France: 78 SVoD services available
March 10, 2021
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
There were 78 SVoDs available in France in 2020, up from 63 in 2017, and 22 million viewers (46 per cent of broadband users) accessed at least one platform.
According to a joint study by anti-piracy body Hadopi and TV regulator CSA, in association with telecoms regulator Arcep, CNC and the French Competition Authority, SVoD revenues have increased tenfold since 2015, to reach €851 million in 2019 with 2020 forecasts anticipating a total of €1.2 billion.
With the enactment of AVMSD directive, global platforms Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ are expected to invest €230 million into French production. According to regulatory body CSA, “in the years to come, the market conquest will illustrate more in terms of number of subscribers than in terms of number of subscriptions per subscriber”.
The average spending of subscribers ranges between €21 and €24 per month, and the average number of subscriptions per household has remained stable at 1.7.
On the contrary, users of sports SVoD platforms have significantly changed their consumption owing to the composition of the market. The launch of new services has raised the number of subscribers but also led to a decrease of the global spending. Five per cent of users admit to being likely to subscribe to a sport offering in a market with two services, 7 per cent with three platforms, 8 per cent with four offerings. At the same time, the average budget falls from €35 for two platforms available to €29 for four.
Illicit practices have remained stable for both movie and sport, and haven’t risen owing to the number of SVoD services in the market. They are comprised between 29 per cent of users for seven cinema-series offerings and 35 per cent for five services. The piracy rate for sport content is also stable, varying between 21 and 23 per cent owing to the number of services available.
The study also finds that 40 per cent of broadband users turn to password sharing with SVoD services. Over 50 per cent of subscribers do it; 20 per cent of them with people outside the family.