Advanced Television

Report: SVoDs surge, but pay-TV resilient in France

February 28, 2025

France’s video entertainment market grew by 3 per cent in 2024, to achieve a total value of €8.6 billion. This is according to the latest Futuresource Consulting video insights report, which uncovers a comprehensive picture of the landscape.

With consumer habits shifting and competition intensifying, the report unpacks the latest trends and spending patterns in France, and the future outlook for the sector.

SVoD continues to lead market growth

The SVoD surge remains the primary driver of growth, with consumer spend rising 11 per cent year-on-year, to reach €3.1 billion in 2024. SVoD now accounts for 36 per cent of total video spend, and Futuresource expects the share to expand to 43 per cent by 2029.

“SVoD continues its momentum, pushing the market forwards in France,” said Joanna Wright, Senior Market Analyst at Futuresource Consulting. “We’ve seen a new service launch from Max, and major players are continuing to invest in premium content. They are also refining their content strategies and pricing models to sustain revenue growth.

“While the landscape is still dominated by Netflix and [Prime Video], Disney, who remains #3, has been reviewing its strategy. It ended its partnership with Canal+ and negotiated a new nine-month release window for its films, in return for an increase in its investment in local content production. With all this action, we anticipate a steady rise in consumer spend, despite a more general slowdown in subscriber growth moving forward,” added Wright.

Pay-TV a key player despite gradual decline

Despite SVoD’s continued rise, pay-TV maintains its position as a significant revenue provider for the market. In 2024, it accounted for approximately 45 per cent of consumer spend. However, as consumers gravitate towards digital alternatives, Futuresource forecasts pay-TV’s share to decline to 37 per cent by 2029. Strategic partnerships and content bundling will be crucial for operators aiming to sustain engagement in an increasingly fragmented market.

Box office continues its recovery

French box office spend accounted for 15 per cent of overall entertainment spend in 2024, reaching €1.3 billion. While cinema admissions grew very slightly, revenue declined, impacted by a weaker Hollywood slate and competition from major sporting events such as the Paris Olympics and UEFA European Championship. However, strong local productions provided a boost, with Un P’tit Truc en Plus (pictured) leading the box office with 10.8 million admissions.

“The resilience of French cinema is clearly evident,” said Wright, “with locally produced films driving strong audience demand. Looking ahead, we’re seeing a promising pipeline of both French and international releases, which should help box office revenue surpass pre-pandemic levels by 2027.”

Digital gains and physical declines for transactional

While the transactional video market remains a relatively small component of overall video spend in France, digital formats continue to gain traction. In 2024, digital transactional video grew 2 per cent, with 4 per cent CAGR growth expected out to 2029. Notably, Un P’tit Truc en Plus became the best-selling digital title ever released in France, highlighting a growing appetite for local content in digital formats. However, Futuresource notes that the digital segment is not expanding quickly enough to offset the decline in physical video.

The evolving entertainment journey ahead

“Looking out towards 2029, we expect the total French video entertainment market to achieve €9.6 billion, growing at an average annual rate of 2 per cent,” concluded Wright. “SVoD will continue to be the primary growth engine, with consumer spend set to overtake pay-TV for the first time in 2027.“

Categories: Articles, Markets, Pay TV, Premium, Research, VOD

Tags: , , , , ,