French streaming platform ‘Salto’ will be sold off or shut down

According to speculations in the local media the French streaming platform Salto a partnership between TF1 M6 and France Télévisions may be sold off or shut down in the upcoming months.

With the intention of building a French-style Netflix broadcasting competitors TF1 M6 and France Télévisions launched the streamer in October 2020. However French audiences have never truly warmed to the platform.

In comparison to Netflix’s 10 million subscribers in France as of this summer it never attracted more than one million subscribers with current numbers believed to be around 800000.

The partners were reportedly in talks last week over the company’s future which could lead to a sell-off according to the French newspaper Le Monde.

TF1 and M6 officially announced their intention to sell their shares over the weekend according to financial broadsheet Les Échos and daily newspaper Libération.

Local media publications claimed that France Télevisions probably wouldn’t have the funds to buy the platform altogether because it is now streamlining its own structure and expenses.

According to specialised trade publications pay-TV juggernaut Canal+ may be interested in purchasing the entire service mostly for the content that is created specifically for the platform.

However it is unclear which of the three partners would continue to provide material to the platform if they were to leave the business.