Téléfoot (TV channel)

Téléfoot (also branded as Téléfoot: La Chaîne du Foot) is a French pay television channel owned by Mediapro. Launched on 17 August 2020, it was established as part of an agreement to acquire rights to Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 football beginning in the 2020-21 season. TF1 Group serves as a content partner for the channel, branding it as an extension of its football programme of the same name.

Téléfoot
CountryFrance
Broadcast areaFrance
Monaco
SloganLa Chaîne du Foot
Programming
Picture format576i (16:9 SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
2160p (UHDTV)
Ownership
OwnerMediapro
History
Launched17 August 2020 (2020-08-17)
Closed8 February 2021 (2021-02-08)
Links
WebsiteOfficial website
Availability
Cable
NumericableChannel 122
IPTV
SFRChannel 122
BouyguesChannel 55
FreeboxChannel 47
OrangeChannel 186
SFR RéunionChannel 36
Channel 37 (UHD)
SPM TélécomChannel 400

The network is offered via both television providers and as an over-the-top streaming service.[1]

The channel was a commercial failure and made a financial crisis on the French football.

History

On 29 May 2018, Mediapro won four of the five bundles of media rights to the Ligue de Football Professionnel for 2020-21 through 2023-24, largely replacing Canal+ as broadcaster of most Ligue 1 fixtures. It was expected that Mediapro would establish a new pay television channel to hold these rights.[2][3][4] In August 2019, Mediapro France appointed Julien Bergeaud as its managing director in preparation for the new rights.[5][6] The Ligue 1 rights were valued at €780 million per-season.[7]

In October 2019, in an attempt to bolster the proposed channel, Mediapro bid for the next cycle of French rights to the UEFA Champions League.[8][9] It was unsuccessful (with the rights being acquired by beIN Sports and Canal+),[10] but Mediapro would later reach a three-year deal to carry UEFA Europa League matches on the new channel beginning in the 2021–22 season, covering 266 matches per-season, and Europa Conference League matches. Canal+ holds the first pick of 16 Europa League matches per-season, selected UECL matches, and the finals for both.[11][12]

In January 2020, Mediapro submitted an application to the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA) for approval of the new channel, stating that it planned to charge €25 per-month, and aimed to reach 3.5 million subscribers.[13][14]

On 2 June 2020, Mediapro announced that it had partnered with TF1 Group to brand the new channel as Téléfoot — an extension of the long-running TF1 football programme of the same name. As part of the partnership, TF1 will also provide editorial resources and talent for the channel, including its broadcast team of Grégoire Margotton and Bixente Lizarazu for marquee matches.[15][16]

On 27 July 2020, it was reported that Téléfoot was negotiating an agreement to sub-license half of Altice/RMC Sport's rights to the UEFA Champions League for the 2020–21 season (the last season of its current contract), as part of Altice's downsizing of its sports broadcasting business. The agreement was also reported to include carriage of Téléfoot on SFR.[17]

On 30 July 2020, L'Équipe reported that Mediapro had established a partnership with Netflix to offer bundles of the service with Téléfoot at a discount. It was also suggested that Netflix could provide backend support for the channel's over-the-top services, although Netflix itself will not carry the network's content.[18][19] On 14 August, Bouygues Telecom agreed to carry the service.[20] On 25 August, Iliad agreed to carry the service for Freebox.[21] On 9 September, Orange agreed to carry the service.

Wind-down of operations

On 16 October 2020, it was reported that Mediapro had begun to withhold its rights payments to the LFP, seeking to renegotiate the contract due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in France. The company missed a €172.3 million[7] rights payment which was due 5 October; the LFP had denied a request from Mediapro to extend its deadline.[22] LFP CEO Arnaud Rouger informed its clubs that it was prepared to move its media rights elsewhere if they are unable to resolve the impasse with Mediapro.[23] On 20 November, RMC Sport reported that the LFP was in negotiations with Canal+.[22]

