France’s Media Chronology System in the Age of Streaming
While the 2025 agreements revised the order in which movies are released, some operators are now challenging this system. Caught between the need to finance French cinema and changing audience audience The set of listeners, viewers, or TV viewers in which each individual is equally weighted, regardless of their listening/viewing duration or frequency of contact. Find out more habits, France’s “cultural exception” model may be forced to undergo another historic transformation.
How long will it remain in effect? In force for more than four decades, the media chronology is undergoing an increasingly frequent update. Following a revision in 2009, the system that regulates the mandatory waiting period between a film’s theatrical release and its availability on various distribution distribution This refers to the distribution of a variable; “structure” is also used with this meaning. In statistics, for each x value of a quantitative variable, the distribution function gives the proportion of individuals having a variable value that is less than or equal to x. Find out more channels (video, television, streaming streaming A technical method of digitally transmitting data to enable the playback of a continuous flow of video and audio material. Unlike terrestrial or satellite TV broadcasting, this technology requires a two-way network (internet) to send periodic requests to the streaming server in order to receive video or audio micro-files. Find out more platforms) has undergone successive revisions in 2019, 2022, and 2025. Its underlying principle, it is true, is not new. Following an initial interprofessional agreement in 1980, it was the audiovisual laws of 1982 and 1986 and then the decree of January 17, 1990 that enshrined the system to protect movie theaters in the face of the rise of the VHS tape and, later, pay-TV channels[1]. Under European influence, the rules evolved to be based on agreements, the result of negotiations between the various stakeholders: producers, distributors, video publishers, broadcasters...
A system that is regularly reviewed
Since last year, the schedule must adhere to the following deadlines: After its nationwide theatrical release, a feature film must wait 4 months before becoming available on DVD, Blu-ray, and pay-per-view VOD; 6 months before it can be offered by Canal+ to its subscribers; 9 months for Disney+ titles; 15 months and 17 months, respectively, on Netflix and Prime Video. As for free-to-air channels (TF1, France Télévisions, M6...), they must still wait 22 months. However, no sooner had it been finalized than the latest update—scheduled to last three years—was challenged by two platforms, Netflix and Prime Video, which filed an appeal with the Council of State.
While the original purpose of the media chronology was to protect movie theaters by guaranteeing them exclusivity during the “first distribution distribution This refers to the distribution of a variable; “structure” is also used with this meaning. In statistics, for each x value of a quantitative variable, the distribution function gives the proportion of individuals having a variable value that is less than or equal to x. Find out more window”, with the proliferation of screens, it has already had to adapt to new viewing habits. The release window for films on physical video and pay-per-view VOD was thus reduced from 6 months to 4 months in 2019, and pay-TV channels have seen their waiting period gradually shorten from 12 months to 10, then to 8, and finally to half a year for works they pre-purchased. But what about SVOD platforms ? Operating within a 36-month release window following theatrical release in 2019, they secured a 17-month waiting period in 2022, a situation deemed by industry stakeholders to be ill-suited to audience audience The set of listeners, viewers, or TV viewers in which each individual is equally weighted, regardless of their listening/viewing duration or frequency of contact. Find out more expectations.
The impact of new viewing habits and investments
Médiamétrie’s recent study study Any research done across a population, line of business, or products (programme content, programme schedules, etc.) A study relies most often on the data coming out of a survey (or surveys). Find out more on "The TV/Video Year 2025" indicates that 60% of French households subscribed to a Pay TV Offer* —a major source of feature films—last year, compared to 52% in 2021[2]. And the French spent an average average The average is one of the most important statistical indicators for a set of numbers. By default, it is the arithmetic mean, calculated by adding the values in the set and then dividing that sum by the number of values. Find out more of 4 hours and 14 minutes per day watching video, of which 39% was on-demand viewing—vs. 31% in 2022—and more specifically 15% on content from paid or free platforms [3]. Among the reasons cited by users of video-on-demand services, the top factor is the selection of films available. Public appetite for this content is strong, hence the sustained interest from platforms in works of the cinema production. Above all, their investment in French cinema has been governed since 2021 by the SMAD decree, which requires all Streaming services to reinvest 20% to 25% of their French revenue in local production. However, the exact amount and the timeframe for broadcast of films vary depending on the specific agreements each platform signs with the industry.
