An agreement has been reached by the French audiovisual industry for the new media chronology. Less waiting for Netflix, Disney +, Prime Video and others, which will soon be able to broadcast films 15 to 17 months after their theatrical release.
Habemus media timeline! After months of waiting and procrastinating, the French audiovisual industry has finally found a compromise to integrate streaming platforms more favorably than before. Canal+ had toasted their politeness a few weeks ago with a first agreement, but Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ will soon also benefit from a better window. We now have an overview of this new calendar, the validity of which has been set at 3 years. Be careful however, the information having filtered comes mainly from Canal+ and organizations representing the French audiovisual sector. Netflix, Prime Video and OCS, in particular, have not yet communicated.
Until now, foreign platforms were all in the same boat. They had to wait three long years before being able to broadcast a film released in theaters. The situation has now changed, since with the new agreement, Netflix would soon have a window of 15 months. Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ should wait two more months. As we anticipated, it was Canal+ that emerged as the big winner from this tough negotiation. The crypto channel traded a 6-month window, down from 8 previously.
Today we sign a new media chronology. This is a historic step for the cinema, which is adapting and integrating digital platforms and new uses by spectators at the very heart of our film financing and distribution system. 1/7
?— Mathieu Debusschere (@mathdebusschere) January 24, 2022
For a better window, you have to checkout
As so often, the sinews of war is money. As we explained a few weeks ago, Canal+ has agreed to allocate an additional 200 million euros annually (in addition to the sums already invested therefore) in French audiovisual creation to guarantee itself the best possible place, and probably to keep the competetion. Incidentally, the encrypted channel took the opportunity to secure the exclusivity of these films for 9 months.
Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ therefore came after. As provided for in the SMAD decree, published last June, these foreign services must now inject 20% of their current turnover into French audiovisual creation. It was the counterpart to reduce the delay between the theatrical release of films and their legal streaming. That being said, nothing prevents them from inflating this investment a little if they wish to benefit from a better niche. This is what Canal+ did, therefore, and probably Netflix if the 15-month window is confirmed.
OCS, very invested in French cinema and threatened with a big loss of attraction if HBO Max arrives in France, should probably align itself more or less with the encrypted channel, since it enjoys the same status. Without an agreement with the industry, the Orange platform should be content with a 9-month window. But services like Prime Video, Disney+ or Apple TV+, which belong to houses for which neither SVoD nor the French market are really decisive financially speaking, have no real interest in aligning money for a better window, hence the 17 months announced.
If we are to believe the various sources that have had access to the new text, these foreign services therefore now have three options: the 6-month window in the event of an agreement comparable to that signed by Canal+, the 15-month window, with an agreement similar to that of Netflix which also includes 7 months of exclusivity, and that of 17 months, with an exclusivity fixed at 5 months.
Disney and Amazon shun the signature
However, the soap opera is not completely finished. According to Opinion, neither Disney+ nor Prime Video made the trip to sign the agreement. Contacted by us, Uncle Walt’s platform even made a very clear statement: “We believe that the new media chronology does not sufficiently take into account the new expectations of the public and the new modes of consumption and that it does not establish a fair and proportionate framework between the different actors of the audiovisual ecosystem in France. This is all the more frustrating as we have increased our investments in the creation of original French content while continuing to support French cinema through the theatrical release of our films.“
We are therefore still very far from an agreement that satisfies all parties. It remains to be seen whether the dissatisfied will simply sulk or continue the negotiations. In the case of Disney +, the threat of a total cessation of the broadcast of films produced by the house of Mickey had already been brandished in September. The ball is therefore in the court of the richest mouse in the world.