France’s leading free-to-air TV network, TF1, plans to expand its free streaming platform, TF1+, to other parts of Europe and Africa, with the aim of increasing its online advertising revenue. TF1+ currently hosts 15,000 hours of shows and films and will begin its expansion into Belgium and Luxembourg from June.
The company also plans to expand to French-speaking African countries, starting with North Africa and could consider adding more countries, including Canada, in the next 18 months.
Chief Executive Officer Rodolphe Belmer revealed plans to push the streaming platform into as many French-speaking markets as possible to grow its user base and attract advertisers. He expects traditional linear TV ads to stabilize and shrink by 2030 and believes that the focus should be on capturing a bigger market share of digital ads. Belmer stated that the company relies on its current catalogues rather than developing new content for new markets.
TF1 is targeting ad revenue of about US$16 per thousand people, which would put TF1+ between lower-priced web video services such as YouTube and more premium streamers, including Disney+ and Netflix Inc. Belmer said, “We want to tap the core of the market, and make a difference with bigger volume”.
In Africa, TF1+ will compete with other international companies looking to gain a foothold in the continent’s young and fast-growing markets. Vivendi SE’s Canal+ is available in several French-speaking Central and West African countries and has bid for South African pay-TV company MultiChoice Group. Chinese media company StarTimes is available in dozens of markets on the continent.
Belmer, named CEO of TF1 last year, is a former CEO of Canal+, Eutelsat SA and Atos SE. He also served as a Netflix board member from 2018 to 2022. The French construction and telecom conglomerate Bouygues SA is the media company’s biggest shareholder.
