Paris (AFP)

A taboo has fallen: Netflix will be distributed by Canal +, which seeks to offer the maximum of programs in an increasingly fragmented television market, where competition is raging.

The US platform has sealed an agreement with the pay TV group to be distributed in its offers in France, announced the two groups Monday at a press conference in Paris.

Canal + will offer the standard offer of Netflix in its pack Ciné / Séries - which also includes Canal + Cinema, OCS or Fox -, at a price of 15 euros on sale from 15 October, a total of 35 euros per month with the Canal + basic subscription.

"It is essential for Canal + to be able to offer Netflix to its subscribers," said Maxime Saada, CEO of the group. "The customers asked us".

The flagship series Netflix as "Stranger Things" and "Friends" will be "put forward" with Canal + subscribers as well as the products "home" as "Gears" or "The Wild", he assured . These subscribers will go directly to Netflix when they click on the platform programs.

The encrypted group is just starting to recover after a fall in the number of French subscribers and severe cuts. It aims to seduce again viewers with a large offer of fiction and sports. Even if we have to go through alliances, as they did in the sport with BeIn.

"We do not want the consumer to be lost in an ocean of programs," said Maxime Saada. With the arrival of Disney, Apple or Amazon, "there will be a lot of platforms, maybe too much".

The financial details of the operation were not revealed and the two groups did not wish to specify their objectives.

The Ciné / Série pack has two million subscribers (out of almost five million direct subscribers to Canal +). One million French customers are already subscribers to Canal + and Netflix simultaneously.

- 6 million Netflix subscribers -

"From a linear chain, we are turning into a platform," said Maxime Saada, noting that half of Canal + subscribers watch catch-up programs.

The US platform, whose expansion has shaken the world of television, has just exceeded six million subscribers in France. But its title has plummeted on Wall Street this summer because it has attracted as many new subscribers as expected.

"The competition is getting stronger on video-on-demand," said Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings. "We were so hesitant about integrating our application so far, it was a risk for our brand, but we are gaining confidence as we grow, and we want to make things easier for people."

Netflix has started in recent months to forge alliances worldwide with distributors, Comcast in the United States, Sky in Germany and the United Kingdom, or Movistar in Spain.

The partnership with Canal + is also "intended to be extended" to other countries, starting with Poland, said the leaders of both groups.

"This agreement will increase the long-term value of a customer, it will be more faithful," said Maria Ferreras, director of development of Netflix for Southern Europe.

This agreement could also "facilitate cooperation" of the two groups in the production of series, said Maxime Saada. "We have a great interest in producing French programs because they travel well," said Reed Hastings, citing the "Family Business" series with Jonathan Cohen.

© 2019 AFP