Canal+

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Canal+ France
Canal+.svg
Canal+ logo
Launched November 4, 1984
Owned by Vivendi
Audience share 3.5% (June 2010, [1])
Country France
Website www.canalplus.fr
Availability
Terrestrial
SECAM Normally tuned to 4 in France
(partially encrypted)
TNT Channel 4
Satellite
CanalSat Channel 4
Cable
Numericable Channel 4
UPC Poland Channel 444
IPTV
Freebox TV Channel 4
Neuf Channel 4
Alice France Channel 4
DartyBox Channel 4
Orange TV Channel 4

Canal+ ("Canal Plus", "C+" meaning "Channel Plus/More" in French) is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted. The un-encrypted programmes can be viewed free of charge on Canal+ and on satellite on Canal+ Clair (Clear).

Canal+ is a supporter of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) initiative (a consortium of broadcasting and Internet industry companies including SES Astra, OpenTV and Institut für Rundfunktechnik) that is promoting and establishing an open European standard for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface.

Contents

[edit] History

After the announcement about the launch of the fourth French television channel, Canal+ started broadcasting on November 4, 1984. In 1986, the channel had one million subscribers. It has produced numerous auteur films, including David Lynch's The Straight Story, Mulholland Dr., and Inland Empire.

With the launch of the digital satellite platform Canalsatellite on April 27, 1996, Canal+ received two new sister channels: Canal+ Jaune and Canal+ Bleu.[1] A fourth channel, called Canal+ Vert came along on August 31, 1998. The channels changed their names to Canal+ Décalé, Canal+ Cinéma and Canal+ Sport.

In September 2005, Canal+, Canal+ Cinéma and Canal+ Sport started broadcasting in the French digital terrestrial television network. The free-to-air parts of Canal+ had already been broadcasting for a few months by then. In August 2008, Canal+ started broadcasting the encrypted parts of its main channel in high-definition in the terrestrial network. Canal+ plans to turn off the analogue terrestrial signals by 2010.[2]

An account of the rise of Canal+ and CanalSatellite, and the establishment of the Canal+ Group as a major satellite broadcaster in Europe is given in the book, High Above, which tell the story of the foundation and development of the leading European satellite operator, Astra.

[edit] Les Chaînes Canal+

Les Chaînes Canal+[3] is the brand name used for all the Canal+-branded channels in France. Prior to 2008 it was called Canal+ Le Bouquet.

Channel Launched Notes Availability Format Broadcast Hours
Terrest.
SECAM
DTT Satellite,
IPTV
Cable
Canal+ P&S 1984 Broadcast in Pan and scan. It will stop on 2010 4 No No No 4:3 SDTV 24 hours
Canal+ 1996 previously known as Canal+ 16/9 then as Canal+ Hi-Tech No 4 4 4 16:9 SDTV 24 hours
Canal+ HD 2006 previously known as Canal+ 16/9 then as Canal+ Hi-Tech No No 182 354 16:9 HDTV 24 hours
Canal+ Cinéma 1996 A dedicated movie channel, previously known as Canal+ Jaune No 31 10 402 16:9 SDTV 07:00 - 04:00
Canal+ Sport 1998 A sports channel, previously known as Canal+ Vert No 32 11 403 16:9 SDTV 07:00 - 04:00
Canal+ Family 2007 A children's channel No No 12 405 16:9 SDTV 07:00 - 04:00
Canal+ Décalé 1996 Shows repeats of programs shown on Canal+, previously known as Canal+ Bleu No No 13 401 16:9 SDTV 07:00 - 04:00

Those channels are sold as a package on Satellite and DSL TV. On digital terrestrial television, only Canal+, Canal+ Cinéma and Canal+ Sport are available in widescreen with Dolby Digital surround sound.

[edit] European sister channels

As Canal+ was launched in new markets the brand has been used in several countries. When launching additional channels the channels were usually given colour-coded names, such as Canal+ Blue and Canal+ Green. Many of these subsidiaries have been sold, and as of 2007 only the Spanish and Polish Canal+ were partially owned by French Canal+.

[edit] Programmes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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