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Paris Match for C+

By Staff Writer | November 7, 2001

      France’s Lagardere group is to launch a new channel named Match TV based on the concept of the well-known glossy news magazine Paris Match.

      The service, which will be available on most cable networks and via satellite exclusively on Canal Satellite, will appear on December 10 and offer “semi-general entertainment,” with programming based on films, documentaries and talk shows and adopting the editorial line of Paris Match. Its annual budget will be in the region of FFr80 million to FFr100 million (E12.2 million to E15.2 million), with break-even projected in three years. The service – along with several other channels from the Lagardere stable including Elle – also hopes to secure carriage on France’s forthcoming DTT platform.

      The Lagardere group has already made several attempts to get into mainstream television, including the failed fifth terrestrial analogue channel. According to Arnaud Lagardere, however, the company “are now coming in through the window,” having invested in thematic channels (it has a 27 percent stake in the channel supplier Multithematiques alongside Canal+) and secured 34 per cent of Canal Satellite. Match TV now represents its big chance to take centre stage in the television market with a prominent channel.