Canal+ has dressed up its channel to celebrate its 30th anniversary with style during a fortnight of special programming. Launched on November 4, 1984, in a landscape limited at that time to three channels in France, Canal+ introduced premium television, a completely new concept in Europe.
In 1984, Canal+ was a single channel on a TV set. In 2014, Canal+ numbers six channels available on all screens and on demand. The Group counts six million subscribers in France. It has also developed internationally, notably in Africa where it now has close to 1.4 million subscribers in 23 countries.
Canal+ has adopted a specially-tailored look and feel for the celebrations and chose the new French touch hero Kavinsky to provide a unique sound during the period. All the channel’s entertainment shows have been customized, with Le Zapping des 30 ans to start with, an iconic Canal+ program featuring six hours of video footage selected from Canal+’s programs since its inception.
Another highlight of the celebrations is L’Anniversaire, a special live show recorded at the end of October at the Palais des Sports in Paris with 3,500 subscribers and the artistic talents from yesterday, today and tomorrow. The artistic direction of this 90-minute show has been entrusted to Willo Perron, director of the Brit Awards, who has worked with Kayne West, Rihanna and Lady Gaga. Benjamin Millepied, the Choreographic Director of the Paris Opera, is also actively involved in the show.
The channel’s fundamentals have not been forgotten, with special evenings dedicated to the movie directors and stars Cédric Klapisch and Guillaume Gallienne, a selection of the best French soccer league and Top14 rugby games, as well as the Champions League. A new season of Spiral, the first in an ambitious policy of TV series commissioned by the channel, will also be broadcast during the festive period. Spiral has been sold to close to 70 countries.
A website entirely designed around the celebrations will be online from October 31 to November 15 with all details on the special programming. It will provide daily surprises, never-before released content as well as sneak previews and games.
