Canal Plus Company

When Canal Plus, France's leading pay-TV company, announced recently it would merge with the Dutch firm Nethold, the $1.64-billion move was a bit reminiscent of an arranged marriage of two 16th century royals. Canal Plus (rhymes with "loose") pledged its 6.6 million subscribers in France and other countries and a valuable digital TV decoder. Nethold brought to the union nearly 2 million subscribers and its own decoder, transformed overnight from a threat to an asset.

Continuing the management upheaval at Vivendi Universal's pay-TV operation, Canal Plus Group Chairman Xavier Couture is expected to resign this week, sources close to the company said. Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Rene Fourtou was said to be disappointed with Canal Plus' continued losses and had clashed with Couture, who was appointed last year after former Vivendi CEO Jean-Marie Messier fired Pierre Lescure.

Vivendi Universal on Thursday replaced the head of its Canal Plus Group and abandoned plans for a public stock offering of the troubled pay-TV company, putting added pressure on chief Jean-Rene Fourtou to raise cash by selling other assets, including some of its U.S. entertainment holdings. As expected, Vivendi named Bertrand Meheut, the No.

In a significant first step toward redefining itself, Vivendi Universal plans to sell off unprofitable portions of Canal Plus Group and float a minority stake in the remaining French pay-TV company. The move, part of a companywide effort to slash the French utility and media company's massive debt, would allow Vivendi to raise as much as $5 billion while keeping control of the powerful media property.

In the popular imagination, a computer hacker is on the fringes of society--either a brilliant but misguided teenager or a solitary, disaffected adult. He's more interested in showing off his skills than benefiting from them. He values havoc over money. Canal Plus Technologies, a leading maker of the smart cards that control satellite television signals in people's homes, went searching three years ago for just such a troublemaker.

Canal Plus, the pay-TV unit of French media group Vivendi Universal, on Tuesday confirmed plans to divest its stake in sports channels Eurosport and Eurosport France and to launch a rival sports channel. The French pay-TV unit holds a 49.5% stake in Eurosport, while its French rival, channel Television Francaise 1, owns the rest and is considered to be the likely buyer. Eurosport is the biggest European cable sports channel, claiming 30 million subscribers.

* StudioCanal, the movie division of Canal Plus, named Richard Lenormand as chief executive to replace Vincent Grimond, who resigned to become deputy managing director of Vivendi's Universal Studios. Lenormand, 38, has been senior vice president of finance at Canal Plus, the pay-TV subsidiary of Vivendi Universal.

Vivendi Universal unit Canal Plus Technologies announced a deal with WINfirst under which the U.S. fiber-optic network company will use Canal's technology to deliver interactive TV services. Canal Plus Technologies did not give financial details of the deal but said in a statement that the agreement will allow Denver-based WINfirst to offer interactive digital TV services to more than 3.7 million cable-connected households.

Canal Plus must stop buying exclusive broadcast rights to recent French films to air on a pay-per-view basis until France's competition regulator decides whether the practice is unfair, the regulator said. The Conseil de la Concurrence imposed the measure on Canal Plus and its Kiosque unit after an initial inquiry prompted by complaints from two rivals, Multivision, a TV operator, and Television Par Satellite, France's No. 2 digital-satellite TV service.

Vivendi Universal Chairman Jean-Marie Messier on Wednesday flagged the possibility of teaming his TV arm, Canal Plus, with the assets of U.S. cable king John Malone, saying he saw strategic sense in an alliance. Speaking at a UBS Warburg media conference in New York, Messier said linking the European programming and distribution assets of pay-TV operator Canal Plus with Malone's cable group, Liberty Media Corp., offered "the best strategic outcome."

Vivendi Universal on Thursday replaced the head of its Canal Plus Group and abandoned plans for a public stock offering of the troubled pay-TV company, putting added pressure on chief Jean-Rene Fourtou to raise cash by selling other assets, including some of its U.S. entertainment holdings. As expected, Vivendi named Bertrand Meheut, the No.

Continuing the management upheaval at Vivendi Universal's pay-TV operation, Canal Plus Group Chairman Xavier Couture is expected to resign this week, sources close to the company said. Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Rene Fourtou was said to be disappointed with Canal Plus' continued losses and had clashed with Couture, who was appointed last year after former Vivendi CEO Jean-Marie Messier fired Pierre Lescure.

In the popular imagination, a computer hacker is on the fringes of society--either a brilliant but misguided teenager or a solitary, disaffected adult. He's more interested in showing off his skills than benefiting from them. He values havoc over money. Canal Plus Technologies, a leading maker of the smart cards that control satellite television signals in people's homes, went searching three years ago for just such a troublemaker.

In a significant first step toward redefining itself, Vivendi Universal plans to sell off unprofitable portions of Canal Plus Group and float a minority stake in the remaining French pay-TV company. The move, part of a companywide effort to slash the French utility and media company's massive debt, would allow Vivendi to raise as much as $5 billion while keeping control of the powerful media property.

One is a Saturday matinee popcorn movie replete with bare-chested musclemen, deadly swordplay, scantily attired damsels and ancient desert kingdoms vividly created through the magic of 21st century computer graphics. The other is an irreverent Muppet-like pay television show that takes delight in skewering the French ruling class with scathing wit and nimble political humor. Both are products of global entertainment giant Vivendi Universal.

Vivendi Universal Chairman Jean-Marie Messier on Wednesday flagged the possibility of teaming his TV arm, Canal Plus, with the assets of U.S. cable king John Malone, saying he saw strategic sense in an alliance. Speaking at a UBS Warburg media conference in New York, Messier said linking the European programming and distribution assets of pay-TV operator Canal Plus with Malone's cable group, Liberty Media Corp., offered "the best strategic outcome."

Canal Plus must stop buying exclusive broadcast rights to recent French films to air on a pay-per-view basis until France's competition regulator decides whether the practice is unfair, the regulator said. The Conseil de la Concurrence imposed the measure on Canal Plus and its Kiosque unit after an initial inquiry prompted by complaints from two rivals, Multivision, a TV operator, and Television Par Satellite, France's No. 2 digital-satellite TV service.

Vivendi Universal unit Canal Plus Technologies announced a deal with WINfirst under which the U.S. fiber-optic network company will use Canal's technology to deliver interactive TV services. Canal Plus Technologies did not give financial details of the deal but said in a statement that the agreement will allow Denver-based WINfirst to offer interactive digital TV services to more than 3.7 million cable-connected households.

* StudioCanal, the movie division of Canal Plus, named Richard Lenormand as chief executive to replace Vincent Grimond, who resigned to become deputy managing director of Vivendi's Universal Studios. Lenormand, 38, has been senior vice president of finance at Canal Plus, the pay-TV subsidiary of Vivendi Universal.

Canal Plus, the pay-TV unit of French media group Vivendi Universal, on Tuesday confirmed plans to divest its stake in sports channels Eurosport and Eurosport France and to launch a rival sports channel. The French pay-TV unit holds a 49.5% stake in Eurosport, while its French rival, channel Television Francaise 1, owns the rest and is considered to be the likely buyer. Eurosport is the biggest European cable sports channel, claiming 30 million subscribers.