French TV export revenues suffer 28% decline in 2025

Film and TV body Unifrance has revealed that revenues from French programming exports fell by more than 25% in 2025.

The annual Unifrance-CNC report, which was unveiled at the Rendez-Vous in Le Havre today, showed that sales, pre-sales and co-productions amounted to €282.7m (£242m) in 2025, down 28.1% compared with 2024.

Sales amounted to just €164.3m, a 21.6% drop compared with 2024, returning to levels seen 10 years ago.

Pre-sales fell by 59.3% year-on-year to €30.7m, while international co-productions generated €87.7, (down 18.7% on 2024), even though the latter remained above the decade’s average.

The sales and pre-sales figures come from exporters’ declarations, while coproduction figures come from trade body the CNC.

The figures were presented by Cécile Lacoue, head of research, economics and digital at the CNC, who highlighted the travails faced by the distribution sector.

Broadcasters have been hit by falling advertising revenues and there has also been heavy pressure on public channels, leading to major budget cuts and channel closures, impacting key markets such as Germany. Streamers are also rationalising their investments, she added.

“Overall, buyers are more cautious and risk-averse, focusing on shows that are easy for audiences to identify and market,” Lacoue said.

Unpacking sales’ decline

Looking at sales alone, animation was once again the hardest hit, down 30.3% to €32.2m. The genre, which was France’s top export driver until a few years ago, has dropped to third place, accounting for 19.7% of total sales and behind documentaries, leaving it at an all-time low.

Animation remains, however, the sector in which France achieves its greatest success, with Miraculous once again the top seller abroad. “However, the market is tightening around established IPs,” Lacoue said, adding that only a few shows manage to break through.

Drama was also hit hard, with sales dropping 27% to €54.9m, lower than in 2019. However, it remains the largest export genre, accounting for 33.4% of total sales, and Lacoue highlighted that 2025 is competing against an exceptionally strong 2024.

Sales are concentrated on fewer titles, she added, most notably light crime dramas, where France remains a key player. The US scripted adaptation of High Potential has been renewed for another season, while Bright Minds was adapted in the UK last year.

Documentary sales experienced a more moderate decline, falling 2.7% compared to 2024 to €43.1m. They are now the second most exported genre, accounting for 26.2% of international sales, but Lacous said this was down to a single - unnamed - company.

The data also showed that streamers are no longer major buyers, at least in terms of striking global deals. Multi-territory sales dropped 33.6% to €38.4m, reaching their lowest level since 2018, which primarily affected scripted fare.

This included a 77.6% collapse in sales to SVOD services, down to €6.2m, with global platforms preferring to acquire local or regional rights when they do buy. AVOD continues to grow, but not enough to offset the loss.

TV rights remain central, generating 54.4% of total revenues, with broadcasters demanding associated rights without necessarily increasing their payment. Non-linear rights are down, accounting for 34.8% of export revenues in 2025, compared to 40.9% in 2024. Meanwhile, AVOD grew to represent 14.3% of export revenues in 2025 (up from 9.6% in 2024), a boon for back-catalogue sales.

The data also showed that sales are heavily concentrated in the hands of a few players. Out of 100 companies, the top 10 exporters accounted for 59.5% of the total in 2025, while the top five outfits represented 44.3% of total revenues.

Fiction is the most consolidated genre, with the top ten companies accounting for 97% of sales, and the top five representing 78.4%. Documentaries are the least concentrated: 75.4% for the top ten and 47.7% for the top five.

Exporters also issued a warning around the fragile windowing system, pointing to hyper-distribution and joint agreements between SVOD platforms and traditional broadcasters - a trend that started in France and is now spreading, threatening second windows.