Paris (AFP)

TF1 and M6 see in their merger a chance to strengthen the French audiovisual sector against the streaming giants, but it worries producers who fear a reduction in their outlets and their negotiating weight.

This rapprochement, "it is a blast for the whole industry in the different genres", fiction, animation, documentary as so-called flow programs (games, magazines, entertainment), declares to AFP Stéphane Le Bars, general delegate of Union Syndicale de la Production Audiovisuelle (USPA).

At the antipodes, Olivier Roussat, CEO of Bouygues, owner of TF1, believes that this new set, "able to fight against the Gafan" (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Netflix, Editor's note), "is essential to guarantee the 'long-term independence of French content creation "and offer" diversified local content ".

TF1 and M6 plan to create their own subscription streaming service (SVOD) as well as a common platform based on existing services, MyTF1 and 6Play.

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The merger "aims to be able to invest more in the production of local content. So, mechanically, this operation will bring more resources to independent producers", pleaded Thomas Rabe, CEO of Bertelsmann, the parent company of M6, in Le Figaro .

"This could create a dynamic, we still have to prove it to us," reacts to AFP Jérôme Caza, president of the Union of producers and creators of audiovisual programs (Spect).

Who at the moment rather sees "the market shrinking".

Instead of "two large groups representing ten channels and around 40% of broadcasting orders" hertzian, producers risk "finding themselves with a single window" and "reduced negotiating skills in the face of a group in a position of strength ", he analyzes.

Another fear of the Spect, which brings together 55 companies: "If TF1 / M6 decided to produce only in-house all the flow programs, for which there is no regulation, we would only have our eyes to cry".

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Finally, TF1 and M6 will a priori have to sell three TNT channels to be authorized to marry.

"Which chains will disappear? What will be the areas of activity impacted?" Asks Stéphane Le Bars.

He cites the example of the Gulli youth channel, owned by M6, whose future "is not trivial for the French animation industry".

- Content race -

For Philippe Bailly, president of the specialized firm NPA Conseil, there is "no strong danger of concentration in the short term for producers".

"You should not look at the landscape only from a television level".

With the upcoming entry into force of the decree on "on-demand audiovisual media services" or SMAD, which sets the terms and conditions for the contribution of international streaming giants to French production, these giants "will pour into the common pot" and " producers will have more and more potential customers, ”he anticipates.

A contribution that should weigh between 150 and 200 million euros per year only for Netflix.

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"This will irrigate part of the sector, perhaps a few dozen production companies, (...) but we must stop making us believe that it is the gold rush", moderates Jérôme Caza, recalling that 'an "ambitious" series costs 20 to 30 million.

Remains that "it is better to be big and solid than small in this profession", notes Michel Abouchahla, president of the specialized weekly Ecran Total.

"This marriage makes TF1 / M6 a very important group on the European level" with a greater "strike force" especially in the purchase of content, the sinews of the streaming war, today dominated by the Americans , he said.

Because if the operation scares in France, this new hexagonal champion would remain modest in the face of the colossi of streaming.

Including number one, Netflix, with 208 million subscribers, $ 6.6 billion in revenue in 2020 and more than $ 17 billion to invest in content this year.

Reunited TF1 and M6 expect a turnover of 3.4 billion euros and would weigh less than 5% of fiction production in Europe, according to an estimate by Gilles Fontaine of the European Audiovisual Observatory.

© 2021 AFP