France Télévisions is making its entire france.tv service, with five national channels, preview and replay programmes, available through Amazon Prime Video in France, with a dedicated presence on the Prime Video home screen. Described as an unprecedented distribution agreement, it follows the announcement that TF1 will make its programming available on Netflix. France Télévisions already provides its five national channels online through france.tv, which had 42.9 million unique visitors in June.
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Amazon has confirmed that its Freevee online video service and app will close by August. Most of the programming is migrating to Amazon Prime Video where it remains free to view. Amazon had previously announced that it was phasing out the Freevee brand to streamline its streaming offering. That followed the introduction of advertising to the Prime Video platform.
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The recommendation of a 5% levy on streaming platforms has been formally rejected by the United Kingdom government in favour of a mixed ecology that welcomes both international investment and local production. A cross-party parliamentary committee had proposed a 5% streaming levy to support high-end national production, initially on a voluntary basis, with provision for this to be made statutory. That was rejected by the culture secretary and has now been formally dismissed in a government response.
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RTL Group is set to acquire the Sky Deutschland business from Comcast, marking a significant shift in the German television landscape. The transaction combines Sky’s premium sports rights, including Bundesliga, Premier League and Formula 1, with RTL’s leading entertainment and news brands across free and pay television channels and the RTL+ online service. It also unites the fastest growing streaming offers in the German market, RTL+ and WOW. This move further consolidates RTL Group’s position in the German media market as it strengthens its portfolio of free-to-air and streaming services.
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BBC Studios and BBC News are introducing a subscription model for access to BBC.com in the United States. It marks the first time the international web site will offer a paid experience for readers outside the United Kingdom. The move reflects the continuing shift towards subscription-based digital news services.
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Adults on the United Kingdom now spend more time on their mobile phones than watching television on a television set, marking a major milestone in media habits. Average daily mobile phone use has overtaken television set viewing for the first time. This shift highlights the growing dominance of mobile devices as the primary screen for many people.
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