Netflix quickly became THE video-on-demand service par excellence in France, setting its pace on the competition! The offer segmented into three packages gives access to millions of films, series and documentaries directly from the web, or from compatible smartphones, tablets, and smartTVs. Netflix also provides access to HD, HDR and Dolby Vision quality content on select devices. In this file, we tell you everything you need to know about Netflix!
Credit: Netflix
Netflix is ​​not a TV channel, but video on demand service. Created in 1997 around mail order DVD rental, the company reinvented itself in 2007 by becoming an unlimited video on demand platform. The service is enjoying huge success around the world. At the start of 2021, Netflix had just over 200 million subscribers.
It is also a real institution in France where Netflix very quickly took its place as the leader in SVOD services. Today, Netflix has achieved no less than 69% market share in France according to the latest study by the CNC (National Center for Cinema and Animated Image). VOD service counts 8.6 million subscribers in France, or 25% of French households.
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What explains the success of Netflix?
One of the keys to success is the subscription system and access to thousands of content for a reasonable price. For a starting price of 7.99 euros per month, the entire catalog of films and series is available without any limit. Enough to make the rental of the film or the episode completely obsolete, even for a few euros. In addition, the legal offer remained limited before the arrival of Netflix. Hadopi explained in a report what were the weak points of the legal offer before the emergence of Netflix and others: offer difficult to find, content too old and of poor quality and price too high. So many flaws that Netflix has brilliantly exploited.
The unlimited subscription system is a landmark. He had already made the success of Spotify and Deezer to name a few, but yet, no French actor offered an equivalent in video. Before the arrival of Netflix, the market leader was Canal Play (then 400,000 subscribers). Today it is only the 5th player, behind Netflix, Orange, Amazon Prime Video and MyTF1 (according to the same CNC-CSA study). Finally there is the quality of the interface. Both on the web and on mobile applications, everything is extremely well thought out. An artificial intelligence learns your tastes, and knows how to offer you over time the content that you are sure to appreciate.
Netflix catalog: what films, series and documentaries can we find on the platform?
Netflix’s content catalog is constantly being renewed with thousands of films, series, documentaries, cartoons etc. Netflix itself produces movies like The Irishman / Tyler Rake / Marriage Story and series, such as the excellent Stranger Things, 13 Reasons Why, Dark, The OA, Lupine, The Witcher, Le Jeu De La Dame and many more, all of the episodes of which are offered at the same time on the platform. Enough to swallow up your favorite series and not have to wait a week to see the next episode.
The Lady’s Game, one of the latest Netflix hits.
Producing this kind of series is also a way to offer new content against the competition and encourage subscribers to stay and discover the following seasons. These productions are also there to hide the absence of some big recent films in the Netflix catalog – the aim of the service is not, in itself, to be exhaustive, but to offer content that is worth subscribing to. .
It would be very difficult for Netflix to operate otherwise with this economic model: in France, for example, wait 3 years after a theatrical release for the film to end up on a SVOD platform. The famous media chronology forces Netflix to wait several years before putting a feature film online. As a result, Netflix is ​​investing crazy amounts of money to produce its own films and series. In 2021, Netflix will invest a record sum of $ 21 billion to produce content.
Netflix subscription: at what price?
The price of Netflix subscriptions in France increased for the last time in June 2019. It is broken down as follows into three offers ranging from entry level to premium. There are rumors that Netflix may soon apply another price hike. In the meantime, the price list in force in France is as follows:
- € 7.99 for unlimited access on 1 screen in standard quality
- € 11.99 for unlimited access on 2 HD screens
- € 15.99 for unlimited access on 4 screens, in HD, Ultra HD, HDR10 and Dolby Vision
Recently, Netflix no longer offers the first subscription for free. However, Netflix will refund your 7-day trial if you’re not satisfied. For the moment, the streaming service has several formulas to attract subscribers. In some cases, Netflix will refund the 30-day trial.
The latest smartphones, tablets and smart TVs are compatible with new types of content. We are not talking here about the HD that we find on a majority of devices. But no more HDR and Dolby Vision. These formats are based on algorithms to improve colors and contrast, for a stunning result. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Originally this term referred to a computer-aided photography technique: by photographing a scene multiple times with different exposures, it becomes possible to capture more detail, even in the darkest and brightest areas of the world. picture.
An algorithm then assembles the different shots to create a final image with a much higher level of detail and contrast. Several efforts have been made since the 1990s to implement this technique in videos. Netflix offers its subscribers HDR10 and Dolby Vision content. The first difference between the two is that HDR10 is open, while Dolby Vision is proprietary technology. The raison d’ĂŞtre of Dolby Vision is actually to be able to add dynamic metadata to each frame that gives more precise exposure and dynamic range instructions. This information is then compared against the technical capabilities of the device, colorimetry and contrasts are corrected to be displayed on all compatible screens in the same way.
In other words, HDR10 is already pretty good, but Dolby Vision can still provide gains in picture quality. To enjoy HDR and Dolby Vision content on a smartphone, you need a fast internet connection, at least 25 Mb / s downstream. Click here for a list of HD, HDR and Dolby Vision compatible smartphones.
Netflix vs. cinema vs. TV: unfair competition?
French regulations protect national channels when the American giant arrives. Netflix is ​​therefore not authorized to broadcast films that were released in theaters less than 36 months ago. So don’t expect to enjoy too recent movies on demand. At the same time, French channels are already starting to adopt the same methods as the American giant to broadcast the series, namely offer all the episodes of the series all at once on video on demand from the first episode broadcast. Enough to satisfy series addicts who want to watch them at their own pace.
To protect themselves against the rise of Netflix, TF1, the channels of the France Televisions group and M6, have launched Salto, a French alternative. Priced from 7 to 13 euros per month, the streaming service offers 100% French series, films and documentaries and productions.
The question of participation in the financing of audiovisual creation also arises since all television channels participate. De facto, the French government has negotiated with the main streaming platforms, including Netflix, so that part of their revenues can finance French productions. Netflix will pay between 150 and 200 million euros per year, or 20% to 25% of its turnover in France.
Finally, note that Netflix has always said it wants to invest in French series. We only saw Marseille, a fiction on the political life of the Phocaean city with GĂ©rard Depardieu, Osmosis, a failed dystopia on the future of Tinder-type dating apps, or even Lupine, a modern rereading of the work of Maurice Leblanc. , with Omar Sy. Driven by the success of the latter, Netflix aims to continue its investments in France.
