Romain Dubois from UniversCiné was the guest of La Quotidienne Twitch des Numériques. © Les Numériques
You are used to it if you are a reader of Digital : here, we like to give voice to other players in the world of streaming such as FILMO, Shadowz or SOFA VOD, beyond the American behemoths. This month, we were able to welcome a representative of the UniversCiné platform, which claims to be a movie-loving alternative to Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.
The fruit of the union of independent French producers and distributors, UniversCiné aims to be an island of cinephile curiosity in the streaming landscape in France. Here are some keys to find out more.
What is UniversCiné?
UniversCiné was created in 2006. © LMC
Created in October 2006 by the company Le Meilleur du Cinéma (which brings together 45 French production companies), UniversCiné was first a VOD service at the time when fiber was still non-existent.
Nearly 20 years (and an explosion in video streaming) later, the platform now offers a subscription offering, and sports an attractive editorial line, between carte blanche given to directors, highlighting classics and little-known gems from all walks of life.
Note its multiple and precise categories (“Education”, “Dark Humor”, “Childhood”, “Feminism”…), and a selection of high quality children’s programs.
UniversCiné, how much does it cost?
An overview of UniversCiné’s offering. © LMC
UniversCiné offers three main subscription offers: a basic one at €6.99/month (€1 the first month), a premium one at €9.99/month (+ one VOD film per month) and a cinephile one at 15.99 €/month (+ three VOD films per month). Added to this is a student offer, which puts the basic subscription at €4.99 per month.
For comparison, this is a subscription price similar to that of the FILMO (€6.99) and Prime Video (€6.99) platforms, and equivalent to the advertising-supported offers from Netflix and Disney+.
The particularity of UniversCiné lies in its VOD / SVOD mix, which allows you to have access to films recently released in cinemas, while benefiting from a relatively well-stocked catalog of older productions.
What films in the catalog?
We said it at the beginning of this article: UniversCiné is a bit like a village of diehard Gallic people facing the American invader. If the reality is obviously not so simplistic, the platform aims to be a showcase for French and European auteur cinema that is little highlighted on Netflix and company. A necessarily more cinephile angle, between the editorial line of Arte and that of FILMO, which will appeal more to a curious public.
In total, there are more than 12,000 films offered on VOD, around 1,000 films on SVOD, and a selection of series thanks to an agreement signed with HBO. Enough to place UniversCiné among the most generous in terms of offering videos on demand.
The UniversCiné streaming platform. © LMC
Interview with Romain Dubois
Romain Dubois of UniversCiné. © Les Numériques
Romain Dubois, editorial and marketing director of UniversCiné, was the guest of La Quotidienne Twitch des Digital, and he answered our questions. He notably returned to the history of the platform, its positioning in relation to American streaming services, and its particular hybrid offer. Interview.
Romain Dubois: The DNA of UniversCiné is linked to the history of this union of producers and distributors, and therefore to their catalogs of French and independent auteur films. We then expanded to all types of cinema because it was frustrating to limit ourselves, and we wanted to bring a more popular color, whether with American, African or Asian cinema. But the birth of UniversCiné comes above all from this desire to offer an alternative.
What we are trying to offer with our catalog is really the old-fashioned video club: we simply want everything.
Romain Dubois: There are really two entries, VOD and SVOD, and therefore two different economic models. On the “à la carte” side, what we try to offer with our catalog is really the old-fashioned video club: we simply want everything. And we have almost everything, almost 80% of the films released in theaters. The last ones to resist a little are Disney and MGM, with whom we do not have an agreement. But with 12,000 films on demand, we are in the top 3 VOD platforms in France.
Romain Dubois: Many people subscribed, but were frustrated at not being able to access the new content. But because of the media chronology in France, it was impossible to offer it in a subscription offer. This is why we launched our Premium and Cinéphile offers, which include “à la carte” films in addition to a classic SVOD subscription.
With 12,000 films on demand, we are in the top 3 VOD platforms in France.
Romain Dubois: We understand this problem of inflation and the non-expandable portfolio. On the UniversCiné side, we have a very strong identity, but we remain a complementary offering. We do not pretend to compete with Netflix or another billionaire platform. What we claim to do is claim the right to the alternative, to marginality, to the independent. That is to say, activist cinema, world cinema, documentaries… Things that we don’t necessarily see elsewhere.
Discover the UniversCiné offer on the official website of the streaming platform.
- Watch the full interview here (starting at 1:13:00):