Have they become essential to our daily lives? Digital subscriptions will represent a significant portion of French household budgets in 2025, much more than before, according to a study conducted by Bearing Point and relayed by Les Échos. Since 2019, subscription streaming platforms have been flourishing here and there, part of an already particularly busy audiovisual and digital landscape. The proliferation of these offers, from Disney+ to Apple TV+ and Audible, obviously has an impact on household spending in France. However, in 2025, French users will not have more subscriptions than in 2024, with an average of 3.2 plans per month per household. The budget is nevertheless constantly increasing.
If the amount allocated to these plans now reaches 49 euros per month — 4 euros more than last year — this is unsurprisingly the consequence of the numerous price revisions applied by entertainment giants, such as Netflix and Spotify. While an entry-level subscription cost only 7.99 euros in 2014 when the streaming service launched in France, users now have to pay 14.99 euros per month to enjoy an ad-free experience.
The company with the red N has shaken up its range of offers since the arrival of advertising, following numerous price increases to its historic plans. However, according to the study conducted by Bearing Point, some services continue to be considered essential by their users. This is the case for Netflix, which takes 49% of the vote, just ahead of Canal+. More surprisingly, the other global giants in the sector do not appear in the ranking.
HBO Max and Disney+ carry less weight than video games and traditional TV
In the "nice, but nothing more" section, meaning the first services to be abandoned in the event of a household budget increase or cut, the international press fares best. 18% of readers consider their subscriptions essential. Amazon Prime Video takes third place with 17% of its users who could no longer do without it. Disney+ and HBO Max are looking grim, with only 11% of their customers reportedly unwilling to terminate their contract. This is less than TF1+ Premium (14%), the ad-free subscription billed at €5.99 per month for the leading channel. As a reminder, access to the catalog is free for those who don't mind the ads.
Note that Disney+ and Prime Video remain more prominent, with 24% and 48% of subscriptions held by the French respectively. TF1+, which is not in the rankings, can still be pleased to have a small community of loyal paying subscribers.
More worryingly, 90% of DAZN users could do without it. While sports was until recently a promising sector for the television industry, the acquisition of Ligue 1 by the English platform in 2024 has caused confusion in the sector. With subscriptions too expensive and the platform still young, the operation was a fiasco, forcing the company to abandon exclusivity on the competitions after a year. While present in the country, DAZN is lagging behind...
Piracy on the rise
Faced with the proliferation of services and rising prices, more and more French people are turning to illegal means to access their content. According to information from Bearing Point, 18% of respondents in France have turned to piracy in the last 12 months due to rising subscription prices or the desire to access specific content. Account sharing also remains a widespread practice, with 39% of French YouTube Music users giving their access to friends and family. According to information shared in December 2024 by ARCOM, piracy and illegal streaming represent a loss of €290 million per year for industry players.
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