TF1 demanded yesterday in court that Canal + broadcast its channels once more on the TNT Sat satellite offer, which allows households not served by terrestrial DTT to receive TV, and the decision will be made on September 22.
This urgent procedure (referred to) before the Paris Commercial Court is only part of the conflict between the two groups. It broke out since Canal+ stopped broadcasting the TF1 channels at the beginning of September, for lack of a financial agreement for the renewal of their contract.
TF1 has requested a “provisional measure of four months” during which Canal would restore its channels on TNT Sat. Satellite is the only way for some households to receive television in isolated areas not served by DTT (mainly in the mountains).
But Canal+ refuses, arguing that the TNT Sat offer is inseparable from the overall contract on which the two groups oppose.
This four-month period “would either make it possible to find a global agreement”, or would give TNT Sat customers time “to switch to Fransat”, another satellite offer from the Eutelsat group, pleaded one of TF1’s lawyers, Me Louis de Gaulle, denouncing a “brutal rupture of commercial relations”.
This request is “absurd”, replied one of the lawyers of Canal+, Me Olivier Chappuis, according to whom “there is no independent commercial relationship regarding the TNT Sat service”.
Canal+ insists on the fact that the law does not oblige it to broadcast these channels. This was indicated by Arcom (ex-CSA) on September 5.
Both groups blame each other for the conflict. Canal+ assures that TF1 was too greedy in the renegotiation of the contract, concluded at the end of 2018 following a similar conflict. TF1 affirms that it is his rival who did not wish to find an agreement.
During the hearing, Me de Gaulle slipped that the amount of the TF1 Premium contract (live broadcast of channels and ancillary services such as replay) was “13 million euros per year”.
In a separate proceeding, Canal brought TF1 before the Nanterre Commercial Court.
(With AFP)
