The CNC publishes Arvester data as part of its VOD Observatory

The CNC’s annual VOD Observatory provides a precious overview of the market in France, and covers everything from physical sales to the latest trends in AVOD. Since last year, it also includes a section on the prominence of titles on VOD interfaces, with data provided by Arvester.

Our insights complement data on the composition of VOD catalogues, provided by Médiamétrie. Where Médiamétrie gives the volumes and shares of different categories of content in those catalogues, we contribute data that reveals the extent to which those contents are visible on the interfaces of Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+.

Rankings of the most visible titles on each service over the period also reveal key information on each service's content strategy. The gap in prominence between American and French titles is smallest on Prime Video. This corresponds to a recent and noticeable shift in Prime Video's programming towards more emphasis on local content. In fact, it is the only service where French titles are not lagging behind British titles in terms of visibility.

Netflix meanwhile stands out by being the service with the biggest gap in prominence between films and series. Our data reveals that series on Netflix are 8 times more prominent than movies. This gap is also found in Médiamétrie's consumption data (page 37), where series represent 66% of viewing on all VOD services and Netflix series in particular dominate the ranking of the most watched titles on VOD.

It remains to be seen how Disney's recent agreement¹ with the French industry for a better streaming window (9 months after theatrical release) will impact the prominence of French titles on Disney+. Next year's Observatory will undoubtedly provide answers.

We are grateful to the CNC, and in particular Cécile Lacoue and Sophie Jardillier for renewing their trust in us.

🔗 Find the full report here.