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changes on the French market. Numerous actors
have entered the marked and followed a trajectory
according to their initial stock of resources and
competences. Therefore, they rely, to a variable
extent, on partnerships and alliances in order to
complement their own resources.
However, the various players have adopted dif-
ferent entry strategies (Daidj & Vialle, 2007).
Telecommunications companies and ADSL
service providers are naturally leading the market
due to their hold on their subscribers with their
IPTV box which allows them to control the most
appropriate viewing terminal for VoD, the televi-
sion. The competitive pricing of ADSL services
leads them to push for the adoption of other ser-
vices such as VoD in order to improve their
profitability. According to their resources, they
can either provide their own services by negotiat-
ing with rights owners (such as France Telecom/
Orange with Pathé), or distribute the services of
another service provider (such as Alice with Vir-
ginMega).
Content aggregators can be divided into two
categories. TV companies try to take advantage
of their TV program catalogue (reports, documen-
taries, games, and series) that they complement
with movie catalogues. They benefit from their
traditional relations with producers, from their
market knowledge and their brand image. The
other category is composed of niche players that
are specialized in a specific topic such as Vodeo
(reports, documentaries), Imineo (education),
and Cinezine (independent producers). They
distribute their VoD services on their portals, but
may also distribute their services via other service
providers, such as TF1Vision with Neuf Cegetel,
or Vodeo with Noos.
Retailers have expanded their operations to
the electronic distribution of movies, taking ad-
vantage of their brand image and on their market
Market Entries on the
French VoD Market
The launch of attractive triple-play offers has not
only resulted in a strong market growth, but also
induced numerous market entries. Since 2005,
the French VoD market has been characterised
by multiple entries from players. The French VoD
market has become very competitive, exhibiting
the highest number of competing services in
Europe, with 32 different services offered (NPA
Conseil, 2008) (Table 4).
Table 4 shows that the high number of VoD
services in France is partly due to the high num-
ber of VoD services linked to IPTV. IPTV systems
allow offering a much more user-friendly way of
distributing VoD services. They allow consumers
to view content on their TV, using the IPTV
graphic interface and remote control. Consumers
are then billed by their ISP. Therefore, IPTV has
become the main distribution channel for VoD:
80% of VoD content is now viewed via an IPTV
system (NPA Conseil, 2008). Attracted by the
high growth of the French residential broadband
market, numerous players have entered the VoD
service market from 2005 onwards (Table 5).
Table 4. Commercial VoD services in selected European countries (Source NPA Conseil, 2008)
Number of
Suppliers
Internet
Services
Satellite
Services
Country
IPTV Services Cable Services
DTTB Services
France
32
26
13
1
Netherlands
30
27
3
1
UK
16
11
4
4
1
1
Germany
26
20
4
2
2
 
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