A semi-victory for the streaming world, the media timeline is finally about to change after years of debate. According to newspaper information The echoes, France is about to reduce the window reserved for SVoD platforms from 36 to 15 months, which would mean that a film released in theaters could be made available on Netflix or one of its competitors only one year and three months after its first broadcast.
Good news for spectators… however below the expectations of the platforms. Called on to finance French cinema, they hoped for better treatment, and more exceptions. In other words, and for example, why should a Disney film wait 15 months to land on Disney + when abroad, simultaneous cinema / streaming is allowed?
The new media timeline would go into effect next year and be valid for three years.
Canal + sees its window reduced to six months
Main contributor to cinema in France, Canal + brings rain and shine to the industry. Thanks to a new agreement bringing its financing to 190 million euros per year, the Canal + group obtains in exchange some exclusives on the competition.
Firmly opposed to the window for SVoD platforms being too short, Canal + has long campaigned against the one-year deadline desired by some.
The article of Echoes Thus we learn that Canal + has succeeded in preventing free channels from offering more than 10 films in their replay catalog.
Finally, Canal + will be able to broadcast films released at the cinema 6 months later their theatrical broadcast, compared to 8 today.
The most favored of the presenters still improve their situation and remain the platform of excellence in France for cinema lovers. Canal + would have explained that below 15 months, the streaming platforms would have overshadowed the cinema too much.
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To complete the fate of the 2022 media timeline, it remains to negotiate the case of free channels. The new 15-month deadline for streaming platforms risks causing them to lose the lead they had over Netflix, Disney + and others, which would make them the big losers in this renegotiation.
This new reform will inevitably be good news for users, even if one can wonder if this French exception does not remain too restrictive.
In the United States, streaming platforms are now attempting to broadcast films three months after their theatrical release (which in the process leads to the explosion of piracy in France).
With this period of 15 months still higher than in other countries, France is preserving its financing system, but does not resolve certain problems.
All this seems all the more cruel since groups like Netflix, Disney and Amazon finance French cinema and yet do not have the right to the same treatment of favors as Canal +, on the border between a TV channel and a platform. by SVoD.
Source: The echoes