M6 staffs up for Salto launch

Groupe M6 has appointed a new digital technical director as it prepares to launch streaming service Salto with fellow French broadcasters TF1 and France Télévisions.

Thomas Sangouard

Thomas Sangouard will manage M6’s VoD platform, which will serve as the technical base for Salto.

Sangouard was most recently chief technical officer at French OTT platform Molotov, which he helped launch in 2016. Prior to that, he worked at major telecommunications companies Capgemini and Neuf Télécom.

M6, TF1 and France Télévisions, France’s three main terrestrial broadcasters, recently got the green light from the country’s competition watchdog to launch Salto, which they hope will be a local rival to Netflix.

Salto will include linear DTT channels, catch-up services and an SVoD service and is likely to launch in the first quarter of 2020. According to the broadcasting trio, Salto will allow them to “actively promote” French and European programming.

“The launch of the platform will very soon give us what we need to compete against international players on our own territory. And it will be a new way for the French and European creative industries to engage with their public,” said France Télévisions CEO Delphine Ernotte Cunci.