YouTube Meets Boob Tube as Europe’s Networks Chase the Young

Since its founding in 1983, French pay-TV provider Canal Plus Group has become one of Europe’s top backers of films and television series, co-producing blockbusters such as Bridget Jones’s Diary and hourlong shows like The Young Pope. Lately, Canal Plus has started emphasizing an entirely new format: serialized comedies and dramas delivered in 5- to 10-minute segments.

The company has set up a new unit, Studio+, which last fall released its first batch of series in Europe and Latin America, aimed at people who watch on their phones. It costs €4.99 a month to access the entire catalog, which ranges from Brazilian thriller Crime Time—Hora de Perigo to U.S. skateboard romance Joy. Studio+ seeks to release a series a week, spending about €1 million ($1.1 million) on each “season” of about 10 episodes. Canal Plus parent Vivendi has signed distribution deals with carriers across Europe. “TV channels have digitalized their shows but not their revenues,” says Dominique Delport, who heads Vivendi’s content business. “Broadcasters need to widen their scope.”