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Figure 1. From TV channel to VoD services move
In particular, the fact that Canal+'s main
shareholder, Vivendi Universal, was also a major
shareholder of France Telecom's major competi-
tors on the fixed and mobile markets, influenced
the decision by France Telecom to lower its de-
pendence on CanalPlay for VoD services. When
France Telecom launched its IPTV service, “Ma
ligne TV” in 2003/4, it was mainly relying on
Moviesystem's services. Progressively, France
Telecom has implemented a policy of negotiating
directly with rights owners, first for its IPTV VoD
services, then for its portal-based VoD service.
CanalPlay is still a significant provider to France
Telecom/Orange among others but it is difficult
to assess its position. Currently, CanalPlay offers
more than 2,000 videos on demand, 1,000 of
which are films made for cinema. It claims that
2.4 million videos were purchased via CanalPlay
in 2006 and, since January 2007, customers can
download permanently and burn films on DVDs.
In 2005, Canal Play became a provider of VoD
services for Free IPTV services.
Since September 2009, the three privale and
competitors channels Canal+, TF1 and M6 have
started negociations to reach an agreement to
propose a common catch-up TV platform. This
“coopetitive strategy” (Bengtsson & Kock, 2003)
adopted by these TV networks, has two main goals.
The first one is to create entry barriers because
of the threat of new entrants such as Hulu (the
American platform managed by NBC Universal,
News Corp. and The Walt Disney Company who
own rights on many famous series among them:
The Office, Desperate Housewifes, Dr House).
The second objective is to create a sustainable
business model based on online advertisements
at higher prices.
TF1
Another move was made by TF1, the French
leading broadcaster, which followed a differ-
ent strategy. In 2005, TF1 launched a streaming
VOD service (TF1 Vision). TF1 strategy relies on
purchasing popular contents' rights and on part-
nerships with the major American and European
studios (among them Warner, Universal, Sony Co-
lumbia, Europa Corp, Pathé). The site TF1 Vision
proposes also catch-up TV with the series from TF1
Broadcasting (
Lost, Koh-Lanta
...) and Premium
VOD with the season 2 of Heroes practically at
the same time as its American distribution. TF1 is
referenced on IPTV through the main operators:
Alice, Free, and Neuf. Since July 2009, after al-
liances with all ISPs and several Telco's (among
them: SFR, Free, Numericâble), TF1 has signed
an agreement with Orange to make TF1 Vision
content available on Orange's 24/24 video VOD
platform in France. Until the end of 2009, 24/24
video will be offering Orange TV subscribers as
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