It’s the end of a showdown between the Molotov platform and TF1. The streaming television service announced on Monday that it had reached an agreement with the television group to broadcast its channels to paying subscribers, following an infringement conviction. On January 10, Molotov was ordered to pay 8.5 million euros to TF1 and to stop broadcasting the group’s other free-to-air channels (TF1, TMC, TFX, TF1 Séries Films and LCI).
“Molotov will now distribute the free-to-air channels of the TF1 group in its paid offers”, indicated this broadcaster in “streaming”, which initially bet on free access for its users. The agreement excludes at this stage the group’s pay channels (TV Breizh, Ushuaïa TV and Histoire TV), the subject of negotiations “still in progress” with TF1, added the platform.
Molotov acquired in November due to financial difficulties
“Molotov regrets this situation and reaffirms its commitment to free DTT channels for all. It is also important to note that all the other DTT channels are accessible free of charge on Molotov, apart from those of the TF1 and M 6 groups”, underlined the application created in France.
M 6 had challenged the broadcasting of its free-to-air channels (M 6, W9, 6Ter and Gulli) in the same way and also won the legal battle in December. The same month, an agreement similar to that found with TF1 was signed.
Launched in 2016 by Jean-David Blanc (creator of AlloCiné), Jean-Marc Denoual (former executive of TF1) and Pierre Lescure (former boss of Canal +), Molotov claims “more than 18 million users”. In financial difficulty, the platform was bought in November for 164 million euros by FuboTV, an American Internet television service focused on sports.
