The latest SVoD Barometer from analytics company Médiamétrie shows SVoD viewing continues to grow in France, with a third of internet users streaming content from a platform in the past year.
According to the company’s research, that number equates to 18 million people, a rise of 5.8 million viewers over the past two years.
The research was carried out prior to the current coronavirus crisis, in November 2019, and before yesterday’s French launch of Disney Plus.
Médiamétrie also found French SVoD viewers are younger than the average internet user in the country (33 years old compared to 43 years old); 40 per cent own a Smart TV; 77 per cent of users prefer to watch on a television, although seven in 10 also watch via a computer, mobile phone and / or tablet.
SVoD is particularly popular among young people, with more than one in two Millennials (59 per cent) watching at least one piece of content on a platform in the past year.
In terms of what 2020 has in store, Marine Boulanger, director of Cinema and Entertainment at Médiamétrie, said: “France and the world have been going through an unprecedented health crisis since the beginning of the year. Confinement measures in France since 17th March have altered behaviours, particularly audiovisual ones. But what about SVOD? With the situation forcing some platforms to modify their launch schedules and others to limit the number of broadcast programmes, how is the public reacting? Subscription, use, intention… the answer will be in the next SVoD Barometer, which will be published this July.”
