France’s competition authority, l'Autorité de la Concurrence, has said it will delay its ruling into the carriage deal signed between Canal Plus and rival pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports.
Canal Plus in February confirmed that it had agreed a five-year deal, from 2016 to 2020, to become the exclusive carriage partner in France for beIN Sports’ channels.
The draft agreement requires the approval of l'Autorité de la Concurrence and a ruling had been expected this month. However, the regulator has now said its verdict will come in the first half of June following new submissions put forward by Canal Plus.
“Canal Plus has brought new proposals…to the competition authority which will conduct a market test based on the new evidence,” a spokesman for the regulator told French newspaper L’Equipe.
Vivendi, the parent company of Canal Plus, has been pursuing the exclusive carriage deal in an effort to safeguard the broadcaster, which has lost sports rights since the emergence of beIN Sports in France.