💶 TF1+ Tests Micropayments

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Yann Colleter

Sep 05, 2025

This week, I cover TF1+ testing micropayments for streaming, Dubai launching a $1M AI film prize with Google Gemini, and CANAL+ looking to buy into French cinema group UGC.

💶 TF1+ Launches Micropayments in Streaming

👉 TF1+ now lets users make small in-app purchases starting at €0.69, a first in the streaming world.

📍 Viewers can pay per episode or program to:

Watch ad-free.
Unlock early access to episodes.
Get extra content around big shows like Star Academy.

💡 This new model gives users more choice, free with ads, or pay only for what they want. It’s inspired by mobile gaming, where micropayments drive a third of revenues. For TF1+, it’s a way to fund premium content while standing out from global SVOD giants.

🎥 Dubai & Google Gemini Launch $1M AI Film Prize

👉 Dubai has announced a $1 million award for short films created entirely with AI, in partnership with Google Gemini, as part of the 1 Billion Followers Summit.

📍 The top 10 films will be screened at the 2026 edition (Jan 9–11 in Dubai), with judging based on creativity, storytelling, technical execution, and humanitarian themes.

💡 This is one of the world’s biggest AI film competitions, reinforcing the UAE’s push to lead the global “content economy” and spotlighting how AI could reshape the future of filmmaking.

1 Billion Followers Summit 2025 in Dubai Tickets, 2025 Event - Platinumlist.net

🎬 CANAL+ in Talks to Take Stake in UGC

What happened?

👉 CANAL+ is in talks to buy a 34% share in UGC, one of France’s biggest cinema chains. The deal could let CANAL+ take full control in 2028.

Key details:

UGC runs 55 cinemas (48 in France, 7 in Belgium), including UGC Ciné Cité Les Halles in Paris, the most visited cinema in the world.
Its catalogue features iconic French hits like Amélie and Qu’est-ce qu’on a fait au Bon Dieu, plus international TV successes like HPI.
CANAL+ already owns StudioCanal, Europe’s largest film & TV studio, producing 200 films and 80 series a year.

Why it matters?

🎯 This deal would make CANAL+ even stronger across cinema, TV, and streaming and give UGC more power to compete with global players.

📺 NEWS: Shahid & FCCE Launch Short-Form Feed

Shahid has teamed up with Amsterdam-based FCCE to launch a daily feed of short-form news and entertainment, aimed at mobile-first audiences.

For Shahid, this move is about tapping into the fast-growing short-form trend and keeping younger viewers engaged with fresh, frequent updates.

⚽ SPORTS: Saudi Pro League Extends Global Rights with IMG

The Saudi Pro League has renewed its deal with IMG to distribute international media rights for the Roshn Saudi League over the next four years.

Since 2023, IMG has brought RSL matches to 184 countries across 43 platforms, with partners like ESPN, DAZN, Movistar, FOX Sports, Globo, and Sportitalia.

📱 MICROSTREAMING: FlareFlow Cracks U.S. Top 5

Micro-drama app FlareFlow has jumped into the Top 5 Entertainment Apps on Google Play in the U.S. and Top 8 on iOS, reaching over 10M downloads across 177 countries since its April launch.

Backed by COL Group, FlareFlow plans 100 originals in 2025 and 180 in 2026, fueled by AI tools and hundreds of monthly content experiments.

🎨 AI: Animation Industry Split Over Generative AI

A new Luminate report shows the animation world is divided on generative AI. Supporters see faster, cheaper production, while many artists warn it threatens creativity, copyright, and jobs.

Animation is still one of streaming’s strongest genres: 76% of Netflix users watch it, and anime fans are among the most loyal, with nearly one in three seeing three or more anime films in theaters in just three months.

⚖️ AI: Warner Bros. Sues Midjourney Over Copyright

Warner Bros. has sued Midjourney, saying the AI platform creates unauthorized images and videos of characters like Superman, Batman, Bugs Bunny, and Tom & Jerry. The case follows similar lawsuits from Disney and Universal.

WB argues Midjourney removed protections and is profiting from piracy, while Midjourney claims training on copyrighted works is “fair use.” Its new video and 24/7 streaming services have only added to Hollywood’s concerns.

🎬 VENICE: Hind Rajab Film Sets Record Ovation

The Voice of Hind Rajab made history at the Venice Film Festival with a 23-minute standing ovation, the longest ever at the event. The film, based on the true story of six-year-old Hind Rajab killed in Gaza in 2024, left the audience in tears, with Palestinian flags raised and chants of “Free Palestine.”

Executive producers Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara joined the team on the red carpet, holding Hind’s photo. The film uses real testimonies and Hind’s final audio recording, which Ben Hania described as a way to keep her voice and memory alive through cinema.

🇳🇱 AMSTERDAM: My First Time at IBC

I’ll be at IBC 2025, hosted by White Peaks Solutions at Booth 2.C41b.

I’ll share daily highlights with The Streaming Lab readers on the latest tech trends, and I’ll also present my new LinkedIn Bootcamp for media tech companies, built to help sales teams grow visibility, build trust, and get better results.

DM me on LinkedIn if you’d like to meet.

🏀 Mind The Game (Prime Video, 16 episodes): Mind the Game: Season 2 is about celebrating this beautiful game of basketball with two of the most hardworking and brilliant people in basketball — LeBron James and his new co-host, 2X NBA MVP, Steve Nash.

🎶 Highest 2 Lowest from Spike Lee, Evan Hunter and William Alan Fox (Apple TV+): When a titan music mogul, widely known as having the "best ears in the business", is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma.

🏍️ 17 years ago, Sons of Anarchy roared onto FX. Created by Kurt Sutter, the drama followed Jackson “Jax” Teller and the outlaw motorcycle club SAMCRO as they navigated loyalty, crime, and family in the fictional town of Charming, California. Known for its gritty storytelling, explosive action, and Shakespearean themes, the series became a cultural touchstone and one of FX’s most acclaimed shows of the late 2000s.