According to French daily Le Figaro, the French National Cinema Institute is to slightly trim the special tax levied on broadcasters to support French cinema. The tax could drop from 5.65 per cent of a broadcaster’s advertising revenue to 5.15 per cent.

However, OTT services such as Netflix, will see their tax rate rise from 2 per cent to 5.15 per cent.

Le Figaro estimates that under the new assumptions the TV broadcasters’ contributions could be between €150-180 million next year; whilst the OTT platforms’ contribution could rise from today’s €16 million to about €40 million.

In a note to clients by investment bank Exane/BNPP, the bank says it sees this aspect of French audio0-visual reform as positive news for French broadcasters. “Supporting the French Cinema via an advertising tax is one among many obligations that the French broadcasters have and it renders competition with the newer OTT platforms even harder. Relaxing some of these obligations is thus a positive.”

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Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Policy, Regulation, VOD