Canal+ names Anna Marsh as chief content officer

France’s Canal+ has expanded the remits of three key execs as it looks to bolster its global operations, with StudioCanal topper Anna Marsh among those with new responsibilities.

The rejig follows Canal+ launching as a standalone unit on the London Stock Exchange and sees Marsh, along with Jacques du Puy and Amandine Ferré, taking on greater roles.

Marsh is tasked with creating a global content strategy at group level for the company, which operates streamers and pay TV operations in more than 50 countries.

She will integrate international series into local programming strategies, while sharing know-how between local and central teams and identifying “success factors” for acquisitions and productions based on data.

Marsh, who has been with the company for more than 20 years, retains her responsibilities as already deputy chief exec at Canal+ and chief exec of StudioCanal, which launched a US-based outpost last year. It also rejigged its operations in the UK in February.

Elsewhere, Du Puy is now in charge of the newly created global pay TV division, which brings together the company’s operations in France, Poland, Central Europe (Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania), Africa and Asia.

Chief financial officer Ferré is now in charge of all financial functions and its entities, which report directly to her.

The three execs report into Canal+ chief exec Madime Saada, with the rejig “addressing the group’s development plans” and strengthening “synergies” between regions in which it operates.

Saada said: “Canal+ has grown considerably in recent years. In ten years, the group has doubled its number of subscribers, reaching nearly 27 million in more than 50 countries.

“This new organisation should enable us to fully leverage the beneficial effects of Canal+’s global footprint by strengthening the synergies between all its regions.”

The overhaul follows the December split of Canal+ from parent Vivendi and its plan to expand global operations. The company already holds a 29% stake in Scandinavia’s Viaplay and a 37% stake in Southeast Asia’s Viu, while it recently extended the deadline for its proposed takeover of MultiChoice in South Africa.

The media giant reported 26.9 million subscribers across its 52-country footprint in its annual results in March, with annual revenue growing 3.6% in 2024 to €6.45bn. EBITA was also up for the year by 5.4% to €503m.

Saada previously said he wanted the company to become “a global media and entertainment leader with 50 to 100 million subscribers” in an interview with the Financial Times.

Its output ranges from Paris Has Fallen, which debuted on Canal+ pay TV territories as well as on Amazon Prime in the UK and Hulu in the US, and movies such as Paddington In Peru.