Vivendi launched a plan to close its German service its video on demand, Watchever. Reportedly, the teams in Berlin – 17 people in total consulted according to the rules in force beyond the Rhine – were warned that the curtain should be drawn on 31 December.
This decision may seem paradoxical. When the group led by Vincent Bolloré announced in April that he wanted to launch a competitor to Netflix, it was reported that the technology would Watchever base. There was even talk that the service is run from Germany, though, with the rise of Vivendi’s interest in Italy, the priority of the group is more to turn to southern Europe.
Vivendi yet keep the French development teams Watchever, about a hundred people in Paris and Marseille. Mobilized, according to a source close to the case, still on the SVOD service to rival Netflix, which would aim beyond Europe, but also on projects in music.
losses
The Germans might well one day reemerge a SVOD service Vivendi, even if n is not certain that the brand continues Watchever.
Watchever is in any case in the ecosystem Vivendi Village. It was launched by Vivendi in January 2013. A “new version” was proposed in September last year subscribers. The problem is that the platform has struggled to impose itself. In June 2014, “Les Echos” showed that Vivendi had a mandate to the bank Merrill Lynch to find a buyer. The level of losses would be particularly frightened Vincent Bolloré (66 million in 2013 – for a turnover of 12 million – and even accelerated in the first quarter 2014). The businessman was also asked why the project was not directly controlled by Canal +, which manages CanalPlay, an equivalent service in France.
Nicolas Madelaine, Les Echos
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