24/03/2003

France’s Superior Audiovisual Council announced that French cable and satellite broadcasters were now obliged by law to invest in film production and buy and broadcast a certain quota of European and French films. This is excellent news for French industry insiders, especially film producers and exporters, who praised Ciné Cinéma in particular, “for going beyond its legal obligations”. Ciné Cinéma includes the CinéCinéma Auteur and CinéCinéma Succès channels and it decided to earmark 26 per cent of its annual budget for the next three years to buying the broadcast rights to European films (rising to 27 per cent in the 4th year) and 22 per cent to French films for the 1st year (rising by 1 per cent annually).
A guaranteed minimum was also set at Euros0.85 for each subscriber in 2003, rising annually to Euros0.95 and thence to Euros1. CinéCinéma will also implement the diversity clause according to which one-quarter of the films it buys in 2003 will be French and low-budget (Euros5.35m or under) titles. This percentage is variable and depends on the number of subscribers to the channel. This deal is similar to the one recently signed by TPS Cinéma’s five channels and gives French film producers some much-needed breathing space after the Canal+ Group’s recent decision to cut investment.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)