A black screen and a news ticker. That’s all Canal+ Elles, the pan-African pay-TV channel dedicated to a female audience and edited by the French audiovisual group Canal+, displayed for several hours on Monday, September 25. 

The news ticker reads: “Program blocked: the channel does not have the broadcast rights for this program and has asked us to black it out. The next program will be shown at the end of the blackout. We apologize for the inconvenience.”  

On September 22, the National Communication Council (NCC) ordered Canal+'s Cameroon subsidiary "to immediately and until further notice" remove Canal+ Elles from the TV channels and packages offered in Cameroon. The channel is accused of broadcasting "programs conveying obscene practices with homosexual tendencies, thereby infringing the laws and values of the Republic." Last June, the NCC ordered the promoters of channels broadcasting programs promoting homosexuality in Cameroon to stop showing such programs, or the channels violating the order would be suspended.  

After that warning, the regulator explained that it discussed with Canal+ particularly to find “appropriate solutions.” At the end of the process, the French group “formally promised to implement a set of corrective measures, such as encouraging the use of the parental code through an audiovisual spot co-signed by Canal+ International and the NCC, or revising the international operator's programs to align them with the laws and customs of our country," the NCC indicates. 

But, given Canal+’s failure to take action, the regulator ended up summoning the group to immediately cease the broadcasting of Canal+ Elles, a channel launched in 2019  with a variety of programs and shows focusing on women themes. Three days after the NCC's press release, Canal+ seems to have decided to stop broadcasting as ordered. Earlier on Monday morning, the channel was still airing. 

Let’s note that, as of press time, Canal+ is yet to officially communicate on the matter. 

P.N.N