By Ruth Bender
PARIS-- Vivendi SA's pay-TV group Canal Plus has ousted the head
of its French channel in a bid to try to turn around sliding
subscriber numbers.
Vivendi said Friday that Rodolphe Belmer, chief executive of the
French branch of the pay TV group, has been relieved of his
functions. Maxime Saada, formerly Mr. Belmer's right-hand man, will
succeed him as CEO of the unit, Vivendi said in a news release.
Mr. Belmer was ousted because parent Vivendi and Canal Plus's
board aren't happy with the performance of the French pay-TV
channel, said a person familiar with the matter.
Subscriber numbers at the French channel have been declining for
two years, and the group wants to try to overhaul the way it
allocates funds to programs to try to get its finances back in
shape, the person said.
The move comes as Vivendi is in the middle of a major overhaul
under the chairmanship of French financier Vincent Bolloré. Canal
Plus is Vivendi's largest unit after the company sold many assets
over the past few years to focus mainly on media.
Mr. Belmer recently was promoted to a higher position at
Vivendi, where he was put in charge of heading up a newly formed
content unit as Vivendi is trying to form more synergies between
its pay-TV and music units.
It is unclear what happens with that position now that Mr.
Belmer is leaving Canal Plus. Canal Plus declined to comment
further.
Write to Ruth Bender at Ruth.Bender@wsj.com
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