Netflix makes quietly aggressive aggregation play
Everyone predicted that streaming services would have to aggregate but no one thought Netflix would be first mover. The streamer quietly released a stealth bomb that immediately sent analysts and industry watches into overdrive. Only the bare terms of the deal are known: Netflix will distribute the channels and on-demand content of French commercial broadcaster TF1 to Netflix members in France, beginning next year.
The ramifications of the deal reach far beyond the shores of France, where the announcement was made. If successful, Netflix will have jumped a start on all its rivals who have so far resisted, or failed to entice, broadcasters anywhere to share their entire schedule and programme output with a third-party streaming platform.
The Hollywood Reporter goes so far as to call Netflix ‘the new cable TV’ as a result. Pointedly, Netflix called it a “first-of-its-kind partnership” which contains no ambiguity about plotting further distribution pacts of this kind in Europe and the US.
Greg Peters, co-CEO of Netflix, made the announcement at Cannes Lions, the annual festival of advertising attended by every leading brand and creative agency in the world, immediately attracting maximum attention.
This carriage deal will see TF1 Group’s live channels and on-demand content from TF1+ available to Netflix members in France as part of their existing subscription “without ever having to leave the service,” noted Netflix, equally transparent about the streamer’s intent to lock TF1 audiences into its platform.
No financial or other details of the tie-up have been released including how subscription and advertising revenues will be managed.
French broadcaster streamer initiatives have not taken off. Salto, which was an SVOD joint venture between TF1 Group, France Télévisions, and Groupe M6, launched late 2020 and shuttered in 2023.
By contrast, Netflix has at least 10 million subscribers or nearly 40% of households with an internet connection in France, according to estimates.
Believing the deal unique and describing it as “very innovative”, Enders Analysis analyst François Godard told The Hollywood Reporter that it “pivots Netflix into aggregation.”
He added, “[Netflix are a trial-and-error company. So maybe they will wait first to see how it goes in France” before making other similar moves elsewhere.
PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore also told THR, “While rivals grapple to understand streaming and continue to figure out what to do with legacy businesses, Netflix remains one step ahead. Free-to-air broadcasters have got no choice but to either collaborate with each other as a final resort or partner with a streamer.
“It is a win-win for all parties,” he argued. “For free-to-air broadcasters, it gives them a new lease on life, for Netflix, a broad range of programming, and users [get] reduced fragmentation by having more in one place.”
TF1 Group CEO Rodolphe Belmer, himself a former board director at Netflix until 2022, said in the release: "As viewing habits shift toward on-demand consumption and audience fragmentation increases, this unprecedented alliance will enable our premium content to reach unparalleled audiences and unlock new reach for advertisers within an ecosystem that perfectly complements our TF1+ platform."
The move came as a surprise to French news agency AFP who quoted Belmer (in a report in Le Monde) ahead of the announcement insisting that the deal did not risk “cannibalization” of TF1+ and was “truly complementary.” Belmer added that the TF1 group had done “lots of analysis” and expected a "significantly net positive" business effect.
The streamer touted the ability to watch shows broadcast on TF1 such as the drama Broceliande and talent contest The Voice although Netflix's Peters noted to AFP of the strength of TF1 in sports and live--“areas that we don't operate in a large way right now.”
Among current sports content TF1 has FIBA Womens Basketball, highlights from the FIFA Club World Cup and Diamond League Athletics.
Both parties have co-produced shows including Les Combattantes, L’Agence, and Tout le bleu du ciel.
TF1 group reaches 58 million monthly viewers through its broadcast channels and serves 35 million users on its TF1+ streaming service. Through Studio TF1 (formerly Newen Studios), the company manages over 50 production companies and labels across France and international markets, making it a key player in content creation and distribution.