The French Culture ministry wants streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon, to invest at least 25 per cent of revenues generated locally into the creation of French content. It is more than the 16 per cent previously planned.

Minister Franck Riester has unveiled the first outlines for the upcoming production decree that will be part of the audiovisual reform and which also plans for mainstream services to put 16 per cent of their revenues into local content.

The Culture Minister, speaking to French TV and film professionals, also indicated a few specific cases are anticipated regarding thematic channels and VoD services. Streaming services will also have to invest half of their earnings into independent TV productions, instead of 75 per cent currently, and 25 per cent into indie movies.

The production decree will give a framework to and regulate the relationships between the producers, the writers and the broadcasters, whether they are linear or non-linear, FTA or pay-TV, established in France or abroad. It will come as a supplement to the draft law that has been postponed and will finally go to the National Assembly in March and to public hearing in April, before coming to Senate before next summer.

The law, which is due for promulgation in 2021, will also incorporate the AVMSD Euro directive that is due to set up a minimal amount of 30 per cent of European content to be offered in the libraries of VoD services.

The French audiovisual reform seeks to modernise the content sector business model in France and establish a fair rules between local broadcasters, which have been submitted to many regulations and quotas, and OTT platforms which have been spared up to now from many requirements.

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