Salto will officially bow out.
The announcement on Wednesday of the dissolution of the platform by its three shareholders – TF1, France Télévisions and M6 – had been expected for weeks.
It now leaves several questions unanswered.
Now charge Marc Sénéchal, partner of the BTSG firm, the judicial representative appointed for the liquidation of the service, to respond to it.
The man knows the world of the media well.
It was he, in fact, who had been appointed to play the mediator between Mediapro and the Professional Football League (LFP) at the time of the fiasco of the Téléfoot channel.
The date when Salto will actually stop working will be set soon.
The shutdown will probably take place at the end of March.
Read alsoSalto, the French Netflix fiasco
From this date, direct debits will stop automatically.
Subscribers who pay on a monthly basis can already cancel their package at any time.
“
A specific communication will be sent very soon to inform of the consequences on current subscriptions
”, indicate the shareholders.
“
Those who have subscribed to an annual package should be reimbursed in proportion to what they have left
”, specifies a person close to the file.
What about the quarantine of Salto employees?
The shareholders “
undertook to make their best efforts to offer them new opportunities
".
In 2022, TF1, France Télévisions and M6 provisioned their accounts for 46 million losses each, linked to the failure of the Salto platform.
Including 22 million for the costs of closing the service.
They therefore drew a line under the hope of recovering some money.
One million subscribers
The legal representative may resell the catalog of programmes.
But the latter belong, for the most part, to France Télévisions, TF1 and M6.
Salto exclusives represent less than 20% of the content catalog.
Remains the portfolio of subscribers.
The three shareholders ensure that the service has “
nearly 1 million subscribers
”, who pay around 7.99 euros per month.
An asset that Canal+ could be tempted to buy for scrap.
Recently, the firm NPA Conseil estimated that only a large third of Salto subscribers also had a Canal+ or Canal+ Series offer.
Those who subscribed to an annual plan should be reimbursed on a pro rata basis of what they have left
A close file
“
Canal+ could hope to gain up to 500,000 subscribers
,” he assured.
“
Salto and Canal+ also have audiences with roughly similar tastes since they both offer a lot of French productions
,” observes Philippe Bailly, president of NPA Conseil.
Paramount could also be interested in the file.
He has just launched his streaming service in France.
And if it focuses mainly on American programs, "
recovering some of Salto's subscribers could accelerate the growth of its platform
", estimates the expert.
