French TV Sales Plummet to Decade Low

International sales of French television programs in 2025 have reached their lowest point in a decade, plummeting to €164.2 million. This represents a substantial 21.6% decrease compared to the €209.6 million reported in 2024, bringing sales figures back to levels not seen since 2015.

French distributors are facing a confluence of challenges. Declining television advertising revenues have reduced commissioning budgets for traditional broadcasters, while uncertainty in the market has made acquisition executives overly cautious. The anticipated support from the burgeoning SVOD and AVOD sectors has not materialized to offset these significant declines.

The market downturn, detailed at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Le Havre, highlights a critical need for greater transparency, particularly regarding data from streaming platforms. Unifrance President Gilles Pélisson stressed that without a comprehensive understanding of the value of French works across all distribution channels, producers will struggle to finance the innovative and high-quality content essential for the industry.

Further exacerbating the situation, co-production investment saw an 18.7% year-on-year decrease, with international pre-sales experiencing a dramatic 59.3% decline. Drama sales dropped by 27%, and animation, once a strong performer, saw sales fall by 30.3%. The factual content sector was the only relative bright spot, with documentary sales experiencing a minor slip of 2.7%.