Rodolph Belmer, the deputy chief executive of French pay-television operator Canal Plus, said rival pay-television broadcaster Al Jazeera would not pose a risk to his company’s business model, as long as the Qatar-based newcomer to the French market acted “rationally.”
“For the next four years, we don’t see any risk to our business model or our development,” Belmer told Reuters. “The question is what will happen afterwards and whether Al Jazeera seeks to become hegemonic by drawing on Qatar’s great wealth, or if they act rationally and are willing to co-exist with us.”
Al Jazeera will launch two new sports channels in France this summer, Be in Sport 1 and Be in Sport 2, after outbidding Canal Plus for a range of rights for top domestic and continental football. The channels will be available for about €11 ($15) per month. Canal Plus’s channel package, which also includes movie channels, costs about €40 per month.
Belmer said that Canal Plus had retained some key long-term rights to protect the business, including the Top 14, the country’s top rugby union league.
In December 2011, after Al Jazeera agreed to pay €60 million per year to acquire live rights for the Uefa Champions League from 2012-13 to 2014-15 – almost double the €31 million per year paid by Canal Plus in the existing deal – Canal Plus chief executive described Al Jazeera’s approach as “economically irrational.”