French commercial network Tf1 has unveiled fresh details of its new free streaming platform TF1+, which launches on January 8.
The launch comes just over a year after the calling-off of a planned merger between TF1 and rival commercial network M6 and just months after the shuttering of Salto, TF1’s failed joint streaming platform with M6 and France Télévisions.
TF1 Managing Director Rodolphe Belmer told a news conference in Paris on Wednesday that the network wanted TF1+ to become the biggest free streaming platform in France.
“It’s a big moment for the group and a major launch,” he said.
A key aim behind its creation, he added, was to increase TF1’s advertising revenue in the digital domain.
Noting that 35 of every 100 hours of TV viewing in France are now consumed on an on-demand basis, Belmer said TF1 needed to be more proactive in the digital space.
“Our share is very weak in the digital video publicity market which today is worth two billion euros and is growing between 10 to 15% every year,” he said.
There will also be an ad-free subscription package set at €5.99 ($6.57) per month, which will also enable viewers to watch new episodes of their favorite shows prior to their broadcast in TF1’s official viewing schedule.
The platform is being offered as a “better’ alternative to catch-up service myTF1.
Unlike myTF1, which makes content available for seven days after its broadcast, shows on TF1+ will come with a minimum 30-day window.
The platform will offer 15,000 hours of entertainment, news and sports for free.
The January 8 launch will coincide with the first edition of TF1’s new breakfast show, anchored by former BFMTV presenter Bruce Toussaint, as well as the first episode of rebooted soap opera Plus Belle La Vie.
TF1 is hoping to breathe new life into the latter show, which ran on France 3 channel for 18 years before being axed by the state broadcaster, which cited a shift in viewing habits and a declining audience as reasons for the move.
Plus Belle La Vie will be among 200 series made available in their entirety on the TF1+ platform alongside popular shows such as HPI (High Intellectual Potential), Tomorrow Is Ours (Demain Now Appartient) and Here It All Begins (Ici Tout Commence).
There will be another 200 theatrically released feature films and 200 telefilms as well as entertainment shows like The Voice, Koh-Lanta and Star Academy and sports programming, with a new AI-based service called Top Chrono, giving viewers tailored updates on sporting events in a five, 10 or 15 minute timeframe.
