Canal+, a popular French premium TV channel and streaming service, has secured a multi-year contract with Apple. As a result, on April 20, all Canal+ users in France and certain other European countries will be able to enjoy Apple TV+ content for free.
Canal+ is offering more than Apple TV+, which is strange. It’s not like carrier agreements, which include a few months of Apple TV+, Disney+, or Netflix with their most costly plans.
Instead, the Canal+ app (myCanal) will offer Apple TV+ programming. For live TV viewers, Canal+ will air “The Morning Show,” “Foundation,” and “Tehran” on its premium channels.
Canal+ tweeted that Apple TV+ won’t be available for its users in the Apple TV app. Of course, this would require a separate membership, but I don’t understand why consumers would pay for stuff they can already enjoy in another app.
Apple’s senior VP of services, Eddy Cue, told Variety that this isn’t a transitory pact to bolster Apple TV+ in France. “It’s not a promotion. “It’s many years and hopefully forever in my mind,” Cue told Variety.
The announcement time is intriguing. Apple TV+ has had 25 million paying members since 2019. It’s unknown if Apple gained many international subscribers. It lacks foreign material like Netflix. Apple premiered “Liaison,” its first French TV show, and a French-Japanese show on April 21.
Apple can reach more people by collaborating with Canal+. 9.5 million French Canal+ subscribers. Several European and African nations provide Canal+—25+ million paying members.
Canal+ and Apple are familiar. Bloomberg stated in 2020 that some video apps could offer shows on Apple devices without in-app purchase costs. Apple doesn’t take a 30% share of Amazon Prime Video, Canal+, and Altice One video rentals or purchases if consumers have a payment method.