Since a historic Convention signed in February 2022 with professional film organizations (the BLIC, the BLOC, and the ARP), Netflix has committed to investing approximately 40 million euros annually in French and European film production. The three-year agreement, renewed in 2025, includes substantial financial commitments: 4% of annual net revenue generated in France to be allocated to film, with pre-financing for a minimum of 10 films in the original French language each year... In return, Netflix had secured the right to offer films 15 months after their theatrical release—compared to 17 months for its competitors—and to benefit from a 7-month exclusivity window. And, as its revenue grew, Netflix’s actual investment in French cinema exceeded 50 million euros, making the platform the leading financier among Streaming services.
However, a major shift occurred in early 2025, as Disney+ managed to overtake Netflix after signing two agreements with the same French audiovisual and film organizations. By committing to invest 25% of its revenue in France in the production of French content, including approximately 115 million euros over three years (or nearly 38–45 million euros per year) specifically in film, “and to fund a minimum of 70 films over this period, ensuring a diversity of genres and budgets,” Disney+ has secured the right to broadcast broadcast A mode of transmission whereby a transmitter sends the same audio and video stream to many receivers within a coverage area. In the context of computer networks, broadcast mode is contrasted with “multicast” and “unicast” modes, which respectively refer to the transmission of a stream to a given group of recipient devices and to a single recipient device. OR : Putting a show or a programme on television or radio. This term refers to a programme that is broadcast live as opposed to on-demand. Find out more its films 9 months after their release. This has prompted a legal challenge by its competitors before France’s highest administrative court. Their appeal is based on three main pillars : investment equity, freedom of enterprise, and changing consumer habits. Its goal? To bring France in line with the European average, with a standard 12-month window, considered more in line with the modern commercial lifecycle of a work. The Council of State’s decision is therefore eagerly awaited by the entire industry, as it could force industry professionals to return to the negotiating table sooner than expected.
* SVoD and pay-TV channels
Publication Director: Médiamétrie Communications Team
Editor: Didier Si Ammour
[1] The first document, an interprofessional agreement from 1980, lays the foundation for protecting theatrical exhibition, which is considered a priority.
The 1982 law recognized the principle of protecting movie theaters and legitimized the idea of organizing distribution windows.
The 1986 law introduced the principle of film production funding by broadcasters, in exchange for a Broadcast window that is protected. It reinforces the logic of release windows and paves the way for Codification through regulations.
Finally, the 1990 decree establishes the specific rules for broadcasting, the link to investment obligations, and confirms the regulatory framework for media chronology. The government becomes the guarantor of the balance of a system negotiated through interprofessional agreements to set the timeframes.
[2] Source: Médiamétrie – Equipment Barometer Barometer By analogy with meteorology, this term designates any regular measurement that can give an account of changes in audience, opinion, image, etc. Find out more
[3] Source: Médiamétrie - Year 2025 - Base: Ind4+ France-wide – Médiamat Médiamat Registered name, the Médiamat is the benchmark in television audience measurement in France. Carried out by Médiamétrie, it provides daily audience figures for programmes watched anywhere, on any screen, live, timeshifted, on replay or preview, by all French people aged 4 and over, i.e. 62.4 million individuals. The measurement is based on 2 representative panels : - A first panel of around 12,000 individuals in 5,500 households, comprising : • 5,000 households equipped with home TV sets, each connected to a fixed audimeter, the source of home TV audience measurement • 500 households without home TV sets - A second panel of around 5,000 individuals carrying a personal portable meter to measure TV audiences out of home (all screens) and on Internet screens at home. These audiences are then attributed to the individuals in the first panel by statistical fusion. The Médiamat allows Médiamétrie to monitor audience behaviour on a daily basis, while offering the possibility of both editorial and advertising analysis. Find out more – France-wide, all screens (live, time-shifted, or Catch-up Catch-up Catch-up technology allows TV viewers to watch or rewatch a television programme after it has been broadcast live. Find out more ) / Total video: VOD/SVOD and VOL - Waves 35 and 36