French commercial broadcaster M6 has acquired multi-platform rights to Quinté+ horse-racing in the country in a deal that will run to at least June 2020.
Under the deal, M6 will show on linear television the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on October 6 followed by the Grand Prix d’Amérique on January 26, the Grand Prix de France on February 9 and the Prix de Diane Longines on June 14.
It will be the first time M6 has aired the iconic Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe race.
Each broadcast will last one hour, with the first 20 minutes shown on the main channel and the remainder on M6’s digital terrestrial channel, Paris Première. The coverage will also include the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris on May 17, harness racing from Vincennes in June and the Journée des Champions on June 21.
However, the lower-profile daily Quinté+ race meetings will only be broadcast online by M6 on its digital platform 6Play. The Quinté+ is also available for free on the rights-holder PMU’s website as well as the France Galop and Trot websites.
L’Equidia, the French horse racing channel available via cable, satellite and IPTV, already broadcasts the country’s main horse racing events.
The PMU had been without a broadcast partner since September 5 after the end of its deal with commercial broadcaster TF1, which had shown the Quinté+ on its LCI free-to-air news channel since 2016.
