And one more competitor. On Tuesday, October 21, the operator Free launched Free TV, a free streaming offer aimed not only at its subscribers, but at all Internet users in France.
“More than 170 television channels will participate in the programming, as well as movies and programs in repetition, complemented by a paid version,” states a statement, in line with the competing platforms Molotov and Canal+’s TV+.
Simplifies the viewer experience
This new offer gives access to everyone, free subscribers or not, to more than 170 channels, including 16 from TNT (without TF1 and M6 in particular) and is presented as “the largest free television offer in France”. Its competitors Molotov and TV+ respectively offer fifty free channels and more than 80 for two euros per month.
Xavier Niel’s company also launches a payment offer for 0.99 euros per month for a year and then 5.99 euros per month. It allows you to benefit from “more than 300 channels (…) including the 25 TNT channels and many usually pay channels” such as RTL9, Disney Channel, CNN International, National Geographic or Mangas,” the statement specifies.
This latest offer is included for Freebox Internet subscribers with the television service and for mobile subscribers with the Free 5G and Free Series packages. Free TV thus replaces the OQEE TV application, launched in 2020 by Free for its subscribers.
Free’s goal is clear: simplify the viewer experience. Instead of juggling between multiple apps, Free TV promises a single portal.
“Watching TV in 2025 will be a hassle,” observes Xavier Niel, founder of Free, in the press release. “(You) have to download an app for each channel, create an account in each app for each channel… We decided to change all that. Now, TV is simple. Now, TV is free.” A positioning that directly attacks Molotov’s beds.
Xavier Niel also has a conflicted history with the platform. In fact, in 2021, the service was bought by the American FuboTV. Xavier Niel had invested more than 30 million euros there. The only problem was that the purchase was made with FuboTV shares, the price of which plummeted shortly after, according to l’Informed.
Jean-David Blanc, the founder of the company, demands from Xavier Niel 30 million euros as a share in the profits from the sale of Molotovs. The Paris commercial court rejected it. Jean-David Blanc intends to appeal.
Source: BFM TV
