According to its 2023 roundup on cultural and sport content, streaming and direct downloads remain the two main ways of accessing illegal content, and were used respectively by 5.5 million and 4.4 million users in 2023.

Despite being reduced in the last two years, these methods have been replaced by illegal live streaming and IPTV, whose share has grown 16 per cent to represent one fifth of the overall audience and whose share has grown by 16 per cent to represent one fifth of the global audience and 1.8 million users.

One in two Internet users accessing content illegally is using a VPN, despite the sector’s measures to block illicit broadcasts, especially in sports such as Football, Formula 1, Rugby, and Tennis.

The illegal cultural piracy audience has, for its part, decreased by 30 per cent following website blocking. Arcom highlights actions led by rights holders, for instance against downloading website Uptobox, subsequently shut down.

The regulator also notes that piracy represented a €1 billion loss for the TV industry in 2020 and a €300 million financial shortfall for French State.