It runs its own eponymous over-the-top subscription video on-demand service, subscription TV channels in France, distributes third-party channels and services, and is a major source of finance for domestic film production, participating in the financing of the vast majority of films produced in France.

[2] The conglomerate also has its own subsidiary companies with direct involvement in film production and distribution, such as StudioCanal.

[7][6] De Greef was later described as a pioneer and visionary, who set the tone and created the "Canal Plus spirit", which embodied anti-conformism along with edgy satire that became very popular.

However, Rousselet was a personal friend of the president, François Mitterrand, and so obtained favourable terms for the setup.

Government regulations required that the channel give several hours of free programming each day, which was used by Canal+ to promote the subscription service.

Sports, interview shows, documentaries, and soft pornography joined films as the main staples of programming at this time.

In 1985, the government opened up the market to other private commercial television stations, offering some serious competition.

[3] By December 1990, Canal+ Productions rebranded to Le Studio Canal+, and released its first film, The Double Life of Veronique, by Krzysztof Kieslowski.

[10][11] In February 2000, Canal+ announced the merger of its Ellipse Programme TV production company into the programming provider Expand.

[13][14] In 2001, co-founder Alain De Greef was fired from his position as director-general and replaced by Michel Denisot, when the organisation was restructured under the leadership of Jean-Marie Messier, chief executive of Vivendi.

[7] Criticism of Vivendi's poor share performance since the takeover grew, and in April 2002, De Greef's co-founder and CEO Pierre Lescure, clashed with Messier and was fired.

[5] In December 2013, Canal+ announced that they creating CanalStart, a new structure to support young entrepreneurs' media and new technology initiatives and projects[15] in the form of a financial investment or contracts awarded by Canal+.

[17] In April 2015, CanalStart announced a first commercial partnership with Wildmoka, a start-up specialising in the design of enriched television services,[18] after it won MIPLab 2015, a global B2B startup competition in TV and online video.

[22] Canal+ signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Disney in December 2019, ahead of Disney+ launch in France on 31 March 2020.

It then only ran a single movie and one live event each month, obtaining 3D content produced in the UK and Spain.

[25][26] Canal+ Hi-Tech, called Canal+ 16/9 until March 2005, was dedicated to the broadcasting of films in an aspect ratio of 16:9 and high-definition television.

[32][33] Executive positions include:[32] The flagship brand of the organisation is Canal+, a French premium television channel launched in 1984.

It is encrypted for most of the day, and viewers who wish to watch the channel's more popular programming (new-release movies and live sport) must subscribe to the service.

Previously this involved the purchase of a decoder to decrypt the signal, but today Canal+ is offered as part of a multi-channel satellite or cable television package.

[41] From January 2024, it has handled the distribution of Brazilian media giant Globo's offering across Asia, including Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore.

[43] Movie Network, an Australian premium television service launched in 1995, was founded as a partnership between Canal+, HBO (a subsidiary of Time Warner), The Walt Disney Company, MGM/UA and Village Roadshow.

By 31 December 2023, it had 6.6 million subscribers in over 50 countries across Africa, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and French Overseas Territories in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean regions.

Based in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), it aimed to become the leading television company in French-speaking Africa.

[citation needed] Canal+ began returning to European markets outside of France and Poland in 2022 as a streaming service, in countries such as Austria, Czechia, and Slovakia.

The Nordic part was sold in October 2003 to the Telenor-owned Canal Digital, and the Canal+ brand was used under license until 2012, when the channels were re-branded C More Entertainment.

[citation needed] Canal+ Poland is CANAL+ Group's second largest base in terms of number of subscribers, with 3 million.

[46] In addition, as of 2024[update], the group owns SPI International, which operates TV channels and digital platforms in many countries, and 29.33% of Swedish streaming service Viaplay.

[57] Sport1 changed its name to Ziggo Sport Totaal in November 2015,[58] Film1 was sold to Sony Pictures Television in the same year.

[63] Canal+ Luxembourg (former M7 Group) is a Luxembourg-based television provider which operates several direct broadcast satellite pay TV platforms: HD Austria in Austria, Télésat in Belgium and Luxembourg, TV Vlaanderen in the Flanders region in Belgium, Skylink in Czech Republic and Slovakia, Canal Digitaal in the Netherlands, Focus Sat in Romania, and Direct One in Hungary.

It also operates a terrestrial pay television platform in Flanders, Belgium and offers B2B multimedia services.