You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (December 2023)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2018) |
Type | DVB & internet |
---|---|
Country | |
Owner | Mediawan |
Launch date | 1977 |
Former names | AB Groupe |
Official website | www |
Mediawan Thematics (formerly known as AB Groupe) is a French television channel business and audiovisual distribution group in the field of broadcasting that is owned by Mediawan.
Mediawan Thematics had it's roots under the name of AB Productions which it was founded in 1977 by Jean-Luc Azoulay and Claude Berda as a music production company, and in 1987 went into the world of television.
In 1991, AB Productions created their own music record publishing label named AB Disques who had published their own music videos.
In December 1995, AB Groupe launched their first television channel named AB Channel 1 (now AB1).
In July 1996, AB Productions announced that they've expanded their catalogue by acquiring Pierre Grimblat's French production company Hamster Productions and it's parent company The Hamster Group which had merged with AB Productions to become the biggest French television production company with Hamster Productions became a subsidiary of AB Productions. [1]
In July 1999, AB Productions announced that their co-founders Jean-Luc Azoulay and Claude Berda had professionaly seperated and had splitten the AB Productions company into two companies which were
In late-January 2016, AB Groupe announced that they've acquired Pascale Breugnot's production company Ego Productions. [2]
In January 2017, it was announced that French special acquisition group Mediawan had entered exclusive negotiations to acquire AB Groupe along with their channels and four production companies along with their own distribution division AB International Distribution from it's co-founder Claude Berda who had a 53% stake of the company alongside media company TF1 Group who owned a 33.5% stake, for €270 million in order for the former to build a European premium content leader and a audiovisual production and distribution group. The deal could hand over AB Groupe's production companies and their distribution division to Mediawan [3] Two months later in late-March of that same year, AB Groupe announced that French special acquisition group Mediawan had completed their acquisition of AB Groupe along with their channels, four production companies and their international distribution division from it's co-founder Claude Berda who had a 53% stake of the company alongside media company TF1 Group who owned a 33.5% stake with AB Groupe becoming a fully owned subsidiary of Mediawan, marking Mediawan's first step into the premium production and distribution activities. [4]
On 11 October 2018 AB Groupe was rebranded to Mediawan Thematics after the purchase by Mediawan in 2017.
Channel | Country | Category | Information |
---|---|---|---|
AB1 | France | Entertainment | Pay-TV |
AB3 | Belgium | General | |
ABXplore | Belgium | Documentary | |
Action | France | Movie channel | Pay-TV |
Animaux | France | Documentary | Pay-TV |
Automoto La chaîne | France | Motorsports | |
Chasse et Pêche | France | Documentary | Pay-TV |
Crime District | Luxembourg | Entertainment documentary | Pay-TV |
Clubbing TV | France | Dance Music | Pay-TV |
Science et Vie TV | France | Documentary | Pay-TV |
Trek | France | Documentary | Pay-TV |
Mangas | France | Teen | Pay-TV |
Lucky Jack.tv | Luxembourg | Games | |
RTL9 | Luxembourg | General | Pay-TV |
Toute l'Histoire | France | Documentary | Pay-TV |
XXL | Netherlands | Adult | Pay-TV |
Channel | Country | Category | Start date | Close date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Vidéoclick | Belgium | Youth | 3 April 2007 | 29 July 2009 |
AB4 | Belgium | Entertainment | 28 October 2002 | 13 September 2017 (replaced by ABXplore) |
AB Moteurs | France | Sport | 26 March 1999 | 5 November 2018 (replaced by Automoto La chaîne) |
Encyclo | France | Documentary | 6 June 1996 | 30 March 2015 |
Escales | France | Documentary | 2 April 1996 | 2 February 2015 |
Ciné Box | France | Movie channel | 1996 (Ciné Palace) September 2002 | 24 August 2004 |
Ciné Comic | France | Movie channel | 2 April 1996 (Rire) 2002 | 24 August 2004 |
Ciné Pop | France | Movie channel | 21 August 2006 | 15 July 2007 |
Ciné First | France | Movie channel | 31 December 2007 | 30 September 2010 |
Ciné FX | France | Movie channel | 15 September 2002 | 31 July 2018 |
Ciné Polar | France | Movie channel | 2 April 1996 | 31 July 2018 |
Fit TV | France | Fitness | 2 April 1996 | 15 October 2007 |
Musique classique | France | Music | 2 April 1996 | 15 October 2007 |
Melody | France | Music | 1996 | 10 April 1997 |
Nostalgie la télé | France | Music | 10 April 1997 | July 1999 |
RFM TV | France | Music | 5 July 1999 | March 2005 |
Golf Channel | Luxembourg | Sport | 26 September 2010 | 1 September 2024 |
Ultra Nature | France | Documentary | 19 May 2016 | 2022 |
'Zik | France | Music | 25 April 1998 | 31 December 2007 |
France Courses | France | Sport | 9 September 1996 | 25 April 1998 (replaced by 'Zik on AB Sat, and recovered by the PMU and relaunched as Équidia) |
AB Sports | France | Sport | 23 December 1996 | May 1999 (sold to Pathé and relaunched as Pathé Sport) |
Onyx.tv | Germany | Music | 6 January 1996 | 15 September 2004 |
NT1 | France | General | 31 March 2005 | June 2009 |
TMC | Monaco | General | 19 November 1954 | June 2009 |
Terranova | Germany | Documentary | 15 September 2004 | 10 July 2007 |
AB sold many channels, notably the free national channels TMC and NT1 taken over by TF1 when they were the main shareholder of AB Groupe.
