New Record Set for French TV Exports

The sale of French TV programs brought in €214.8 million ($230.4 million) in 2022, a 15.4 percent gain on 2021, according to a report released by the CNC (National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image) and Unifrance.

The sale of French shows to international platforms accounted for 43.1 percent of export earnings last year, up from 33.5 percent in 2021. Linear broadcasters remain the leading buyers of French content, with TV rights accounting for 49.1 percent of program sales.

Drama was a key genre for French exports last year, reaching a record high of €80.7 million ($86.5 million), a gain of almost 41 percent. This was the first time since 1999 that drama ranked as France’s leading content export, accounting for 37.6 percent of total sales. Docs also showed strong gains, rising by 32.1 percent to €48.6 million ($52.1 million), while animation slipped by 5.3 percent to €57.6 million ($61.8 million)

Western Europe remains the top region for French sales, accounting for 40.7 percent of global revenues at €87.3 million ($93.6 million), an 8.4 percent gain. North America ate into Western Europe’s share, rising to a market share of 13.5 percent. North America brought in €29.1 million ($31.2 million), an increase of 24.5 percent. Asia/Oceania rose by 11.6 percent to €16.5 million ($17.7 million), taking a 7.7 percent share. CEE brought in €10.2 million ($10.9 million).

The U.S. became the top buyer of French shows in 2022, with €19.2 million ($20.6 million) in sales, with Germany not far behind at €14.2 million ($15.2 million) and the U.K. in third at €14.1 million ($15.1 million)

Last year also saw gains in global rights deals, especially for drama, rising by 40.7 percent to €57.9 million ($62.1 million) and accounting for 27 percent of total sales.

While the export market hit a new high, foreign presales and co-pros did slip. As such, overall figures for French TV exports, including sales, presales and co-production contributions decreased by 15 percent to €319.6 million ($342.9 million) compared with the record levels achieved in 2021. Foreign presales were down 50.3 percent and co-pros down 38.4 percent.

On the presales front, the total €50.5 million ($54.1 million) included €19.6 million ($21 million) for drama projects, a decrease of 57 percent, taking a 38.8 percent share of all foreign presales. Animation presales fell by 56.2 percent to €20.6 million ($22.1 million) but still secured a leading share of 40.8 percent.

Foreign contributions to coproductions with France also registered a decline in 2022, falling to €54.4 million ($58.3 million). Animation fell by 46.5 percent to €23.6 million ($25.3 million), while drama dropped by 50.3 percent to €13.4 million ($14.4 million). Doc investments, meanwhile, were up 2.5 percent to €15.6 million ($16.7 million).