The French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) has launched a new channel designed to promote a wide range of sports across all levels.
Sport en France launched yesterday (Tuesday), with the CNOSF having partnered with digital media agency Media 365 on the project.
The channel will seek to promote youth and women’s sport, with a focus to also be placed on specific clubs. The CNOSF said Sport en France would also provide access to competitions that currently have little or no exposure on television.
Sport en France will operate under an innovative model whereby other media companies can use content produced by the channel for free. French newspaper L’Équipe reported that Orange, Bouygues Télécom and Free have already agreed to carry programming from the channel.
L’Équipe added that the channel would have a minimum annual budget of €2.5m ($2.8m), which can be increased to €3.5m or €4m with advertising contributions.
The first two events that will be broadcast on Sport en France are the World Longboard Surfing Championship in Biarritz and the European Canoeing Championships in Pau.
The channel will be available on TV, desktop, smartphones and tablets.