“Having a national anchor gives us an element of competitiveness” in French series, analyzes the president of France Télévisions Delphine Ernotte

During Media Day in Seine, organized at Les Echos and Radio France on Wednesday, the leaders of major television groups took part in a round table entitled “TV: the new digital frontier”.

Competition between Video on Demand (VOD) platforms and linear television was widely discussed during the round table entitled “TV: the new digital frontier”, during the Médias en Seine day, organized at the Echoes and on Radio France on Wednesday November 22. There is notably stability in the figures among those over 60, but a significant drop among young people. “who are increasingly switching to video on demand”recalled Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of TF1, present during this round table.

After the failure of VOD platforms offered by free linear channels around the world, such as Salto stopped in March 2023 three years after its launch, the strategy of certain groups has evolved. For France Télévisions, Delphine Ernotte increased investments in French series “which work very well”. Saccording to her, the key is a “strong national anchor” to have a differentiating and complementary offer compared to American platforms.

The smart TV competition

As for private channels, the difficulty is to deal with advertising revenue and “catch-up television”, according to the expression of Rodolphe Belmer, because if this offer makes it possible to reach more young people, it is only “three hours per month for MyTF1, two hours for France Télévisions and 2.3 hours for M6” compared to more than 40 hours per month for Netflix and 20 hours for YouTube.

The competition from smart TVs worries Delphine Ernotte. She highlights the risk “of marginalization and quite strong rupture” since the very operation of these televisions favors VOD platforms, to the detriment of the linear television offering. On smart TVs, VOD represents “at least 50%” of use, much higher than a television connected to a box for example.

The channels are therefore awaiting the result of a consultation from the regulator, Arcom, for a “highlighting services of general interest” on these new televisions, in the hope of maintaining usage. A decision expected very soon, “in November”specifies Delphine Ernotte.