French DTT leads to more fiction broadcast but not investment

The number of hours of fiction programming broadcast on France’s free-to-air channels increased threefold between 2005 and 2009, according to a study by media regulator the CSA, from 10,000 hours to 32,000 hours, thanks in large part to the larger number of channels on the digital-terrestrial TV platform.

However, the new DTT channels’ investment in fiction programming remained marginal, amounting to only €1.5m in 2008. The traditional free-to-air channels, which invested between €400-500m a year in fiction, saw a rise in fiction hours broadcast of 20% over the four-year period. US imports were the strongest beneficiaries of the growth of DTT.