Netflix announces having more than 10 million subscribers in France

Netflix continues to grow in France and announces that it now has more than 10 million subscribers in France. The last figure officially communicated by the streaming service dates back to 2020, when there was talk of 6.7 million French subscribers.

Over 10 million Netflix subscribers in France

“One household represents five accounts, so the number of subscribers is even higher,” explains Ted Sarandos, the co-boss of Netflix, during an interview with the JDD. He adds that the platform has 222 million subscribers worldwide. This is not a surprise since the information had already been revealed in previous financial results. Moreover, Netflix had lost 200,000 subscribers in a quarter in the world, which had not happened for years.

How to explain this loss? “Consumer reactions are taking place in an inflationary context. Every customer asks themselves the question of the value of a subscription in relation to its cost”, explains Ted Sarandos. “Self-fulfilling prophecies play their part. By dint of talking about the recession, households are restricting their spending,” he said. But he thinks the situation needs to be put into perspective. “In 2020, we had achieved the best performance since our creation. Several content beat audience records, such as the films Don’t Look Up and Red Notice, or the phenomenon series Squid Game. Or the fourth season of Stranger Things, which reached the threshold of 1 billion hours of viewing upon its release. Netflix remains the world champion,” he let know.

The end of all available episodes at once?

Ted Sarandos was also asked about binge watching, namely this possibility of chaining several episodes at the same time. Netflix is ​​one of the only streaming services to offer all episodes of a season at once, where others generally offer a new series episode per week. Will Netflix take inspiration from its competitors? “We will continue to offer several episodes simultaneously to consumers, even if it is not all”, said the leader. At the same time, he ensures that subscribers do not want to see a single episode at a time.

On the other hand, he explains that approximately “100 million people watch us without paying” due to account sharing. “Customers who share their passwords with others will have to pay a little more to continue doing so. It will be progressive..

A critique of the French media chronology

Regarding France, the co-boss of Netflix (who will participate tomorrow in the Choose France summit in Paris) says that the platform has invested 200 million euros in French creation for the year 2022, including 40 million in independent films. Also, the group is launching an incubator that will bring together experienced screenwriters and emerging talents.

Finally, Ted Sarandos tackles the media chronology. In France, the group must wait 15 months after the cinema release to be authorized to stream the films (17 months for Disney + and Amazon Prime Video because they invest less in France). This was 36 months before the old media timeline. But it’s still far too long according to Ted Sarandos. “I think the appropriate timeframe is weeks, not months. You have to adapt to consumer expectations. France is an exception in the world, but this model is not sustainable,” he said.