CNC study reveals pattern of film exploitation in France

France’s Centre National du Cinéma (CNC) has released the first results of its study into the lifecycle of films in the country from theatrical release through to free-to-air TV distribution.

The initial results cover 573 films released in 2007. Of these, the CNC study found that 86.2% had been released on DVD, 66.1% had been made available on video-on-demand, 63.4% had been distributed by a pay TV channel and 41.4% had been shown on free-to-air.

Some 28.1% of the films had been exploited across all four windows, from theatrical release to free-to-air, while 10% had only been shown in cinemas. The pattern of distribution varied according to the extent of the initial cinematic release and the sources of finance for the film – with 96.6% films pre-financed by pay TV operators being shown on a pay TV channel, for example.

The current system of windowing in France dates from 2005, with modifications in 2009 leading to a shortening of the period before films are available on VOD from 7.5 months to four months.

The CNC study comes as the organisation is taking part in a new round of talks on the reform of windowing.

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