'French Netflix' rival abandoned

BROADCASTERS in France have shelved plans to join forces and launch a French rival to Netflix.

TF1, M6 and France Télévisions were in talks with phone operator Orange about the video-on-demand service, but have agreed to go their separate ways.

The project's leader, Xavier Couture, said their research found it would not be feasible to turn a profit any time soon. It would have seen the four operators pool together their existing video-on-demand offers into a single package.

Netflix launched its assault on the French online video market in September last year. The New York Times estimates its French customer base to be at 500,000, while analysts predict it will reach 2 million by 2019.