From Variety, December 9:
Netflix (“Lupin”), Amazon, Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus signed a long-gestating agreement with France’s broadcasting authorities (CSA) on Thursday to start investing 20% of their annual revenues on French content. The CSA expects the investment to be between €250 million ($282 million) to €300 million ($330 million) on average per year.
The agreement came together after months of negotiations between French industry guilds, streamers and TV groups. A source close to the negotiations said €200 million ($225 million) will be invested by Netflix alone.
The pact provides specific guidelines on the new investment obligations that were published in the French decree that came out in July and stemmed from the implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS). The legislation was put forth by the European Commission to even the playing field between streaming giants and existing players across Europe. France is the first country to have set new regulations as part of the AVMS; other countries within the E.U. are expected to follow course.
“This step marks a milestone for the French and European cultural model,” the CSA said. “Up until now, only the local players were obligated to contribute to the financing of content and in light of the profound transformation of the audiovisual landscape and the (growing subscription numbers of non-linear services), these agreements set in stone the involvement of these big international companies within (our) film and TV industry.”....
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