Canal Plus to close down TPS Star

Canal Plus is to close down its TPS Star channel on April 4, according to local reports.

The channel will be shut down on the date that the obligations undertaken by Canal Plus at the time of its merger with TPS end.

The pay TV operator does not believe that the loss-making channel is economically viable, and has notified the French competition authority of its intention to cease distributing the service. Canal Plus has also written to other distributors to inform them that it does not wish to renew contracts for TPS Star.

Canal Plus will also relinquish TPS Star’s digital-terrestrial frequency, enabling it to stay within the legal limit of seven DTT channels for any one group once it completes the acquisition of Bolloré’s Direct 8 and Direct Star services.

How the competition regulator reacts remains to be seen: last year the authority cited Canal Plus’s failure to invest in TPS Star as one of the reasons for its decision to rescind its authorisation of the merger with TPS and impose new conditions on the group.