French Cable Operator Tries to Fend Off Netflix With New Service
Numericable Subscribers to Get Free Access to Hundreds of TV Shows in Attempt to Keep Customers From Leaving
PARIS—French cable operator Numericable Group SA NUM.FR +3.23% on Monday will launch an offer to give subscribers free access to hundreds of TV series in a bid to counter the arrival of Netflix NFLX -1.04% in France.
Numericable—owned by cable investor Patrick Drahi —will give customers of its fiber box access to about 3,000 episodes of TV series, including "Mad Men" and popular French series such as "Plus belle la vie," according to the company's Deputy Chief Executive Jerôme Yomtov.
"We will start with 3,000 episodes of TV series a month and add movies a few months from now," Mr. Yomtov said.
The move by Numericable, which dubbed the service "SérieFlix" internally, is an attempt to prevent losing customers to Netflix, which is set to be launched in France on Monday.
The arrival of Netflix has sparked much criticism in France, where politicians lament the creeping influence of U.S. culture and business. French film producers had warned of an "implosion of our cultural model" with the arrival of the U.S. company.
French telecom operators have also shown resistance to Netflix's launch in France. Telecom operators have refused to allow Netflix to offer its service via their triple-play boxes, the most common way in France for people to watch TV.
Nevertheless, in other countries, Netflix has attracted large numbers of subscribers with very few deals to be integrated into telecom set-top boxes. In the U.S. for instance, many cable operators have long resisted integrating Netflix, or have tried to slow its growth by creating rival services similar to Numericable's.
Netflix is viewable on its website, and via apps on Apple and Android devices, as well as on smart TVs, game consoles and other third-party TV boxes.
It is unclear at this stage how other French operators, including market leader Orange SA, ORA.FR -0.38% Bouygues SA EN.FR -0.32% 's telecom unit Bouygues Telecom and Iliad SA, ILD.FR -0.11% will react to Netflix's arrival. Spokeswomen for Bouygues Telecom, Orange and Iliad declined to comment Sunday on Numericable's new offer.
Orange Chief Executive Stéphane Richard said on French radio last week that for now the operator won't allow Netflix to offer its service on its boxes but that this could change depending on the success of Netflix's offer.
Vivendi SA VIV.FR -0.51% 's pay TV Canal Plus meanwhile has started to fight back on its own. Canal Plus, which already has about 500,000 subscribers for a Netflix-like competitor called CanalPlay, is launching a new offline-viewing feature for the service and bulking up its library of French TV shows and movies to highlight its domestic roots.