France

French pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus has lost over half a million subscribers in the past year, according to new figures released by its parent company, media group Vivendi.

French telecommunications company SFR will make its SFR Sport pay-television channels available to those who do not have a full subscription to the service.

Amaury Sport Organisation secured a small increase in the value of its domestic rights, including the Tour de France, in last month’s five-year renewal with France Télévisions.

The IMG agency has extended a worldwide rights agreement with Flanders Classics, the umbrella organisation for the leading Flemish cycling road races and the Paris-Brussels event.

Frédéric Thiriez, the former president of the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the French football league, has claimed that French President François Hollande’s intervention in the tender for the current cycle of domestic media rights represented a “serious breach of competition law.”

French telecommunications company SFR has acquired rights in France for Bourges’ home games in the Euroleague Women European club tournament.

French digital-terrestrial television channel L’Équipe has bolstered its rugby union portfolio by acquiring rights to three international games.

French pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has extended a rights deal for the NBA North American basketball league, while Dish Network has become the first pay-television operator to unbundle the NBA Team Pass service, allowing subscribers to follow a single team.

French telecommunications company SFR has bolstered the rugby union portfolio of its SFR Sport television platform by acquiring rights to England’s autumn internationals.

Fédération Française d’Athlétisme, the governing body of athletics in France, has awarded exclusive rights to Altice and the telecommunications company’s subsidiary, SFR.

French telecommunications company SFR has acquired rights in France for its SFR Sport television platform to Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming return to the boxing ring.

Public-service broadcaster France Télévisions has agreed a five-year extension to its rights deal for the Tour de France as part of a fresh agreement with event promoter Amaury Sport Organisation that will result in enhanced coverage of the cycling ‘Grand Tour’.

French commercial broadcasters TF1 and M6 have reached an agreement in principle to share rights to a host of national team properties of Uefa, European football’s governing body, according to L’Équipe.

Altice is to appeal against a decision by French stock market regulator the AMF to block the telecommunications company’s deal to secure full control of its SFR subsidiary.

Uefa has failed to secure any meaningful uplift in value for its national team competitions in deals agreed recently in France and Germany. The deals underline that, while Europe remains the bedrock of value for Uefa, it has become a difficult region in which to achieve growth for its national team properties.

French pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus has unveiled a revamped business model in a bid to expand its customer base and turn around increasing losses.