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France: Regulator sparks hopes for Canal Plus Sports biz revival

By  |  July 10, 2016

Country’s competition authority to conduct one-year review of pay TV giant’s anti-trust limitations.

Having struck down plans hatched by Vivendi’s Canal Plus to control sports broadcasting rights in France, the country’s competition authority confirmed Thursday it would consider easing the Canal Plus anti-trust regs in a yearlong regulatory review.

Though it did not go into detail, the announcement will at least spark a glimmer of hope at Vivendi that it can improve the performance of its premium pay TV service in France, Canal Plus, six of whose channels currently bleed collective red ink.

Coming back to Canal Plus’ case on Thursday, Lasserre re-confirmed remarks made when he blocked the BeIN deal last month that he would take a long hard look at Canal Plus’ antitrust regs and maybe change them in 2017, when current stipulations lapse.

Full Content: Variety

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