The Covid-19 pandemic has brought enormous disruption to the global economy. The impacts to the entertainment industry can be seen on both the supply and demand side. In many cases content production has been disrupted or halted altogether; while on the other side of the equation audiences are now isolated indoors and seeking out new content to fill their time. In this report we hope to provide some insight into how this unprecedented global crisis is affecting demand for content in the France.
France had the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in Europe on January 24. On March 12 it was announced that schools and universities would be closed and the country has been under a strict national lockdown since March 17. In the chart below we show the sub-genres that saw the greatest change (both positive and negative) following the announcement of these measures:
Among the sub-genres that saw the largest increases since March 9 are kids content (School Aged and Teen Sitcom) and animated content (Animated Sitcom and Action Animation). School closures are likely behind the bump in demand for kids content. The new episodes of The Walking Dead are driving the increase in apocalyptic drama. This was the most in-demand show in France in this time period. The Office has seen a steady increase in demand since the beginning of March in France and has lifted Mockumentary into the most increasing sub-genres. This may be driven by audiences looking to old favorites with many seasons of content to keep them entertained.
Drama and Horror sub-genres make up a majority of sub-genres that saw the largest declines. Contrasting with the generally lighter genres that have increased the most, this seems to indicate that French audiences are not in the mood for scary or serious content during this crisis. The exception to this trend are sitcoms. Demand in France for this sub-genre saw the second largest decline. This trend is happening across a majority of sitcoms, but Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet, Apple TV+'s new show, saw the greatest drop in demand. It's 90% drop in demand a month from it's mid-February peak is illustrative of audiences burning through content at a faster rate in lockdown conditions.
We can also evaluate which platforms have seen the largest changes in demand for their on-platform content. Hulu has seen the largest increase in demand share for its digital originals since March 11. Two March releases are driving this - Devs and Little Fires Everywhere. Hulu's most in-demand digital original The Handmaid's Tale also saw an increase in demand in March. CBS All Access's increase during this time appear to be due to a rapid increase in demand for Why Women Kill. Disney+ managed a nearly 1% increase in its demand share in France. This is despite its launch being pushed back in this country until April per the government's request and bodes well for the platform's eventual launch.
Demand for digital originals from Apple TV+ is down 16.52% since March 11th. This trend differs from other markets where the platform is up in this time. As explained above, this is likely being driven by a steep decline in Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet. Apple's latest release, Amazing Stories, has been trending upward since the beginning of March but this has not been enough to counter the drop in demand for Mythic Quest. Demand for digital originals from DC Universe is down the most in France. A new season of Harley Quinn dropped on April 3rd, so this trend should reverse soon.
For more information, check out the most up-to-date France television industry overview.
