Canal+ capitalizes on France’s windowing laws with new movie channels

Canal+ is taking advantage of its position in France’s complex media chronology by launching two new channels dedicated to movies: Canal+ Box-Office and Canal+ Cinema(s). Both channels launched on September 1 and will be available on the linear service as well as via Canal+’s on demand service, myCanal, Ampere Analysis mentioned in its latest report.

Canal+ can air movies just six months after their theatrical releases in France thanks to its pledge to invest €600 million in local movies between 2022-2024. This window is significantly shorter than those of streaming services operating in France. Typically, subscription video-on-demand platforms must wait 17 months after theatrical release to offer movies unless a specific agreement is in place, such as that of Netflix who have a reduced window of 15 months in return for an investment of €40 million per year in the production of local feature films.

Research by Ampere’s Analytics service indicates that, in July 2023, Canal+ offered 38 movies that had received a theatrical release in France since January 2022. Meanwhile, Netflix offered only three such titles meeting this criteria, with Disney+, Prime Video and Paramount+ offering only one title each. Pay TV operator OCS, which has a similar agreement to Canal+ in place following a dedicated investment of €40 million per year in return for a reduced window of six months, offered 12 titles across its linear and on-demand services.

“Canal+ is well positioned relative to global streamers in terms of its movie offerings,”  said Sam Young, Analyst at Ampere Analysis and the author of the report. According to Ampere's consumer survey of French Internet households, having the latest movies is the most-likely reason for Canal+ customers to subscribe: in the first quarter of 2023, one third of self-reporting Canal+ satellite households cited “it has the latest movies”  as a reason for choosing the service.

Notably, the initial lineup of announced films that will premiere on Canal+ Box-Office includes “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which received a theatrical release in November 2022. This follows speculation that Disney could opt to release the movie directly via its streaming service Disney+ in France, as it had previously done with animated feature “Strange World” after voicing its discontent over France’s lengthy windowing rules. Indeed, under current regulations, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” would not be available on Disney+ until April 2024.