France’s second biggest commercial network M6 is set to sell 50% of the capital of its technology company Bedrock to RTL Group with the aim of creating a leading streaming service in Europe.
Bedrock, which is spearheaded by Jonas Engwall, is responsible for developing a platform used by 6Play, RTL Belgique, RTL Hongrie and RTL Croatie. Starting in June, Bedrock will also be used by Salto, the subscription-based streaming service jointly launched by TF1, the public broadcaster France Televisions and M6.
Bedrock will also be used by RTL Nederland for the next version of its on-demand and SVOD services, RTL XL and Videoland.
The deal with RTL Group – M6’s biggest shareholder — will have to receive anti-trust approval. M6 stated that the group might open Bedrock’s capital to other shareholders.
M6 has been ahead of the curve with respects to digital initiatives in France. The group launched the on-demand service M6Replay in 2008, and the streaming service 6play in 2013.