France's Competition Authority has notified formal grievances against Canal+ Group, suspecting the pay-TV operator of abusing its dominant position in the acquisition and distribution of films.

The authority announced the move in a statement on September 29, two years after opening its inquiry, but declined to identify the company concerned, saying only that it had notified grievances to "an audiovisual company" and initiated a contradictory phase of the procedure. According to the daily Les Echos, with the information confirmed to AFP, the case targets Canal+, the largest funder of French cinema.

The watchdog cited the possible "imposition of unfair settlement conditions" as grounds for the procedure. It will now determine, after exchanges of written observations and an oral session, whether the grievances are founded, the authority said in its press statement.

At the heart of the case are two provisions of the agreement Canal+ signed in 2021 with French film industry trade bodies. Under that deal, the group committed to invest €600 million in French and European cinema over the following three years. According to sources cited in the reporting, the contested provisions limited the number of films available on competing free platforms to 10 and gave Canal+ the right to review its investment commitments if a competitor approached its distribution window.

The 2021 agreement has since been superseded, but the investigation speaks to the structural weight Canal+ carries in the French audiovisual economy. The group remains the country's leading financier of cinema, a position it reasserted at the end of July by committing to invest €980 million in French film over the next five years.

That most recent agreement, signed in July, comes with conditions that guarantee Canal+ a status quo on the current media windowing framework and the continuation of its broadcasting window at six months after theatrical release — a significant advantage over its streaming rivals. Under France's media chronology rules, Disney+ can stream a film nine months after release, Netflix must wait 17 months, and France Télévisions channels face a 22-month delay.

The case now enters its contradictory phase, during which Canal+ can respond to the grievances in writing and at an oral hearing before the authority decides whether the suspected abuse of dominance is established. Any decision is likely to carry weight well beyond Canal+, as regulators and industry players continue to debate how France's windowing system should adapt to the shift in viewing toward global streaming platforms.