Apple TV+, Netflix, Disney+, and more streaming giants have committed to invest up to $330 million in French content after months of talk surrounding local requirements of the EU law. Netflix alone will be responsible for up to $225 million, while the remaining $105 million will be coming from Apple TV+, Amazon, and Disney+.
Streaming giants including Apple TV+ to invest $330m in french content to meet local requirements
The announcement comes after the group signed an agreement with France’s broadcasting authorities (CSA) which will see them invest 20% of their annual revenues on French content. According to Variety, the CSA “expects the investment to be between €250 million ($282 million) to €300 million ($330 million) on average per year.” It is expected that other countries within the European Union will ask for investments based on existing legislation.
“This step marks a milestone for the French and European cultural model,” a spokesperson for the CSA said. “Up until now, only the local players were obligated to contribute to the financing of content and in light of the profound transformation of the audiovisual landscape and the (growing subscription numbers of non-linear services), these agreements set in stone the involvement of these big international companies within (our) film and TV industry.”
Of the 20% streaming companies will be required to invest, the report notes that 80% will be set aside for shows, movies, and documentaries that will air worldwide and the rest will go on theatrical releases.
Streamers will have to dedicate 80% of the 20% invested in French content to audiovisual works, such as shows, movies and documentaries that will world premiere on the platform. The remaining 20% — or 4% of streamers’ total turnover in France — will be invested in movies that will be theatrically released and will be subjected to the country’s strict windowing rules.
So far Netflix, Amazon, Apple+, and Disney+ have signed the pact while five more companies are set to follow before the year ends. France’s CSA broadcasting authority will be notifying the remaining streaming giants of what it calls their “mandatory investment obligations.”
