France's total revenue from DVD, Blu-ray and VOD fell 5% to €600m during the first half of the year, compared to €630m over the same period last year, according to GfK data collected for the French video publishers organisation SEVN.

Revenue from packaged media (DVD, Blu-ray) stood at €500m - a 8% fall compared to last year's 1H period. In volume terms, some 40 million units were sold, translating into a 10% reduction.

DVD keeps losing ground - minus 13% in both volume and value. However, Blu-ray progresses steadily with a turnover up 20% to €100m. Blu-ray disc sales now accounts for 20% of the packaged media market, compared to 15% in the first half of 2011.

According to SEVN's latest estimates, the VOD market is growing 20-25%, with a turnover topping €100m, compared to €86m in the previous period.

Overall, the DVD drop is not balanced by the Blu-ray and VOD growth. In this context, SEVN has asked the new Hollande government to put quickly in place measures to assist the industry on consumer offers and innovation. "This assistance must be based primarily on the HADOPI's 'graduated response' aimed at protecting rights holders against illegal internet downloads," says the professional body.

Fighting illegal streaming is a top item on the agenda. Above and beyond the graduated response, SEVN wants to see the financial resources sustaining websites linking to pirated content blocked. "Advertising agencies servicing those sites must be prevented from benefiting from an illegal business."

As regards the system of release windows (chronologie des medias), SEVN calls on subjecting digital distribution of content to the same rules as packaged media. It favours experimenting with a progressive shortening of the theatrical-to-video/digital release window, to under four months in some cases.

On the VAT front, SEVN continues to demand that DVDs, Blu-ray Discs and VOD - currently taxed at 19.6% - benefits from the same VAT rate as cinema tickets and television services - 7%. However, amending the legislation is complicated by the fact that a change in VAT categories (inclusion of packaged media in the lower bracket) requires a unanimous decision by European Union parliamentarians, which France failed to secure to date.

Story filed 19.07.12