WTDaBuzz · Deals & Rights · 17 October 2026
French audiovisual exports weakened in 2025, but the headline becomes more useful when a sales business separates transactions for programmes from financing committed before delivery. Those activities occupy different places in a producer’s plan.
The CNC’s September 2026 study reports €164.3 million of French audiovisual programme sales in 2025, down 21.6%. The broader export total, including sales, pre-sales and co-production contributions, was €282.7 million, down 28.1%. Pre-sales fell 59.3% to €30.7 million. These are television-programme export measures, not French cinema box-office receipts.
Put each commitment in the right part of the plan
An exporter should distinguish its completed-programme sales pipeline from the commitments supporting projects that are still being assembled. A single opportunity total makes it harder to see whether the company is selling available inventory or developing future supply.
For a hypothetical production company, an expression of interest in a developing series should remain separate from an executed agreement for a delivered programme. The commercial record needs to show the stage, the next decision and the person responsible for moving it forward.
Revisit the assumptions behind development
The study gives producers a reason to challenge assumptions about how readily an international buyer will commit early. It does not establish that every genre or project faces the same outcome.
A development review can ask which parts of the plan rely on an early commitment, what evidence supports that expectation and which alternative decisions would be available if the commitment arrives later. That conversation should happen while the project can still be adjusted.
Keep the export definition attached
A board report comparing territories should retain the components of each published export measure. Sales, pre-sales and co-production contributions should not be casually compared with a country’s theatrical ticket receipts or domestic production expenditure.
The CNC release offers a clear market signal. Its operational value is greater when the sales team translates that signal into separate questions about inventory, project financing and the timing of buyer decisions.
Image: Illustrative streaming television, Nicolas J Leclercq / Unsplash; historical app icons do not identify buyers in the study.