France: Salto is 20% of new SVoD sign-ups
February 10, 2021
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
French streaming service Salto, a joint-venture between TF1, M6 and France Télévisions, captured 20 per cent of all new SVoD subscriptions during the final quarter of 2020.
Managing director Thomas Follin told AFP that Salto was the third most popular platform in France, behind Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. At the end of December, press reported total subscribers at 200,000, including 60,000 pay subscribers, as the first month is free. Follin wouldn’t confirm these figures, but says he now expects to see increased sign-ups with the arrival of the service on smart TVs and DTT.
By the end of February 2021, Salto will be available on Sony, TCL, Philips and Samsung TVs as well as on Android TV, Apple TV and Bouygues Telecom STBs.
Additionally, Salto, as with Arte, has been authorised by TV regulatory body the CSA to trial interactive service portals on DTT under the HbbTV standard. The channel will be assigned in the coming days. “This will make Salto accessible to DTT viewers who don’t own a smart TV,” Follin said.