France: 30% don’t use catch-up
November 20, 2020
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
Thirty per cent of French viewers never use FTA channels’ replay services, according to findings from consultancy NPA Conseil and research firm Harris Interactive’s latest OTT barometer. However, 23.9 per cent use catch-up on a daily basis, mostly during prime-time, while 13.8 per cent and 14.7 per cent have a weekly and monthly usage respectively. The take-up of replay services is much more pronounced among SVoD subscribers, with 78.9 per cent confirming the practice.
Whilst AVoD hs been mooted as the new on-demand TV ‘Eldorado’, with Molotov’s new free service Mango recently launching on the French market, the study estimates that around two-thirds of French catch-up users (64.5 per cent) deem such platforms as “useless”. However, 72.2 per cent consider these services can help discover new content such as films and TV series.
To make their mark in this new sector, AVoD platforms will first need to increase their presence. With the exception of Rakuten TV, which is the only international player with an AVoD operation in France, almost none of the pure players launched on the market such as Quibi or Pluto TV, have their brand known, registering awareness below 5 per cent. “Rakuten is also likely to be recognised because it is tied in with the e-commerce platform,” NPA Conseil notes.