Vivendi

Frédéric Mion, General Counsel, Canal+ Group
(ASDR 2010)

Canal+ wants to be examplary in protecting young audiences

« Canal+ made an impression from its inception by offering its subscribers programs reserved for adults – a type of programming that had never been common on French television before. Taking that audacious step required us to provide a challenging guarantee – namely that only the appropriate audience would have access to such programming.
That requirement, which has in no way become less stringent because of the trivialization of sexually explicit and violent content via different distribution media, is more than ever at the core of the Group’s concerns. And it is forcefully underlined in the Ethics Charter that applies to all employees and which requires them to “ensure protection of children and adolescents and, to that end, to apply the program rating in such a way as to ensure the acceptability of programming in terms of the protection of children and adolescence” by displaying the symbols signaling the ratings of its programs.
Concretely, the Group was an originator of the principal protective measures that are now part of the regulatory system, beginning with double encryption. Today, the Group’s efforts are concentrated on guaranteeing that all new technical media used in distributing its offerings (connected TVs, computers, game consoles, set-top boxes from thirdparty partners, cell phones, etc.) apply the appropriate protection measures upstream.
Aware that no one can take the parents’ place in ensuring the protection of their children and adolescents, Canal+ works to inform and provide them with tools to enable them to fully exercise their responsibilities. »