Dailymotion set for June rebirth

Universal Music Group owner Vivendi will relaunch Dailymotion in June, with plans to create a 100 percent ad-supported premium online destination to rival YouTube.

Vivendi’s streaming-video site will aggregate and curate content into distinct channels, like news, sports, music, cooking and other genres.

“We will be looking for straight relationships with [US] telcos,” Maxime Saada, chief executive of Vivendi French pay-TV company Canal Plus Group and Dailymotion boss, told The Post.

The aim, in part, is to deliver European culture to the world, he said.

Canal Plus Studio funded shows such as Ovation network’s “Versailles” and movies including “Paddington Bear.”

Vivendi is currently controlled by Chairman Vincent Bolloré, whose plan is to create more synergy between UMG and his other assets, including Canal Plus.

Dailymotion was acquired in June 2015 for $241 million. Since then, Vivendi has invested millions of dollars in improving engineering and cleaning up the service, removing porn and other content it is unable to monetize.

The service will quietly launch in beta this month before a major relaunch in June at the Cannes Lions advertising conference.

“We are targeting an underserved demographic online — 18- to 49-year-olds and 25- to 54-year-olds,” said Saada, noting that much of what is served up by YouTube is for younger audiences.

Saada is currently in New York touring ad agencies to show them the plans.

Currently, Dailymotion attracts 300 million unique users, it said.

Michael Pachter, an entertainment analyst with Wedbush Partners, thinks the Dailymotion efforts will have an uphill climb, to say the least. “They have an advantage in France, but globally isn’t it like trying to start a new search engine?”