The proliferation of subscription video-on-demand services

Subscription video-on-demand (SVOD), the preferred means of accessing audiovisual content

In just a few years, subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services have established themselves as a preferred means of accessing audiovisual content, particularly among youngsters. By spring 2020, almost one in two French Internet users had access to a SVOD service in their household (46%), and just under a quarter (21%) to a pay-TV supply.

Increase in usage and emergence of new supplies

In 2018, the study on SVOD services published by the French Superior Audiovisual Council and the CNC, reported a fast-growing market, driven by the international rollout of Netflix and, to a lesser extent, Prime Video. Since then, new supplies (Disney+, Apple TV+) have fueled further increases in usage, and the market has become structured around a handful of international players who have strengthened their investments in local production, prompting incumbents to review their strategies (launch of Salto, the Canal Plus group's aggregation model, and occasional partnerships with some of these global players).

Economic, cultural and societal challenges at the heart of Arcom's concerns

In 2021, the effects of the multiplication of SVOD services and, more generally, of pay audiovisual supplies, players' strategies and consumer behavior raise economic, cultural and societal challenges at the heart of both institutions' concerns:

• maintaining a certain economic balance between SVOD services and historical audiovisual players,
• promoting local production,
• promoting diversity of supply,
• the development of legal supplies and uses that respect royalties.