A hot topic, the media timeline governs when movies can be released, online and on TV in particular, in the months following their theatrical release. Television channels, broadcasters and cinema stakeholders have reached an agreement on a new media chronology which should be signed on Monday under the aegis of the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot. These rules, which must protect creation, have been the subject of intense negotiations since the rise of streaming platforms, which has upset the situation.
Canal+ will broadcast the films six months after their release
If its terms will only be set in stone after signing, the new agreement should allow Canal +, a major financier of French cinema, to retain its first place in broadcasting, six months after the theatrical release, according to a source familiar with the matter. .
Platforms such as Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+ or Salto will come next, depending on their contribution to film production. They could distribute the films between 12 and 17 months after their release against 36 so far. They will thus pass in front of the free television channels, which could do the same 22 months after the theatrical release, added this source. Overall, the agreement should make it possible to inject more money into French film production, believes the source familiar with the matter.
More money in the coffers of French cinema
The organizations representing cinema and Canal+ had already announced in December that they had reached an agreement on the subject, the encrypted channel offering a “guaranteed investment of more than 600 million euros for the next three years in French and European cinema for Canal+ and Ciné+”, putting a little more pressure to find an agreement with the platforms.
The latter, like Netflix, demanded a better position in the media timeline in exchange for their creative funding obligations. The parties concerned had to agree before the beginning of February, otherwise the ball would have ended up in the government’s court to decide.
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