French television programme sales drop to decade minimum
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
International sales of French television programmes dropped to €164.2 million in 2025, a ten-year low and a 21.6% fall from 2024's €209.6 million, according to figures from Unifrance and the CNC presented at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous market in Le Havre. The decline stems from a difficult combination of factors: falling television advertising revenue has left broadcasters with less money to commission or buy programmes, buyers have become more risk-averse amid market uncertainty, and growth in streaming (SVOD and AVOD) sales has not made up for losses in traditional deals, leaving distributors needing more resources to secure a larger number of smaller sales.
Within the figures, co-production investment fell 18.7% to €87.7 million and international pre-sales dropped 59.3% to €30.7 million. Drama exports fell 27% to €54.9 million, their first double-digit decline since 2018, while animation sales, in decline since 2020, slumped 30.3% to €32.2 million; documentaries proved the most resilient, slipping just 2.7% to €43.1 million. Western Europe accounted for almost half of all sales, with North America second and sales to Asia and Latin America hitting record lows, while Unifrance president Gilles Pélisson called for greater transparency from streaming platforms, whose viewing and revenue data remain undisclosed.
- Sources
- 2
- Outlets
- 2
- Left · Centre · Right
- 0 · 0 · 0
In short
- French TV export sales hit ten-year low of €164.2 million in 2025
- Falling ad revenue and cautious buyers drove a 21.6% annual decline
- Drama and animation slumped; documentaries held up best
How this story developed
- 2 months ago A subsequent CNC and Unifrance readout of the same €164.3 million, decade-low export figure reframed the cause as a broader vicious cycle, tying broadcasters' shrinking ad income directly to reduced commissioning and thus fewer programmes available for sale abroad.
- 2 months ago Unifrance and the CNC reported that French TV programme exports plunged 21.6% in 2025 to €164.2 million, their weakest showing in ten years, blaming falling ad revenue, cautious buyers and streaming-data opacity for the slump.
Full account
Sales of French television programmes to international buyers fell to their lowest level in ten years in 2025, according to figures released jointly by the French National Film Board (CNC) and the industry body Unifrance. Overseas sales of French audiovisual content dropped by 21.6% to roughly €164.3 million (around $190.8 million), a sharp reversal after 2024, when exports had actually climbed 3% to reach €209.6 million, their second-best showing in three decades. The figures were unveiled at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous industry gathering in Le Havre, with organisers pointing to a difficult economic climate and widespread uncertainty among buyers as the driving forces behind the slump.
Scripted drama held onto its position as the top-selling genre for a fourth consecutive year, accounting for around a third of overseas sales, but it did not escape the downturn: fiction sales fell 27% to €54.9 million, the first double-digit annual drop the category had suffered since 2018. Documentary programming proved comparatively resilient, slipping just 2.7% to €43.1 million, and for the first time overtook animation to become the second most exported genre. Animation bore the brunt of the contraction, tumbling 30.3% to €32.2 million and hitting a record-low share of overall sales; the genre has been losing ground steadily since a strong run between 2016 and 2020, a decline compounded this year by the court-ordered winding-up of two once-prominent studios, Cyber Group and TeamTO.
Beyond the headline figures, the reporting pointed to a wider industry squeeze. Co-production financing involving international partners fell nearly 19% to €87.7 million, while international pre-sales collapsed by almost 60% to €30.7 million, reflecting buyers' growing reluctance to commit money upfront. Commentators attributed the broader malaise to falling television advertising revenues, which have left traditional broadcasters with smaller budgets to acquire or commission programming, alongside a more cautious, risk-averse mood among acquisition executives. Crucially, growth in streaming and ad-supported video-on-demand has not been sufficient to offset the losses from traditional television deals, forcing sales agents to chase a larger volume of smaller transactions to make up lost ground.
Buyers who did commit tended to favour familiar, formulaic crime and procedural dramas, among them titles such as 'Bright Minds', 'Deadly Tropics' and 'Alexandra Ehle', even as more distinctive productions such as the true-crime miniseries 'Samber' and the steampunk actioner 'The Sentinels' also found international homes. Unifrance president Gilles Pélisson, speaking days after attending the Lumière Summit hosted by President Emmanuel Macron, used the announcement to renew calls for greater transparency from streaming platforms, arguing that the absence of viewing and sales data from services such as major SVOD platforms leaves the industry unable to fully gauge the true value of French productions or secure adequate financing for future original content.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The two reports give marginally different topline figures for 2025 sales (€164.3m/$190.8m vs €164.2m/$190.7m) and dollar conversions, likely due to rounding.
The trade-focused report emphasises structural market causes — falling TV ad revenue, cautious buyers, streaming not compensating, and steep declines in co-production financing and pre-sales — while the other report focuses more on genre-by-genre breakdowns, named programme examples, and the animation sector's specific troubles including studio liquidations.
Only one source includes Unifrance president Gilles Pélisson's direct quotes about data transparency and references to the concurrent Lumière Summit attended by President Macron; the other does not mention this context at all.
One source notes the 2025 total is only slightly above 2015 levels, giving a longer-term historical comparison not found in the other.
Explained simply
French television has traditionally earned significant revenue by selling finished programmes and formats to broadcasters and streaming platforms abroad, in areas such as drama, animation and documentary. This trade is tracked each year by Unifrance, the body promoting French audiovisual content internationally, and the CNC, the state agency that oversees and funds French cinema and television. Their annual figures, unveiled at industry gatherings such as the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Le Havre, are watched closely as a barometer of how well French producers are doing in a global market increasingly dominated by streaming services.
The sector has faced mounting pressure in recent years as traditional television broadcasters, squeezed by falling advertising income, have less money available to buy or co-fund new shows. At the same time, streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon have become major buyers and financiers of content worldwide, but they generally do not disclose their acquisition figures, making it harder to get a full picture of how French programmes are actually performing.
This matters because international sales are a key source of income that helps French producers cover production costs and justify investment in new projects. A sustained decline can make it harder to finance ambitious dramas, animation and documentaries, with knock-on effects for jobs and creative output across the French television industry.
Coverage · 2 sources
Americas Business Environment Europe Markets Science World