French media vets create live TV streaming service Molotov

PARIS, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- French entertainment heavyweights Pierre Lescure and Jean-David Blanc are developing Molotov, an ambitious online streaming service that utilizes live television.

Lescure, one of the founders of Canal+ which is the French equivalent of HBO, and Blanc, co-founder of popular film site AlloCiné, have raised $11 million for the endeavor, Variety Reports. So far, most French TV groups have come on board pledging their content to the subscription OTT service.

The duo now hopes to raise an additional $100 million to make the U.S Molotov's first international market.

"Broadcasters are on board with our product and the model has attracted interest from investment bankers," Blanc said to Bloomberg Business. "We'll look to raise funds early next year."

The service hopes to rival Netflix while modeling their user interface to that of Spotify, allowing users to easily find and access content when they want it, how they want it. The main issue Lescure and Blanc have with television is how we find something worth watching. They believe cable cutting services are winning over audiences not with better content, but with a better user interface.

"You have a better chance at winning the lottery than turning your TV on and seeing something you're interested in," Blanc said at Molotov's offices in Paris. "That means shows don't get watched and billions go to waste in broadcaster money, not because the content is bad, but because the remote control needs a replacement."

Molotov will enable users to display several live TV channels at once allowing for easier navigation and the elimination of channel surfing. In addition to live TV channels, Molotov can playback previously aired episodes, share show excerpts with friends on Facebook or Twitter, and record content for later viewing.

The development of Molotov comes at a time when Apple has delayed their live-TV service until 2016 amid reports that talks to license programming from TV networks such as CBS and Fox have stalled.

"We share the same vision, and provide a different answer. I believe what we offer will be much different than Apple TV," says Blanc, unfazed by the competition.