Canal+ (streaming service)

CanalSat (pay TV provider)

Digital satellite provider CanalSatellite was launched as a wholly owned subsidiary of Groupe Canal+ on 6 December 1991.^[2][3] The shareholders were Canal+ (66 percent) and Lagardère Active (34 percent), a subsidiary of Lagardère.^{[citation needed]} Canal+ began satellite broadcasting in 1992, to reach parts of France not covered by cable.^[4]

On 27 April 1996, CanalSatellite launched as a digital satellite platform, with 24 channels and interactive services.^[3]

On 23 May 2005, CanalSatellite was renamed Canalsat.^[3]

With Canal+, the utilisation of the card pairing (QEV) technology allowed access to many channels such as Eurosport, Paris Premiere, or LCI.^[5]

On 31 August 2006, after acquiring competitor TPS, the two companies were merged within the Canal+ Group.^[3]

On 7 December 2010, both Canal+ channels and the 90 CanalSat channels became available live on Microsoft's Xbox 360.^[3]

In 2011, the merger with TPS was cancelled by the Competition Authority. Canal+ appealed, and the Authority determined that its authorisation would be conditional on a number of injunctions, including "re-establish[ing] sufficient competition in the pay television market".^[6]

2013: launch of myCanal (streaming service)

In December 2013, CanalSat and Canal+ launched their subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service "myCanal".^[7]

In September 2015, Vincent Bolloré announced that the service would change its name to simply "Canal".^[8] CanalSat adopted the new name on 15 November 2016, accompanied by new offerings, merging with the bouquet Les Chaînes Canal+.^[9]

In 2017, Canal lost Discovery and NBCUniversal channels, recovered by SFR.^[10] Canal replaced them by exclusive newly launched channels: Warner TV, Polar+, and Novelas TV.^[11]

2019: Canal (formerly CanalSat) and myCanal becomes Canal+

The service was renamed Canal+ on 1 August 2019, unifying its brand across the world.^[12] In September 2019, Canal+ offered a new upgrade of its subscription package "Canal+ Ciné Séries" which included Netflix.^[13] Disney+ was included from its launch on 7 April 2020 for all Ciné Séries subscribers,^[14] and similar upgrades were proposed for Paramount+ and Max where Canal+ is their main partner in France.^[15][16]