Media timeline: things are changing seriously in France
The media chronology is a French specificity (one more!) which has been set up to support the release of films in cinemas. Agreements were therefore signed years ago and mainly concerned the broadcasting of films on SVOD, on television and on Canal +. The chain then had a quasi-monopoly on paid services and was entitled, in exchange for promises of financial investment in the production of feature films in France, to release films one year after their theatrical release. Negotiations in 2018 even made it possible to lower this range to 9 months. This has been its strength for many decades…before streaming services came to tread on its toes. Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ have arrived on the market and a whole system has had to be redesigned. Today is done after a new agreement reached this week.
6 months firm
It was indeed on January 24 that a new media chronology was signed, supposed to be more in line with the times and the offers available to users. It will come into force on February 10 for 3 years.
The big winner of this brand new agreement seems to be Canal + which will now be able release films only 6 months after their theatrical release. This privilege, however, comes with a commitment on the part of the encrypted channel to invest 600 million euros in European production until 2024. It will therefore keep its privileged place of support for French productions, as Maxime Saada welcomed. , its president, on Tweeter.
Following the new media chrono signed this morning and for the first time in its history,@canalpluswill be able to offer its subscribers French and international films exclusively from 6 months after their theatrical release. #canalaimelecinema pic.twitter.com/M7DPxDY70s
— Maxime Saada (@maxsaada) January 24, 2022
In addition to its message, a video that proudly reminds us that Canal+ has participated in the financing of most of the great French public successes of the last decadesofAsterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra at The kid Passing by The Artist , A prophet, The fabulous destiny of Amelie Poulain Where Welcome to the Ch’tis. Will this allow him to resist the ogres of streaming?
Accelerated Bandwidth
Streaming platforms were also looking forward to this new agreement in order to fill their catalogs. Until then, they had to wait 36 months after the broadcast of a program in the cinema. A real anomaly for them who don’t know it anywhere else. (The Eternals and Encanto are, for example, already available on Disney+ in many countries, although they were released in November 2021 in cinemas in France.) This expectation will now be only 17 months, except for Netflix for which it increases to 15. This difference comes from a promise from the American streaming service to produce at least 10 feature films a year on French territory in addition to an investment of 40 million in creation in general. Their spokesperson was delighted with this ” significant first step in modernizing the media timeline ” while welcoming what reflects for them of a ” commitment to contribute to French cinema “.
For free-to-air television channels (TF1, M6 and others), the period is now 22 months. So everyone is happy? Not quite.
🇬🇧🎞 FLASH | A new agreement on the chronology of #media was signed yesterday. Here are the new broadcast times after the release of a film in #movie theater.
(France News) #Culture pic.twitter.com/O2ucMqWOV2
– Cerfia (Conflicts France) (@CerfiaFR) January 25, 2022
The longer it is, the worse it is
The SACD (Society of Dramatic Composer Authors) has effectively announced in a press release that she would not sign this agreement, despite ” necessary progress that deserves to be highlighted “. What does not pass from his point of view is the 3-year duration that these new terms must last.
The rapid changes in the sector in terms of supply, technology and demand will inevitably lead to a rapid evolution of the place of cinema in all the offers available on the French market.
Highlighting the changing nature of today’s entertainment industry, she would therefore preferred a period of one year ” in such a way as to enable the effects to be measured very quickly “. Afterwards, if you don’t want to wait, you can also use a VPN and watch Free Guy Where Black Widow on Disney+ with your Dutch account.
