At a time when players are competing for the global VOD market, TV5Monde unveils its French-language digital platform.
Called TV5MondePlus, the new platform offers French-speaking and Francophile audiences free access to VOD. Officially launched on September 9 in Paris, it is the result of a collaboration between five TV5MONDE constituent governments (France, Canada, Switzerland, Wallonia-Brussels, Quebec), with the Canadian government providing $14.6 million CAD (approximately €9 million) in funding for the project's development.
Movies, series, exclusive content, documentaries, magazines, investigations, talk shows, concerts, youth programs, and podcasts make up the video catalog available in French and subtitled in five languages (French, English, Spanish, German, and Arabic). It brings together programs from TV5MONDE's shareholder channels—Radio-Canada, Télé-Québec, TV5 Québec Canada, RTS, RTBF, France Télévisions, and RFI, as well as programs from partners such as the Musée de l'Homme, the Collège de France, and the Canadian Cultural Center in Paris. The catalog, which currently consists of 2,500 hours of programming, will be expanded by 150 hours every month. The platform will be accessible free of charge and will feature advertising (AVOD).
According to Yves Bigot, CEO of TV5Monde: "The aim is not to compete with Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+. TV5MONDEplus's mission is to ensure the discoverability of French-language programs in the digital world (…), enabling all French speakers and Francophiles to have free access to the best of French, Canadian, Belgian, Swiss, and African creativity."