CANAL+ – TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 AT 9 PM – FOOTBALL
On 9 November, it will be an important anniversary in the tumultuous history of the relationship between football and television. Forty years ago, on 9 November 1984, the new pay-TV channel Canal+, launched five days earlier, broadcast its first French championship match live, between FC Nantes and AS Monaco. Charles Biétry and Michel Denisot commentated.
The beginning of a long honeymoon between Canal+ and French football. For almost four decades, Ligue 1 will remain the main flagship product of its historic broadcaster. But that was before.
For several years, in a football rights market that has gone crazy, the Canal+ group has been sharing Ligue 1 billboards with other competitors. Well advised, those in charge are no longer betting so much on this competition and prefer, in particular, to strengthen their coverage of the Top 14 rugby, Formula 1 and the Grand Prix of motorcycling. Successful diversification, both in terms of image and audiences.
Exclusive broadcast
This season, for the first time in its history, the group is no longer broadcasting Ligue 1. However, its link with football is not broken. The English Premier League, the most popular championship in the world, remains visible exclusively through its broadcasts.
But it was by signing a broadcasting contract until 2027 to exclusively and fully broadcast (on its channels, including eighteen additional Canal+ Live channels created for the occasion) all the matches of the three European club cups (Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League), or 546 matches, that Canal+ made its mark.
Ligue 1 was long presented as “The subscribers’ favorite soap opera”Will the European Cups make her forget? Thomas Sénécal, director of the group’s sporting department, is convinced of this: “The European Cups more than make up for the absence of Ligue 1 on Canal. Nowadays, the French are more attached to the Champions League, judging by the audience. Last season we had an average of 1.7 million viewers for our Champions League matches.” A high score in the world of pay television.
Augmented reality and 3D
In fact, this new European offering promises to be even more gigantic because the Champions League has just changed and now offers a championship-type format with thirty-six clubs and eight opponents per team before the knockout stages.
The first round of the regular season will be played from 17 to 19 September. The eighth and final round is scheduled for 29 January 2025, before the start of the final phase, which runs from 11 February to the final scheduled for Munich on 31 May 2025.
Knowing that four French clubs (Paris-SG, Monaco, Brest and Lille) are participating this season in the most prestigious of the three European competitions, many posters should reach a large audience, such as Monaco-FC Barcelona (September 19), Arsenal- PSG (1Ahem October) or Lille-Real Madrid (October 2), to name just the first…
As usual, a sophisticated technical system will have to be used, including more innovative statistical processing, with the use of augmented reality and 3D. On Tuesday 17 September, in the first matchday of the Champions League, Sporting Portugal and Lille will face each other in Lisbon at 9 p.m.
Sporting Portugal – Lille, Champions League match live from Lisbon.
