As part of a wide-ranging agreement with Canal+, Paramount+, which has been rolling out to dozens of foreign territories over the last year, will enter the major European market of France.

After ViacomCBS (now Paramount) reported fourth-quarter earnings, the news was one of a slew of disclosures made today during an investor day.

Paramount+ will be available to all Canal+ Ciné Séries subscribers in France later this year as part of the strategic relationship between Paramount and Canal+.

During a QA with analysts at the end of the company's investor day, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish described the Canal+ deal as a "hard bundle" agreement. In comparison to true direct-to-consumer or channel stores, this is a significant improvement. The benefits of a hard package, according to Bakish, are "a very quick subscriber base and very low subscriber acquisition costs, with minimal churn going forward. We like that a lot as we go to build scale."

Paramount+, which accounts for the majority of the parent company's 56 million streaming users, will not be the only channel in France. It will also be available as a stand-alone app on Apple's iOS and Android platforms, as well as on OTT platforms and linked TVs.

According to the companies, pricing and plans for local programming will be announced at a later date.

Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Junior, Nickelodeon Teen, MTV, Paramount Channel, Game One, J-One, BET, and Comedy Central will all be distributed by Canal+ in conjunction with the streaming debut. In accordance with newly updated French media regulations, Paramount Pictures films will also be made available on Canal+ Group channels six months following their theatrical premiere. In 2022, several Showtime series will also be available.

“Today marks an important milestone for our streaming growth story,” said Raffaele Annecchino, CEO of ViacomCBS Networks International. “We are strategically creating a streaming model for long-term growth, rapidly gaining a solid footprint across all the major European countries. Our SVOD premium services allow us to expand our streaming business in more than 60 markets, as we build our momentum toward expanding Paramount+ in all the markets across the world.”

In 2019, around the debut of Disney+, Canal+ made similar partnerships with media giants in the United States, including Disney.

Maxime Saada, Chairman and CEO of Canal+ Group, called the arrangement “a new demonstration of Canal+ Group’s ability to team up with the most influential global players in the content industry. It strengthens our businesses, both as an aggregator, via the distribution of Paramount+ and ViacomCBS’ channels, and as a publisher, by securing long-term exclusive access to Paramount Pictures movies and select Showtime series for our Canal+ channels.”