The history of television in Spain has experienced great moments over the years and you surely remember one of the mythical situations that represented a radical change in the way of consuming television content through a famous pay channel, Canal+. Now, this legend is still valid in other countries, where its identity has been renewed and now offers accessible content via streaming for a price that we have never seen in Spain: 80 channels for 2 euros.
What times were those when one of the few entertainments we had was television consumption, with just a few free-to-air channels that could be counted on the fingers of one hand. But, the most characteristic thing was that, on one of those channels, we tried to decipher what they were showing at that moment, even though the image looked completely encrypted.
Indeed, it was Canal+ which, without any competition, was the first pay channel to enter Spain through which users subscribed to watch premium content, such as sports broadcasts of various disciplines (football, tennis, basketball…) , films that landed shortly after being released in theaters, exclusive programming, etc. A revolution in the television sector that marked the arrival of what we know today as streaming platforms.
80 channels for only 2 euros
Nostalgia aside, Canal+ is still more alive than ever in other approved territories. In fact, it emerged in France a few years before it did in Spain and continues to be a huge success today. So much so that the Vivendi subsidiary has launched TV+, a streaming service that contains a wide range of channels and a selection of programs from the Canal+ digital group.
For only 2 euros and 80 channels with no commitment to stay, French viewers have received this succulent promotion with great joy, since it is an affordable price for most users. From official websitewe can see that it includes live and on-demand TV channels: all DTT channels, news, sports programs, movies, series, youth, reality shows, etc.
TV+ is a platform very similar to what we have in Spain, as is the case of RTVE Play or other paid applications, such as Movistar Plus+, where we can watch on-demand content and other live broadcasts through various channels.
A price that is light years away from those in Spain
At that time, Canal+ established itself as one of the most profitable ways to gain subscribers and, as a consequence, money left and right. In the 90s, about 3,000 pesetas (18 euros at the exchange rate) were paid for the service contract, but over time the price ended up increasing.
Later, Movistar would be in charge of taking over all its rights for an agreement of 750 million euros and right now Canal+ has been renamed #0 in Movistar Plus+, and which right now you can contract for a price of 14 euros per month if not. You are a client of the company.
Be that as it may, Canal+ completely changed the paradigm of consuming television in Spain and marked a before and after to encourage payment to view premium content, that is, what is known as the emergence of streaming applications.
