France: FTA still most-watched TV service
April 1, 2026
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
Online video platforms, driven by YouTube, have established themselves as major entry points in French media consumption, but FTA television and radio retain a significant role.
According to the latest Arcom study on the Q1 2026 audio-video trends in the country, FTA television remains the most consumed video service despite the competitive pressure, even among young people, but access to it has changed.
“Trends confirm the downturn of DTT whilst internet streaming is growing,” observed Juliette Théry, a member of the Arcom Council.
French households mainly receive Internet television (IPTV at 74 per cent, +1.4 points), but 34.7 per cent still use DTT (including 14.4 per cent DVB-exclusives). Just 10.4 per cent receive it by satellite.
“This leads us to question the role of terrestrial technological point of view and from an economic and regulatory perspective,” noted Théry.
The role of DTT will play “a large part in the white paper on the future of TV media” which is set to be published by Arcom in spring 2027.
More specifically, “there is a kind of convergence in user’s perceptions between YouTube and television channels, even though their economic and legal models are completely different,” Théry added
The Arcom study shows that almost half of French people (48 per cent) go to YouTube at least once a week, with a proportion rising to 70 per cent among those under 35 years old. YouTube has become the second most visited social service behind Facebook and ahead of Instagram.
Some 69 per cent of the 15-24 demographic and 64 per cent of the 25-34 year olds use the platform every week compared to the whole population. Among YouTube users, the television set is the third most used terminal to watch the platform (67 per cent), behind the smartphone (89 per cent) and the computer (78 per cent). The smart TV is also perceived as a medium that maximises the viewing experience.
The shift towards a bigger screen is also transforming the formats watched. Consumption on TV is favoured by the increase in ‘premium’ content. According to Arcom, users highlight the “growing professionalisation” of content as well as the extension of the duration of videos, believing that “their quality is now comparable to that of TV channels and SVoD platforms”.
While short videos remain ubiquitous (91 per cent of users), longer formats have significantly grown with 70 per cent of people watching content longer than 30 minutes.
Platform usage remains notably different according to the content type. While YouTube and sharing platforms are associated to entertainment and VoD/ SVoD services to drama, TV channels keep their leadership for news and sport.