It feels like we're witnessing the demise of the DVD format, already in decline for the past 10 years. Crushed by piracy issues and increasingly affected by the fierce competition from streaming platforms, the industry has been hit with further bad news. Implemented since the end of January, the latest version of the media chronology (the sequence of film distribution in different media after their theatrical release) will further handicap the already vulnerable market.
In France, DVDs, Blu-rays, 4K, rentals or downloads will still be released four months after the first film projection in theaters, but videos will only have a two-month exclusivity window – down from four months. This is because the Canal+ and OCS networks will be able to broadcast the featured films six months (previously eight months) after their release. This is a huge blow for video publishers, especially subsidiaries of American studios or TV channels that release new movies.
Since 2010, the physical video market – 60% of which are films – has been steadily declining year after year. According to the CNC-GfK physical video barometer, it went from generating more than 1.4 billion euros in 2010 to 245.5 million in 2021, a sharp decline of 82.4% within a decade. "It's too easy to replace the physical video," said Yves Elalouf, president of the Syndicat de l’Edition Vidéo Numérique (SEVN, the union representing publishers and distributors of audiovisual and cinematographic works published on DVD). He blamed Covid-19 for the 17.2% decline in market value in 2021 and noted that purchase or rental transactions yielded 216 million euros last year, while the profits generated by the entire video market amounted to a total of 461.5 million euros.
'We didn't get any support'
"Where we expected support from the government, we got nothing, and video was the most penalized activity," said Mr. Elalouf, referring to the media chronology issue. He would have liked videos to be available earlier, three months after the theater release of a film. "It would make more sense, since 99% of movies disappear from the screens after 12 weeks of screening. This poses a fundamental problem: The 'dormant' feature films are not seen anywhere for at least a month, which increases piracy risks."
In other countries, the exclusivity of theater film screenings generally lasts three months, "sometimes even less, with only 45 days in the United States, the Netherlands, Spain or in the Nordic countries," said the SEVN president. "We don't want to get to that point." The lobbying by movie theaters to preserve their self-interests is way too powerful for the video sector to break the cycle. "The fight goes on," said Mr. Elalouf, hoping to win his case in a year, when the media chronology issue will be reviewed.
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