“Who watches Salto?”, “Who pays for free replays?”, “Paying for Guardian Angel Josephine Where Camping Paradiseno, thanks”. Whether it was when it was announced in 2019, when it was launched in 2020, and to this day, the Salto platform has suffered a lot of ridicule, both from netizens and from the competition.
But at a time when the platform is playing for survival -with the recent disassociation of TF1 and M6- the tongues are loosened, the masks fall: behind the criticism are also hidden the true fans of the Jump -the platform would today between 800,000 and 900,000 subscribers-.
Some are satisfied with the proposed offer, others are disappointed to see that the catalog is reduced every month. A little immersion among these “French Netflix” fans.
The charm of the preview
One of Salto’s main strengths is the possibility of watching your favorite programs in advance, whether they are series, entertainment or reality shows. An advantage underlined by many subscribers that Tech & Co has questioned.
Kelly, for example, signed up for a subscription six months ago, following an advantageous offer offered by the online sales site Veepee. “My attraction to Salto began with the desire to see episodes of married at first sight in M6 in advance, then those of thelove is in the meadow. This allows me today to watch a few series in one go and then the reruns of the star academy“says this 29-year-old pharmacist.
For her part, Aude continues to look forward to her favorite daily series, tomorrow belongs to us a here everything begins going through the fire life is more beautiful. But this 39-year-old woman looking for work continues to appreciate the catalog that Salto offers in terms of movies. “The cinema offer is renewed every month and it is very interesting. For such a low price (the monthly subscription is 7.99 euros), I find that the Salto catalog is very extensive”, Aude is satisfied.
Regardless, most users use Salto quite regularly, at least once or several times a week, and often in addition to other streaming platforms, especially Netflix.
“If I disappeared, I would recover”
Some Salto users are also taking advantage of the platform as a comprehensive way to consume TV programming. Nicolas, a 23-year-old production assistant, for example, fell in love with the subscription to the French platform just over a year ago.
“What pushed me to use Salto was above all being able to watch live and go back to the beginning of a program that I missed at the beginning. I don’t have a television, so Salto allowed me to have both access to Group TF1 and M6. It’s totally profitable in my case”, assures the young man.
But with the announced cancellation of the programs of the two private groups, interest in subscribing to Salto has gradually weakened. “If there is only France TV in Salto, I would go directly to Pluzz because it is free. If Salto disappeared, I would get over it, but I liked this idea of centralizing everything in the same place so as not to multiply the applications ” Kelly confesses.
Same story for many other subscribers, who can’t imagine continuing to pay for a free service elsewhere. “I will continue to see Salto if the film offer is still relevant, otherwise I will suspend my subscription,” admits Aude. But Salto can still count on some series and documentaries, French or foreign, available only on its platform, such as the meetings between the actors of Friends or Harry Potter, which gave a lot of talk when they came out.
An overly competitive market
What Salto now lacks is therefore its catalog considered too weak compared to competitors, starting with MyTF1 Max and 6play Max, the two platforms for private groups that jumped ship from Salto a few weeks ago. Each one offered at 2.99 euros per month, they have become the main competition in Salto.
However, it is not enough to seduce certain subscribers in the long term. Kelly and Nicolas had subscribed to MyTF1 Max for the past few months, but only to watch the 24/7 live stream. star academy. Just finished the TF1 hitch, the two viewers quickly terminated their subscription, due to lack of interest in paying for this platform.
“The current public (especially the generation of 2000/2010) almost no longer watches television due to the arrival of all these streaming platforms. They will not be attracted to the paid content of TF1 or M6 that they can already have for free ”, Elodie, another Salto subscriber, advances as an explanation when asked the reasons for the failure of Salto and his colleagues.
“I wasn’t doomed, but I didn’t expect it to be the hit of the year,” adds the young woman. “The market is hyper-competitive. People may have found it outdated and prefer to watch the replay directly on the channel’s website so as not to pay an additional subscription,” Nicolás emphasizes again.
The future of Salto is expected in the coming months
One of the other weak points of Jump, and what has made it a source of ridicule for so long, is the platform’s very Franco-French (albeit vindicated) content. “People haven’t signed up because most prefer to watch foreign shows,” says Aude, who plans to subscribe to MyTF1 Max and 6play Max after an in-depth price analysis.
The TF1 and M6 programs are still available in Salto, waiting for the adventures between the three musketeers of French streaming to continue. A decision on the future of Salto is expected to be made in the coming months.
Until this possible change of ownership or total stoppage, fans of Salto still have a few hours to see Marseille in Dubai, Fort Boyard Y captain marleau in front of them.
Source: BFM TV
