Xilam hits 10bn views on YouTube; eyes Gulli
January 11, 2019
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
French indie animation producer Xilam has revealed that its content has hit 10 billion views on YouTube. Xilam said traffic has increased by 44 per cent across its YouTube programming in 2018 receiving nearly 4 billion additional views, with US visits doubled.
Subscribers to Xilam channels also grew by 162 per cent worldwide in 2018 to reach 6.3 million at the end of last year, up from 2.4 million at the end of 2017.
The digital revenues raised by the company through YouTube climbed by 55 per cent last year, mostly thanks to the US market, and is set to represent around 10 per cent of the annual turnover. Accounting for close to 30 per cent of Xilam’s YouTube revenue, the US represent a significant area of continued growth, as does the Asian market.
The 2019 forecasts anticipate a significant increase in the number of Xilam YouTube channels which will be driven by the launch of preschool animated show Paprika and of a localised Oggy and the Cockroaches’s network in India.
The favourable position and continuing growth of Xilam on the French and international market have led the company to eye French FTA DTT kids channel Gulli, according to financial daily Les Echos. Xilam as well as M6 Group, TF1 and Altice are said to be among the bidders for the Lagardère owned channel.
Lagardère is expected to make its final decision and open exclusive negotiations by the end of this month. Gulli is the only DTT channel outside the main national broadcasters to be profitable.