Canal+ acquires Alterna’TV from Eutelsat Americas Editor
| 07 April 2016
As it continues its international development plans, the CANAL+ Group has bought Miami-based content distribution company Alterna’TV from Eutelsat Americas.
Alteran TV 7 April 2016Reaching over ten million subscribers across the Americas, Alterna’TV is a content distribution platform that provides principally Latin American channels to cable and online TV operators in the US.
The transaction, the terms of which have not been disclosed, includes a long-term agreement for the lease of capacity on the EUTELSAT 113 West A and EUTELSAT 117 West A satellites. It will be carried out through Canal+ Group’s THEMA subsidiary which has had a local office in the US since 2013.
Canal+ Group believes that through the purchase, it can use its strong international expertise in content distribution and marketing to allow THEMA to create a new integrated business unit to promote its commercial development across the Americas, exploiting the synergies between its existing distribution activities and those acquired through Alterna’TV.
Commenting on the acquisition, THEMA CEO François Thiellet said: “The acquisition of Alterna’TV marks a new step in our partnership with Eutelsat with whom we have been working since our creation. It will allow us to scale up our presence in North and Latin America and will reinforce our team and the portfolio of channels we offer pay-TV operators in these markets. It will complement the platform we already operate in Canada with Terra Terra (that notably distributes Planète+ in Canada and became part of THEMA in January 2016) to create Thema America which aims to become a privileged partner of operators, replicating our success with our European model that draws on an innovative editorial and commercial approach.”