France’s heavily regulated television industry was in uproar yesterday amid the launch of Netflix, the American video streaming service.
The California giant has chosen France as a bridgehead from which to conquer Europe, with plans to expand into Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria this week.
With a subscription costing €7.99 (£4.44) a month, which will give access to films, series and documentaries, Netflix hopes that a third of French households will be using its service within five years.
However, critics say the service threatens to destroy France’s so-called cultural exception – the notion that it is resistant to Anglo-Saxon entertainment.
French channels point out that Netflix will avoid most of the regulations that affect them, such as a ban on broadcasting films on Wednesday