Since the Covid-19 health crisis, video on demand platforms have pushed 12% of their users to no longer set foot in the cinema, according to a study published this week. But what are these platforms really worth? Answers with Amine Meslem, who has conducted the survey for the magazine 60 Million consumers passing seven services on the test bench.
franceinfo: First, if we set the scene today, there are 78 video-on-demand services. But who are the top three? Which attract the most people?
Amin Meslem: So the three most important are Americans. First Netflix, which everyone knows, which attracts 63.1% of video on demand consumers, according to figures from the National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image, the CNC. Then there is Amazon Prime Video with 41.7% and Disney + with 29.5%, knowing that an Internet user can be subscribed to several platforms.
And how are the French services doing?
So they are far behind. Canal+ Series, for example, accounts for 11% (we are still very far from Netflix’s 63.1%) or Salto, which is therefore the result of the partnership between TF1, M6 and France Télé which currently only attracts 8 .6% of consumers.
How much does it cost on average today per month to subscribe to a platform?
So depending on the platforms, it costs around 5 to 18 euros per month. If Netflix subscribers are happy with these services, there is still a substantial portion of them, this is what our survey shows, 22% who find that the prices are a little too high. It is true that the prices of all these packages have undergone an increase last summer. But even more OCS and Canal + users find the prices too expensive.
Those who appreciate the prices the most are those of Amazon Prime Video, which is indeed one of the lowest on the market, therefore 49 euros per year. When you subscribe to this service, you also have access to other services offered by Amazon, such as fast delivery, promotions on items, and even listening to its music streaming service. Prime Video, from a price point of view in any case, is the most advantageous.
Netflix is the big winner of your survey, followed very closely by Disney +. What appeals to users of these two platforms?
Netflix is indeed the service that offers the most exclusives, and that’s what makes it the most popular service and wins the vote, both in terms of content and interface ergonomics. There’s Disney+ too, which gets very high overall satisfaction ratings in our survey. Its users appreciate the quality as well as the diversity of its catalog; and in particular its programs for young people. This is really the strong point of Disney+.
On the other hand, Apple TV, Prime Video are rather shunned for their content in particular?
Indeed, the most critical subscribers are those of Apple TV + and Prime Video. The first has a fairly limited catalog, it’s true. Conversely, Prime Video has a large catalog, the largest after Netflix. But its subscribers do not consider it varied enough, and some of them even say they want more new films and series.
And yet, they are quite happy with the price of Prime Video, so it’s quite contradictory?
Yes, absolutely, but they are ready to pay visibly more, but they want a greater variety of content, more exclusives. That’s it, it’s mainly that in fact that attracts users of these platforms.
In your survey, you also note that the two platforms that come out on top are those that invest the most in French production?
So, of the 245 million euros invested in original French creation last year, in foreign-based SVOD services, more than 2/3 came from Netflix, according to CNC estimates. The rest came from Disney+ and Prime Video.
This amount should increase further since there is a European directive which now obliges foreign platforms to devote at least 20% of their turnover made in France to financing the production of cinematographic works.
SVOD: Who is home cinema champion? A magazine survey 60 Million consumers.