"?Netflix is our main concurrent?", declared last June the Director General of the Syndicat national de l'édition (SNE) Pierre Dutilleul on the occasion of the publication of the SNE's activity report for 2018-2019.
For according to the Syndicat, the publishing market turnover in 2018 will fall by 4.38% compared to the previous year to 2.67 billion euros. As for the number of books sold, it fell from 430 million in 2017 to 419 million in 2018, a drop of 2.52%.
But if a few years ago some feared that digital books would replace paper books, today it is finally another rival that seems to be nibbling away at reading.
Indeed, although digital books continue to attract new readers, 95% of publishing revenues still come from printed books today. As for Netflix, that's another matter.
"?Au United Kingdom, where the video platform has ten million subscribers, sales of novels would have decreased by 9% in 2018?" The Institut de développement et d'expertise du plurimedia (Idep) reports in its annual report on the graphic communication markets.
For parents who are already used to reading, Netflix's hold can be put into perspective. But it is the children who are now the focus of attention. The proliferation of screens and hyperconnection from a very young age leads to fears of a decline in reading.
However, it is important to note that a significant portion of Netflix projects are adaptations, particularly of literary works. And sometimes the path is the opposite. For example, in June 2018, Random House purchased the rights to book adaptations of the Stranger Things
