Canal+ plans to announce job cuts next week due to growing commercial pressure from Netflix.
Employees received a letter about an internal reorganisation of its French operations that will include “voluntary job cuts,” said +Libres union representative Laurent d’Auria.
Agence France-Presse reported that Canal+ aims to cut around 500 jobs. The company has about 2,600 employees in France. A representative for Canal+ declined to comment.
The company’s user base has fallen by almost a quarter to 4.6 million in the five years since Netflix launched in France, amassing more than 5 million subscribers.
Canal+ acquired M7 Group in May but suffered a setback when Spain’s Mediapro won broadcast rights for France’s Ligue 1 season starting next year.
Bryan, Garnier & Co. analyst Thomas Coudry said of Canal+: “They need to lower the cost base in order to restore margins and make room for content spend, and then amortise it over the largest customer base possible.”
