Subscriptions to streaming video all offer different offers. Do not know what to give as a gift to your parents? Would you like to know which SVOD service to give preference to if you prefer the movies? Is the Netflix catalog really more complete than OCS’s? To help you choose, follow the guide.
Linear TV is dead, long live the SVOD? In just a few years, subscription video-on-demand services have proliferated, and the French have shown that they are now ready to pay for these streaming platforms.
In April, Libération counted 3.5 million Netflix subscribers in France, against more than 2.9 million for OCS, the platform of Orange (also broadcast in the Canal + package and operators). CanalPlay, long presented as a competitor at the height of Netflix, finally gave way to Canal + Series, a more limited offer released in March 2019 and focused on the sinews of war: the series.
Today, four offers dominate the landscape of SVOD services – we will regret the closing of FilmStruck, a favorite service for movie buffs dedicated to cult movies, November 29, 2018 -. As they all have particularities, advantages and faults, we help you to see more clearly, according to your tastes, interests and budget.
The OCS subscription:
Game of Thrones on OCS
With its partnership with HBO, OCS (Orange Cinema Series) manages to offer many quality series to its subscribers, including the inevitable Game of Thrones and Westworld.
Eclipsed in the media space by the Netflix mastodon, OCS is yet an interesting competitor in France, because it offers complementary and diversified content. The OCS bouquet contains 4 channels dedicated to movies and series as well as blockbusters and complete seasons to review in streaming.
In addition to the exclusive French series (25, Mission, In America), we find on the platform quality American series like The Walking Dead or La Servante Ecarlate (catalog AMC and Hulu). Game of Thrones fans can see the 7 seasons, but also the series in real time at 3am in the night from Sunday to Monday.
Mobile subscription, computer and tablet Mobile subscription, computer, tablet, cast and TV
Price 9.99 euros per month 11.99 euros per month
YOU LOVE THE POINT SERIES
The Amazon Prime Video subscription
Amazon is an alternative offer to refreshing Netflix. Despite the fact that there are few original series, they are, for the most part, of very good quality. The rest of the catalog is modern and does not fall into the shedding of content.
To date, the Amazon Prime Video catalog is (almost) excellent when it comes to its original series. From Transparent to I Love Dick (productions of the essential Jill Soloway) through The Man In The High Castle, Mozart in the Jungle, the discreet, but beautiful One Mississippi or the recent Forever: the Amazon Originals are its strength. But their very small number plays to its detriment.
Despite the upcoming adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, Amazon struggles to compete with Netflix for big news. On the other hand, his catalog is an excellent complement to that of his opponent: cult series (Seinfeld, The Office, The Big Bang Theory), current productions (Mr Robot, The Good Fight), but also films and series for children , and cult movies (Django Unchained, Spider-Man, Fast and Furious, etc.). The first real failure is the French series Deutsch-Les-Landes, even if Jack Ryan did not already fly high.
Note that the Amazon Prime Video subscription does not exist alone in France: it is included in the Amazon Prime subscription, which allows to have customer benefits on the e-commerce platform.
Rate per month Price per year
Price 5.99 euros per month 49 euros per year
The Canal + Séries subscription
Killing Eve on Canal + Series
Abandoned by subscribers, the CanalPlay offer has been replaced by Canal + Séries. Exit the movies: here are the series that are in the spotlight. The motto: quality is better than quantity.
CanalPlay, it’s “finished”, affirmed the number 1 of Canal + last April. The platform of SVOD that everyone presented that the competitor of Netflix 3 years ago was engulfed: the subscribers fell by 800 000 to 200,000 in just a few years. It is for this reason that the French group has completely changed its offer. Finished CanalPlay, welcome to Canal + Series.
This new service launched on March 12, 2019 offers more than 150 series for 6.99 euros per month. It’s little, but the quality is there. We find an extremely solid catalog of cult content (Buffy, X-Files, Dexter, Prison Break, 24), original programs Canal + (Hippocrates, Braquo, Gears, Short) and relatively new series acclaimed by critics (Pose , Killing Eve, the Bisexual).
For you to know what to expect, Numerama has listed the 153 series currently available on Canal + Series.
Subscription
Price 6.99 euros per month
YOU CAN NOT CHOOSE
The Netflix subscription
Stranger Things on Netflix
Netflix adds about forty new contents to its French catalog per month. Who can stop it?
Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things, House of Cards, Everything Sucks, the Casa de Papel part 3, Making a Murderer, MindHunter: there is no longer the exclusive content of the American platform. But the service, which now has more than 3.5 million subscribers a month in France, also knows how to provide a catalog full of cold content: we find both Friends and Avengers.
Netflix occupies very much the media space: by dint of big announcements – in particular by recruiting stars of the small screen and by multiplying the adaptations -, the US giant is the reference as regards SVOD, and it is rather deserved.
Note however that its strength can be a defect: its very large catalog may sometimes lose subscribers who, having no courage to search, may be tempted to be content with the suggestions on the home page.
Subscription screen Subscription 2 screens Subscription 4 screens
Price 7.99 euros per month 10.99 euros per month 13.99 euros per month