France's legal video-on-demand platforms now offer nearly 5,000 feature films for rental or purchase, up 18.2% from 2008, according to industry research body Observatoire de la Video and national film centre CNC.

Of the eight platforms considered, five offered more than 1,000 films at the end of 2009, compared to three one year previously.  The volume of French and US movies grew by 23.7% and 7.9% respectively, the research adds.  The number of new films (12 months or less since cinema release) reached 179 in December 2009, compared to 103 in December 2008.

The French video-on-demand market grew by 57.7% last year to generate revenues of an estimated €82.4mn, according to NPA-GfK.  In 2009, 64.9% of VOD revenues were generated by films, followed by adult content with 30.4%.  In the film category, US films took 58.6%, followed by French films with 30.9%, and others with 10.5%.