Is Vivendi chairman Vincent Bollore protecting a French elite? The French billionaire is currently under fire after he reportedly called for the cancellation of a 28-year-old satirical television show, which is notorious for its harsh criticisms on the nation's aristocrats.
On Thursday, Vincent Bollore faced a major political backlash after claiming he wanted to switch the editorial core of pay TV group Canal Plus. According to Daily Mail, Vivendi's biggest shareholder is reportedly terminating the cult satirical muppets show, "Les Guignols de I'Infois."
After learning Bollore's plan to discontinue the show, which was leaked on French blogs, waves of protests were ignited coming from the local film and TV industries. And among the high-profile personalities that have expressed deep concern was former Canal Plus boss and Cannes film festival president Pierre Lescure, Variety has learned.
Moreover, Vincent Bollore, who is known to have profound connections to France's political class, has met with Canal Plus executives in recent days to discuss the company's future. And in spite of the show's cancellation rumors, Reuters revealed that no decision on "Les Guignols" had been made. Instead, the meetings were about the autumn programming line-up and strategy of Canal Plus.
Meanwhile, a Canal Plus representative has declined to make a comment about the issue. While Vivendi said programing decisions for the French premium cable TV channel will be announced by mid-July as per usual. Yahoo! News added Vincent Bollore, whose family-owned conglomerate Bollore Group is active in logistics and transport, believes that Canal Plus needs renewal since stiffer competition decreases its revenue by almost 3 percent last year, while profit dropped 9 percent.
In other news, Canal Plus Group CEO Rodolphe Belmer has been ousted from his post. The position will now be filled by Maxime Saada. In another Variety report, the decision came on July 3. Saada, who joined the company in 2001 has previously been Canal Plus Group's executive vice president and head of pay TV.
Canal Plus made headlines after rumors started to spread about Vivendi boss Vincent Bolloré's intention to pull the plug on "Les Guignols de L'info." However, the shareholders board ultimately decided to maintain the show.
Following the transition on Canal Plus higher-ups, how hands on Vincent Bollore will now be in pressuring the company to boost its game, renew its bench of talent and revive its stock profits?
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
