Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada Says He Met Reed Hastings And Convinced Him French Pay-TV Giant Was A Partner, “Not A Competitor” — Mipcom Cannes

deadline.com:

Canal+ Chairman and CEO Maxime Saada has recalled how he travelled to Los Gatos with an olive branch six years ago. In a keynote interview at Mipcom Cannes this past hour, Saada said his “obsession” with ensuring pay-TV giant Canal+ “stays alive” led him to travel to Netflix’s headquarters for a “very long conversation” with Reed Hastings.

Saada was trying to reduce Canal+’s dependency on its French pay business and diversify, and wanted to convince Hastings that the two companies could co-exist, even if both were chasing subscribers. “I tried to convince him we were not necessarily competitors and that he was on the same side as Canal+ as he was trying to get people to pay for TV content,” he added.

Saada, who became Canal+ CEO in 2015, said his theory was ultimately correct as the two companies struck a carriage agreement in 2019. “Reed said we were competitors but I think I proved otherwise,” Canal+ now offers several international streaming services bundled with its pay-TV service and has further reduced its dependency on French subs by expanding internationally — taking stakes in the likes of Multichoice and Viaplay.

Saada paid tribute to Hasting and his streaming business, saying: “We owe so much to Netflix, because they showed the way, that movies and TV can travel.” Saada said Canal+’s rocky history as he storied several close calls. “It’s a company that has almost died, several times,” he added. “Right after it launched in 1984, it was a hit and then a gigantic failure for a while.