Streaming Competitors Fight Each Other, Bloody Themselves

Michael Hedges December 6, 2021 Follow on Twitter

There is no longer a war between media traditionalists and the digital modernists, or post-modernists, if you will. After a brief abatement at the end of the last century, conventional media of the moment - from publishers to broadcasters and various participants - adjusted their thinking, cash-flow sources offering less than subtle advice. With little or no future remaining in the crystal balls, a rush is on to get from Point A - now - to Point B - somewhere else. This is difficult to find while seated on a stationary bicycle.

The French media market has seen itself as quite dynamic over the decades. It is the same with many others where tradition - from revenue streams to consumer behavior - is the driving social steering wheel. Digital transition would come to pass, they admitted, but not quite yet. Several factors changed that, not least effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The ascendent international video on demand services have changed every equation.

Two mighty French television broadcasters - TF1 and M6 - agreed to a merger of sorts this year. TF1 is principally owned by industrial conglomerate Groupe Bouygues and M6 is a subsidiary of RTL Group, itself a subsidiary of Bertelsmann. Led by RTL Group chief executive Thomas Rabe, the combined broadcasting group would accelerate “development of a French streaming champion combining a catch-up and live streaming offer and a SVoD service,” said the joint statement (May 18). Media regulator CSA immediately nodded approved but noted that broadcast licenses for individual stations would need to be renewed by next November for the merger to be final.

Attention now is on the French Competition Authority (Autorité de la concurrence). Because ten channels are owned between the two companies, under French media law three have to go. Until that divesture is completed, the CSA and Competition Authority are constrained. “Potential buyers are jostling at the gate,” reported Les Echos (December 1). The greatest demand, said the report, is for the M6 youth channel Gulli. The TF1 owned millennial channel TFX is another. The Competition Authority is also looking at deleterious affects on the advertising market.

Across the road, so to speak, unease is growing at public TV broadcaster France Télévisions. After years of negotiations, France Télévisions, TF1 and M6 formed in 2018 the subscription video on demand platform Salto as a joint venture. It rolled out last October to generally favorable reviews. The proposed TF1/M6 merger presents yet a new complication.

France Télévisions president Delphine Ernotte suggested withdrawal from Salto is “a possibility,” in an interview withLe Figaro (December 1). The broadcaster’s streaming efforts would “conceivably” be redirected to the portal France TV to assure it is “the undisputed leader of free streaming in France.” France Télévisions is a prolific audiovisual producer with many popular offerings and a strong brand presence. Content from Radio France, culture channel Arte, the archive collections of the National Audiovisual Institute (INA) and the international French-language collective France Médias Monde (FMM) would also be available to France TV.

“Linear television will remain very powerful,” she continued. News, information and sports on France Télévisions channels are a big part of the brand strength. “Nothing will take the place of the emotion of watching a television program together.” In the meantime, TF1 has gone ahead with its MYTF1 MAX ad-free SVoD product to compliment the MYTF1 product that carries ads.

Not to be left beside the road, pay TV operator Canal+ said it would offer “more than one new series per week” in the coming year, said deputy general director Jean-Marc Juramie to France Info (November 26). These would be “original creations, created for and by us; series produced by Studio Canal, often produced with a third-party broadcaster, such as the BBC with next year's Ridley Road series, and select series around the world.” Days later Canal+ reached an agreement to increase its investment in French film productions over the next three years. Generosity to French culture notwithstanding, the agreement makes changes in the “media chronology,” which separates theatrical and TV release dates, in an attempt to place big international streamers like Netflix at disadvantage.

See also...

• Hot Topics - Media in France

• Hot Topics - Streaming Media

• Hot Topics - Digital Transitions

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