TF1 Boss Rodolphe Belmer on the French Network’s Deal With Netflix

TF1 Group boss Rodolphe Belmer made waves last week, during the Cannes Lions, with news of the French network’s first-of-its-kind deal with Netflix which will see the latter carry TF1’s five free-to-air channels starting in the summer of 2026. The strategic move sparked a surprise because traditional broadcasters’s collaborations with streamers have up until now been limited to content co-production, and when there have been structural partnerships, they’ve gone in one direction, allowing Netflix to be accessible on French set-top boxes via pacts with French telecom companies, notably Bouygues, TF1 Group’s parent company. While Amazon Prime Video has struck deals in the past to distribute third-party services and channels, the TF1-Netflix alliance marks the first time a leading commercial channel opts to be carried on a global streamer. Interestingly, Netflix had picked France as its testing ground for its first linear channel (named Direct) back in 2020 but the experiment was short-lived. With TF1, which is a European ratings leader and reaches 58 million monthly viewers through its broadcast channels, Netflix will be able to tap into the French group’s highest rated programs on linear, including live events, sports and primetime unscripted formats such as “The Voice.”

Belmer – who built his career within the Canal+ group and shepherded the pay TV group’s investment in premium content — has a track record with Netflix, having previously served on their board for a number of years, before he took the helm of TF1 Group in 2023. Under his leadership, TF1 has also been ahead of the curve in terms of combining purse strings with streamers, such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+, to finance shows. The latest example is “Tout pour la lumiere,” a series set at a dance academy which was jointly financed by TF1 and Netflix and will mark the latter’s first daily soap.

The deal is also part of Belmer’s plan to build group’s AVOD service TF1+ into a global brand which will launch in Africa at the end of the month.

Why does it make sense to have TF1 Group’s five channels and TF1 + content available via Netflix? You don’t think it can cannibalize the linear audience on TF1 and those who use TF1+? What is your ambition with TF1 +?

TF1+ aims to establish itself as the leading free destination platform in France. The group is fully focused on this goal and has already achieved spectacular results. Our service TF1+ is emerging as a somewhat new concept, since it’s the first major free streaming platform and it’s a destination for French people who don’t want subscribe to paid services. What we are seeing a segmentation of the market between French households who subscribe to paid services, particularly Netflix, and those who don’t. With TF1+, we strive to be the leading destination platform providing all entertainment and news content free of charge to households who don’t subscribe. It’s in this context that we’ve developed our aggregation strategy with our free-to-air partners. 

TF1 Group has about 35 million visitors per month on TF1+ and Netflix has over 10 million subscribers. How complementary is TF1 Group with Netflix? How will you ensure your brand will remain strong on Netflix? 

What can I say is that the number of French households who subscribe to Netflix is very high and that these French households watch Netflix as their first choice, and that Netflix has established itself as a real destination for them. Today, we see a clear complementarity in terms of French usage between what we can do for French people who are not subscribers and what Netflix does for its subscribers. To answer your other question, our ambition is to distribute our linear channels under their own brand names of course, and our TF1+ platform to all French households, whether they subscribe to Netflix or not. We see this as an extension of our penetration, as an extension of our reach. 

TF1’s business model depends on advertising revenue rather than subscriptions. What kind of new commercial opportunities will this deal open up for TF1? How will that work? Is Netflix paying an upfront free? 

Our value proposition to the advertising market and the value we bring to the advertising market is our exposure, meaning our reach, among the French population. And so, as a result, we’re growing the size of TF1’s market by extending to Netflix. That means expanding the reach of TF1 Group and expanding the group’s value for the advertising market. We can’t comment further on the terms of the deal. 

Could you strike a similar deal with another streaming service? 

Today, we are focused on this agreement with Netflix, which is the key player in the French market. 

TF1+ has done aggregation deals with the Franco-German network Arte and the U.S. network A+E. Will you pursue this strategy going forward? How is this deal with Netflix impacting that strategy? 

Yes, definitely. We’re looking to aggregate our major partners in the French ecosystem who, like us, are free, in order to strengthen the value proposition of the destination for entertainment or free information for French people. So that’s really what we’re trying to do. We have signed several aggregation deals with “L’Equipe,” with Figaro TV and with Arte in recent months. We have also signed an aggregation deal with our partners A+E with whom we have a very strong relationships. Next up, we will seek to expand this strategy. These partners we are aggregating in France have the option of joining TF1 on Netflix.

You suggested that for now TF1+ is an entirely free service but that might change in the future? 

The first phase of our strategy was to make TF1+ the leading AVOD service to monetize our programs, not just on linear but also on streaming. For now this has been very successful. That’s allowed TF1 Group’s financial results to remain healthy in a European eco-system that’s been quite shaken up. With this partnership with Netflix, we are now in the second phase of our strategic plan, which aims, first and foremost, to maximise the distribution and penetration of our offerings. At the same time, we’re going to launch a micro-payment option on TF1+ because we want to increase the sources of revenue we can generate from our programs beyond the linear advertising and digital advertising we generate today. We call it in-app purchase’, which aims to develop a distinctive, unique and non-competitive form of monetization for our content, in contrast to the major streaming players. 

How does the micro-payment work?

We are inspired by a business model that has proven successful in the mobile world, particularly in mobile gaming, to introduce a micro-payment system, or in-app, for the consumption of our TV programs, especially the most popular ones. For instance, starting on Sept. 1, we will offer all TF1+ users in France the option of watching our shows either with advertising or without advertising for each episode. So, if you want to watch our big family entertainment show called “Koh-Lanta” (the French version of “Survivor”), you can tune in on Tuesday evening to watch it, which is when it’s broadcast and you will be able to watch it either with or without advertising. The third strategic development we’re currently working on is the launch of TF1+ across the French-speaking world, with the aim of making TF1+ the leading entertainment platform in those markets. It will be launched simultaneously in 22 French-speaking African countries on June 30.