French TV Productions Maintain High Sales Despite Higher Risk Aversion, Contraction in North America Deals
French TV international programming sales last year remained high despite worsening market conditions, slipping just 5.3% year on year to €203.4 million ($224.7 million), according to the annual report on audiovisual exports by France’s National Center of Cinema (CNC) and film and TV promotional org Unifrance.
Indeed, 2023 marked just the third time in 30 years that sales exceeded the €200 million mark, following 2017 with €205.2 million ($225.7 million) and 2022, a record year with €214.8 million ($236.3 million).
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Presenting the latest figures at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV market in Le Havre, the CNC’s Cécile Lacoue and Sarah Hemar of Unifrance noted that the export performance of French programs has held up well in a difficult international environment characterized by lower acquisition budgets and a contraction of the North American market in particular, less risk-taking on the part of buyers, and longer negotiations between partners.
Commenting on the figures, Unifrance President Gilles Pélisson stressed the €200 million mark in total sales was a big accomplishment “in a very challenging environment.”
“We should all keep in mind that this figure is significant and represents very well how complicated it is to fight in such a highly concentrated market. … It means you are dealing with a few players which are very big, and they’re getting bigger and bigger. What it means is that it’s a very highly competitive market and so to sell is just a major, major achievement.”
Total exports of French programs, including sales, pre-sales and co-production contributions, fell 3.3% compared to 2022 to €309.2 million ($340.1 million), in line with the minus 1.7% average of the last 10 years.
The report attributed the strong performance of French program exports to “the quality and diversity of audiovisual works in all genres, which continue to appeal to the international market. France is the second best-represented European nation in international VOD and in foreign TV channels’ programs.”
Indeed, sales of French programs to foreign platforms continued to be a major source of revenue despite dropping 11.8 percentage points to 31.3%. Linear channels remained the main buyers for French shows, with TV rights (including all-media rights) accounting for 54.2% of all program sales in 2023, up on 2022 (49.1%).
Scripted drama maintained its high level, raking in €74.5 million ($82.0 million), down 7.7% year-on-year but nevertheless its second-best year and well above the €54.9 million average of the past 10 years. Accounting for 36.6% of total sales, it remained the leading export genre for the second year running.
“[A]mbitious, innovative series with strong intellectual properties, such as ‘HPI,’ ‘Marie Antoinette,’ ‘Bardot’ and ‘B.R.I.’ [“The Brigade”] and French expertise in procedural series, such as ‘Deadly Tropics’ and ‘Astrid: Murder in Paris'” are behind the international success of French dramatic fiction”, the CNC and Unifrance stated.
Documentaries likewise “continued their excellent international sales momentum,” per the report, reaching €47.2 million ($51.9 million), down just 3% compared to the previous record year. Programs echoing current events and hybrid works combining several genres, such as science and history, performed particularly well last year, among them “Hunting the Russian Oligarchs,” “The Sunken Secrets of Iznik’s Basilica” and “Cobalt Rush: The Future of Going Green.”
Animation saw a much tougher environment, with sales falling 11.2% to €51.2 million ($56.3 million). While high-profile French toons continued to air around the world, “the genre suffered from the rationalization of buyers’ investments,” the report noted. A 69.7% drop in North America to €4.3 million ($4.7 million) and a 6.6% drop in worldwide rights to €12.9 million ($14.2 million) in particular propelled the plunge. Animation, however, remained France’s No. 2 export genre with a 25.2% market share.
Regionally, sales rebounded in Western Europe, historically the leading market for French works, where it accounted for a 46.8% of worldwide revenue, up 6.1 points year on year, and sales of €95.1 million ($104.6 million). North America came in second with €22.3 million ($24.5 million) and a market share of 10.9%, followed by Asia/Oceania at €14 million ($15.4 million, a 6.9% market share). Acquisitions from Central and Eastern Europe amounted to €13.1 million ($14.4 million) and a share of 6.9%.
With sales of €17.1 million ($18.8 million), Belgium became the leading buyer of French shows, mainly dramatic fiction. The U.K. and Ireland followed with combined sales of €12.9 million ($14.2 million), ahead of Germany and Austria with €12.1 million ($13.4 million).
The U.S., the leading country in 2022, dropped to fifth place among buyers of French programs in 2023, at €9.5 million ($10.5 million) , down from €19.2 million ($21.1 million).
After reaching a record high in 2022, world rights sales fell 20.1% to €46.3 million ($50.9 million), returning to a level close to that of 2021.
At €105.8 million ($116.4 million), foreign pre-financing was stable compared to 2022. Co-production contributions rose 34.5% to €73.2 million ($80.5 million), while foreign pre-sales fell 35.6% to €32.6 million ($35.9 million), impacting all genres. The opening of the automatic support fund to delegated production works intended for global SVOD services last year may have affected pre-sale figures, the reported stated.
Co-production investment rose by 54% to €36.3 million ($40.0 million) in animation and by 50.8% to €20.2 million ($22.2 million) in dramatic fiction but was down 8.4% to €14.3 ($15.7 million) for documentaries. Western Europe remained by far the leading co-production partner, accounting for 84.3% of total contributions.
Looking forward, Raphaëlle Mathieu, co-head of SEDPA, the French association of TV distribution companies, said Asia could offer greater opportunities. While she noted that “we are currently and probably in one of the biggest crises of the industry, and this is tricky,” Mathieu sounded optimistic about prospects in the East.
“I believe that the rise of Asia, whether Japan, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, is something that is growing, is something that we should work on.” Regardless of the genres in which they specialiize, documentary, fiction or animation, French companies should be looking to Asia, she added. “I think this is probably the global area where the perspective — if we work hard enough — could be interesting in a few months and years.”
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