Bienvenue CANAL +!

Ever since it was launched in 1984, CANAL+ has played a pivotal role in boosting French culture. Much like HBO in the United States, the pay-tv broadcaster financed many of France’s most daring films and became home for many of France’s most innovative television shows, including the sharp-hitting and hilarious Guignols that spoofed and titilated the French political world. That’s why we take special pleasure today in announcing a new partnership between CANAL+ Group and YouTube.

Les Guignols

Under the new partnership, CANAL + will launch about 20 different channels on YouTube, bringing some of France’s most iconic TV shows all across the world, including Le Grand Journal or le Petit Journal. In addition to featuring CANAL+ content, the new YouTube channels will also show highlights from CANAL+ Group’’s other broadcast outlets, including D8, D17 and i>Télé.

The partnership will also support new talent through a new label, Canal Factory. CANAL+ will use its online distribution with YouTube to feature new shows created only for the web. It will experiment with different formats and short original productions. In the past, CANAL+ Group has discovered online new artists such as les Kairas and tested new formats such as the wacky web series at Cannes 2013.

Over the past decade, YouTube has not only become the largest online video service in the world, but it has reshaped the way information is produced, distributed, and accessed. More than one billion people are finding and subscribing to the channels they love on YouTube every month. That’s almost half the people on the Internet.

YouTube channels are attracting a global generation of viewers that has grown up watching what they want, whenever they want, on whatever device is closest. With this new partnership, we’re very excited to help CANAL+ boost viewership and engagement for some of France’s most iconic audiovisual creations and shows and are delighted to bring all this great content to our YouTube community across the world.

This partnership represents exciting news for all lovers of French culture.

Posted by Helene Barrot, Communications and Public Affairs Manager, YouTube, Paris