SFR is exploring possible carriage deals for its SFR Sport pay-television channel after rethinking its strategy, with chief executive Alain Weill confident of reaching agreements with operators ahead of the start of the 2018-19 football season.
SFR’s focus until now has been on offering a bundled multi-play fixed offering, with an emphasis on OTT.
However, in November it was reported that SFR Sport’s current OTT platform had only gained about 15,000 customers, not including the package launched last February that bundled SFR Sport with fellow pay-television platform beIN Sports.
Weill told L’Équipe that he expects an acceleration in discussions with telco Orange in the coming months, with SFR’s exclusive deal to show the Uefa Champions League and Europa League football tournaments from 2018-19 due to get underway later this year.
Weill also described Canal Plus as a “very important strategic partner” and added that SFR would have talks with the pay-television operator.
“It is normal that we have not yet concluded agreements, but we are calm,” he said. “We will see if it's a good idea to share with competitors or not. We have no obligation, but we are not hostile to non-exclusivity.”
Last week, SFR’s parent company, French telco Altice, confirmed plans to split its European and US operations, as well as form a new pay-television unit which will include its major sports rights.
Weill said that the step would establish a team that is “truly responsible for monetising our rights, including sports, firstly at SFR and then through other operators if they wish and if we consider it interesting”.
He added: “We are open to everyone, including new entrants like Apple TV, Amazon and Facebook.”