Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters and TF1 Group CEO Rodolphe Belmer
This morning in Cannes, Netflix announced a distribution agreement with TF1, bringing all of the French broadcaster’s content to the streaming service in France. Starting in summer 2026, Netflix subscribers in the country will be able to watch all TF1 Group’s live channels and on-demand content from its own streaming service, TF1+, directly on the SVOD/AVOD platform.
The distribution partnership means Netflix viewers can watch TF1 shows, including Koh Lanta and The Voice, without having to leave the service. It also boosts the discoverability of those titles, according to the broadcaster, surfacing its content alongside French and international Netflix hits, such as Lupin and Ad Vitam. The move also brings more live sport to Netflix, as TF1 broadcasts several European tournaments, as well as all the French national team’s football matches until 2028.
“This is a first-of-its-kind partnership that plays to our strengths of giving audiences the best entertainment alongside the best discovery experience,” said Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters. “By teaming up with France’s leading broadcaster we will provide French consumers with even more reasons to come to Netflix every day and to stay with us for all their entertainment.”
From competition to collaboration
The agreement is unique in partnering a European broadcaster directly with a US streaming giant. So far European broadcasters, including TF1, have responded to the migration of audiences to US-owned streaming services by launching their own BVOD services, in efforts to meet viewers in streaming TV environments.
Meanwhile in the UK, the public service broadcasters (PSB) are distributing full episodes on YouTube to boost distribution. They have also launched the joint streaming app Freely, and partnered with smart TV manufacturers, in order to enhance the discoverability of PSB content on those TVs. But where Freely seeks to safeguard the broadcasters’ content against the streaming giants and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels that have gained prominence on CTV, TF1’s strategy is to surface content on the Netflix app itself.
And where those previous strategies have been built around offering free content in order to attract audiences, the new partnership is almost the opposite. Netflix requires a paid subscription, and has 14.6 million susbcribers in France, according to Omdia. But TF1 content is also available for free on TF1+, and the broadcaster says the streaming service has an average 35 million users per month. The incremental reach the partnership provides is therefore unclear, but the move appears designed to reach those viewers for whom Netflix is the default streaming service.
A united beachfront
The agreement also marks a continuation of TF1’s strategy to work closely with international streaming companies. The broadcaster has collaborated with Netflix on the production front, including the co-productions Les Combattantes and L’Agence. And while TF1 has looked to boost the brand’s presence “on the international stage” by selling content to streaming companies in other markets, this domestic agreement is aimed at reaching complementary audiences and unlocking “new reach for advertisers”.
VideoWeek heard on the ground in Cannes that TF1 would be selling inventory itself for its content streamed on Netflix’s ad tier, through its sales house TF1 PUB, and will be measured as standard by French TV measurement body Médiamétrie.
“I am delighted about this new partnership with Netflix, with whom we have already established strong relationships through ambitious co-productions in recent months,” said TF1 CEO Rodolphe Belmer. “As viewing habits shift toward on-demand consumption and audience fragmentation increases, this unprecedented alliance will enable our premium content to reach unparalleled audiences and unlock new reach for advertisers within an ecosystem that perfectly complements our TF1+ platform.”
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