid and international strategy that is bearing fruit
So forty years after its creation, Canal+ the impertinent is no more but Canal+ the cinephile is thriving, in France and beyond its borders. “The hybrid strategy of the group, which is not only broadcaster-producer but also aggregator and offers bouquet offers on its platform (which provide access to content from several broadcasters, Editor’s note) works very well and effectively protects the linear chain »points out Alain Le Diberder. In 2023, Canal+ managed to recruit 900,000 new subscribers, bringing their total number to 26.4 million in more than 50 countries – including 9.8 million in France.
Canal weighs heavily in the global audiovisual sector, and intends to grow further. The largest shareholder of the South African giant MultiChoice and the Scandinavian Viaplay, which has acquired a stake in the Hong Kong streaming operator Viu, Canal+ should soon be listed on the London Stock Exchange. A way of “reflect its international dimension”plans Vivendi, which ensures that the channel's teams will remain in France.
To celebrate its anniversary, the encrypted channel is offering this Monday, November 4, a prime time program live from the Folies Bergère, in Paris, and presented by Antoine de Caunes, already present for the launch in 1984. The promise of the show: to open the Canal+ souvenir album and rewatch the cult shows that made it unique. Nostalgia will certainly be there. Irreverence too, let us hope.
