France’s CSA serves notice on 20% content commitment with top streamers

France’s audiovisual media regulator the CSA has begun implementing the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive with an obligation that streamers must invest 20% of revenues raised in France in local content creation.

After months of negotiation, the regulator has been able to impose the obligations on the main international SVOD streamers active in the country, including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Apple’s iTunes.

Some 80% of the €250 million to €300 million expected from the new obligation will be allocated to TV programmes with the remaining 20% allocated to film production.

Netflix will be the biggest contributor given the size of its base and revenues in France relative to its competitors.

The CSA said that the agreements with the four principal players brought then into the French system for support of content creation and represented a “notable advance for the French and European cultural model”.

The CSA said that ahead of a wider agreement on windowing, it had served notifications to the four players concerned but that this left open the possibility of formal agreements with them in the future.

A new agreement loosening up France’s strict windowing rules on theatrical releases is seen as a quid pro quo for agreement to support creation in the country.

A further five services will need to accept obligations for their licence to operate by the end of the year.