Lagardère News, formerly known as Lagardère Active, is the media activities arm of the French Lagardère Group. It owns the radio stations Europe 1, Europe 2, and RFM, the newspapers Le Journal du Dimanche and the magazine Paris Match.
Sony Pictures Television Inc. is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainment and a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation.
StudioCanal S.A.S., from 2001 until 2011 stylized as STUDIOCANAL, today from 2011 to present stylized as STUDIOCANAL and also known as StudioCanal International, is a French audiovisual international film & television production and distribution company. The company is a subsidiary of the Canal+. StudioCanal actives for the three main European countries like French, the United Kingdom and Germany as well as their Australian countries Australia and New Zealand. They distributed around fifty films each year in Europe and Oceania as well as they own. As of May 2024, the company has 14 production companies in Europe and the US, and holds around 9,000 titles in its extensive film library which they ensures the preservation and restoration for home video releases and airing them on channels worldwide.
TF1 Group is a French media holding company. Its best-known property is the broadcast network TF1.
TMC is a Franco–Monégasque general entertainment television channel, owned by the French media holding company Groupe TF1.
Canal+ S.A., formerly Groupe Canal+, is a French media and telecommunications conglomerate based in Paris. It runs its own eponymous over-the-top subscription video on-demand service, subscription TV channels in France, distributes third-party channels and services, and is a major source of finance for domestic film production, participating in the financing of the vast majority of films produced in France. Canal+ was a subsidiary of the French conglomerate Vivendi until 9 December 2024.
Banijay Kids & Family is a French television production company owned by Banijay Entertainment based in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The company was originally founded in February 2011 by Zodiak Media bringing together its children's production companies under one roof. Benoît Di Sabatino currently serves as CEO.
AB Sat is a package of digital terrestrial television channels offered by the satellite companies Hot Bird and Astra and marketed in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. The channels are all run by the cable operators and certain networks ADSL. ABSAT has a stake on two digital terrestrial television channels. The company is chaired by Michele Cotta.
All3Media Limited is a British worldwide independent television, film, and digital production and distribution company based in London. The All3Media group consists of more than 50 production and distribution companies and labels from the United Kingdom and all other parts of Europe, New Zealand and the United States.
Automoto la chaîne is a French television channel dedicated to motorsports.
Mangas is a French television channel dedicated to airing anime. It has also aired tokusatsu.
RTL9 is a French-language Luxembourgish television channel shown in Luxembourg, France, Monaco, Africa and the French-speaking regions of Switzerland.
AB4 was a Belgian broadcast television station owned and operated by BTV, a subsidiary of AB Groupe. It targeted the French community in Belgium. On September 13, 2017, at 20:30 it became ABXplore.
Zodiak Media was a Swedish and later French global independent television group with up to 45 companies covering fiction, entertainment, and animation, spread across 15 countries, including France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Spain, the Nordic countries, and Russia.
Metropole Télévision SA, commonly known as Groupe M6, is a French media holding company. It was formed around the commercial television channel M6, launched in March 1987 by the CLT and La Lyonnaise des Eaux.
Method Animation is a French animation studio owned by Mediawan through its Kids & Family division founded in 1998 by Aton Soumache. The studio produces CGI and 2D animated shows. It came together in 2014 as the culmination of a merger of Dimitri Rassam's Chapter 2 and Alexis Vonarb's Onyx Films. In 2018, Mediawan obtained a majority stake in Method Animation through its acquisition of ON Kids & Family and ON Entertainment.
Leonine Holding GmbH, also known as LEONINE Studios and formerly known Tele München Group, LLC, is a German media production and distribution company that is based in Munich.
Newen Studios is a French television production company, the producers of such shows as Versailles, Braquo, and Plus belle la vie.
Lucky Jack.tv is a television channel broadcasting from Luxembourg, devoted to poker and online sports betting games created in September 2010. It belongs to Mediawan Thematics.
Mediawan S.A. is a French media conglomerate and audiovisual international production and distribution group. It was founded on December 15, 2015, by Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse and Pierre-Antoine Capton under the legal form of a special-purpose acquisition company ("SPAC") with the purpose to acquire assets and operations in the media production and distribution business in Europe. Their ambition for the company was to become "one of the largest platforms for European content".