France

Co-authored by Amanda D. Lotz and Christopher Meir

Updated December 2022

Market brief

France had strong multichannel adoption (69 percent) before streaming, but by mid 2020, more than half of the country’s internet users paid for both pay-TV and streaming. As in many European markets, US-based services dominate in terms of number of subscribers. At the end of 2021, Ampere estimated Netflix to lead the market with 11 million subscribers, followed by Prime Video with 5 million, Disney+ with 4 million, domestic collaboration Salto with 3 million, and OCS and Canal+Séries straddling 2 million each in a country of roughly 27 million households. France has three notable domestic services: Canal+Séries, OCS, and Salto; the services are comparably priced around €7 for single screen access, €10 for two and €12-13 for more. This pricing is roughly €1 cheaper than Netflix.

Canal+Séries, part of the Canal+Group within major media conglomerate Vivendi, is largely typical of the legacy multichannel streamers emerging in many markets. However, it features more domestic titles that common in this subcategory – its library is split in near even thirds among titles produced in France, the US, and elsewhere, although it offers a very small library compared with others in the market. It also draws from the original titles produced for Canal+, giving it advantages typical of the subcategory of streamers built by companies with large IP holdings. Notably, per the name, it offers an intentionally small service featuring series only in a bid avoid eroding subscriber levels of higher priced and more all-encompassing Canal+ services that include sports and movies.

OCS (formerly Orange Cínema Séries) is somewhat similar, though emerging from a company (Orange) with roots in phone service that evolved into internet and mobile. OCS also offers a few linear channels, though different from those offered by Canal+. OCS supports a much a much larger library than Canal+ despite similarly sized subscriber bases and has exclusive HBO licenses in France.

Salto launched in 2018 as a joint offering from commercial broadcasters TF1 and M6 and public broadcaster France Télévisions. As the case with the other French services, Salto blends an on-demand offering with access to linear channels, though its 20-channel offering is more robust (though also reproducing FTA availability) than the exclusive handful of channels offered by each Canal+Séries and OCS.

The domestic services feature higher percentages of French titles than the case of domestic services in other countries, which may owe to aggressive cultural policy but also longstanding cultural norms and a strategic complementarity to highly adopted US-based services. Canal+Séries launched availability in Africa in 2019 and is best positioned to develop as a multi-territory service for the French-speaking world. The historical reputation of French film culture also suggests more opportunity for multi-territory niche success.