Canal+ (1984)

After the announcement about the launch of the fourth French television channel, Canal+ started broadcasting on 4 November 1984. In 1986, the channel had one million subscribers. It has produced numerous auteur films, including David Lynch's The Straight Story, Mulholland Dr., and Inland Empire.

With the launch of the digital satellite platform Canalsatellite on 27 April 1996, Canal+ received two new sister channels: Canal+ Jaune and Canal+ Bleu. A fourth channel, called Canal+ Vert came along on 31 August 1998. The channels changed their names to Canal+ Décalé, Canal+ Cinéma and Canal+ Sport.

In September 2005, Canal+, Canal+ Cinéma and Canal+ Sport started broadcasting in the French digital terrestrial television network. The free-to-air parts of Canal+ had already been broadcasting for a few months by then. In August 2008, Canal+ started broadcasting the encrypted parts of its main channel in high-definition in the terrestrial network. Canal+ plans to turn off the analogue terrestrial signals by 2010.

An account of the rise of Canal+ and CanalSatellite, and the establishment of the Canal+ Group as a major satellite broadcaster in Europe is given in the book, High Above, which tell the story of the foundation and development of the leading European satellite operator, Astra.