Altice launches studios division

French free and pay TV operator Altice has unveiled plans to invest further in content creation and has created a dedicated studio.

Altice is to create Altice Studios to create new original movies and series, and Altice Channel Factory, to create more new channels following the launch of a raft of TV services under the SFR brand in France.

Altice said that its subsidiaries stood to benefit from collaboration in content – which has been a key are for the operator through its investment in SFR Media – via its international media and content organisation as part of its overall focus on convergence.

Altice founder Patrick Drahi has previously talked up plans to produce original series in France and said that he hopes to distribute globally via the company’s distribution networks to its 46 million subscribers.

This comes soon after Altice made an offer to acquire the 22.5% of French service provider subsidiary SFR that it does not already own, as TBI sister site DigitalTV Europe reported yesterday.