Mediapro missed a second rights payment due 5 December.[7] On 11 December, it was reported that the LFP had agreed to not pursue legal action against Mediapro, in exchange for €100 million in compensation for the two missed rights payments. Téléfoot's employees were informed of an impending shutdown of the channel, although it was suggested that it would likely remain in operation until a new broadcast agreement is reached.[7] Mediapro confirmed that the network planned to close on 23 December 2020.[24] The network has remained on the air week-to-week as new contracts are settled, and is currently proposed to close on 7 February 2021.[25]

The collapse of the Mediapro contract is expected to have a major financial impact on Ligue 1 clubs, especially those who had anticipated revenue increases under the agreement.[26]

The LFP and the Groupe Canal+ reached an agreement on February 4, 2021 to broadcast exclusively and fully the Ligue 1 and 8 of 10 Ligue 2 matches until the end of the 2020-2021 season, starting on the 25th day. The Marseille / Paris Saint-Germain match is the last match to be broadcast by Téléfoot (in co-broadcasting with Canal+, which paid 3 million euros to obtain this right). The channel subsequently ceased broadcasting during the night of February 7 to 8, 2021.[27]

Programming

Match coverage

Personnel

Journalists

Consultant

References
  1. "Téléfoot rolls out mobile-only live Ligue 1 offer". SportsPro Media. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  2. "Canal+ loses Ligue 1 football to Mediapro in major upset". Digital TV Europe. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  3. Borde, Alexandre (29 May 2018). "Droits TV du foot : la Ligue 1 obtient 1,1 milliard, Canal+ sur la touche". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  4. "Droits TV : Canal+ perd toute la Ligue 1 à partir de 2020 - Foot - L1". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  5. "Foot/TV : Julien Bergeaud nommé directeur de la future chaîne française de Mediapro". Europe 1 (in French). Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  6. "Avec Julien Bergeaud, le futur diffuseur de la Ligue 1 Mediapro a un patron - Foot - L1". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  7. "Ligue 1 rights picture in disarray as LFP and Mediapro agree to cancel deal". SportsPro Media. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  8. "La Ligue des Champions sur Mediapro à partir de 2021 ?". Football 365 (in French). 14 October 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  9. Media365 (14 October 2019). "Ligue des Champions : Une diffusion sur Mediapro dès 2021 ?". Orange Sports (in French). Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  10. LOISEL, Franck. "Mediapro et sa chaîne "Telefoot" chez Amaury Média pour la régie publicitaire !". www.sport-tv.org (in French). Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  11. "Europa League and Conference land on Canal+ from 2021/22 - SportsPro Media". SportsPro Media. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  12. "Main French Europa League rights lot picked up by Mediapro". SportsPro. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  13. "Mediapro awaiting approval for Ligue 1 pay-TV channel -". SportsPro Media. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  14. "Mediapro a déposé son dossier au CSA". France Football. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  15. "Mediapro and TF1 team up to launch Téléfoot channel". Digital TV Europe. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  16. "Ligue 1: la chaîne de Mediapro s'appellera " Téléfoot "". RMC SPORT (in French). Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  17. "Champions League to air on Mediapro's Téléfoot in RMC Sport deal, says report". SportsPro. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  18. "Mediapro's Téléfoot teams with Netflix for bundle offer". SportsPro Media. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  19. "Médias : Téléfoot va s'associer à Netflix - Foot - médias". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  20. "Telefoot, la chaîne de Mediapro, sera aussi accessible aux abonnés Bouygues Télécom". Challenges (in French). Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  21. "Telefoot, la chaîne de Mediapro, sera aussi accessible aux abonnés Free". Univers Freebox (in French). Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  22. "Ligue 1 rights could return to Canal+, says report". SportsPro Media. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  23. "LFP ready to rip up Mediapro TV rights contract". SportsPro Media. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  24. "Mediapro seals agreement over French soccer rights dispute-media". Reuters. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  25. Maleszka, Ewan (6 January 2021). "Téléfoot: why does the channel continue to broadcast matches?". Telestar. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  26. Panja, Tariq (15 December 2020). "French Soccer Faces Financial Crisis After Record TV Deal Collapses". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  27. "Ligue 1 : Canal+ n'augmentera pas le prix pour ses abonnés, "un cadeau qu'on leur fait"". Univers Freebox (in French). 8 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
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