PARIS: According to a recent study by Syndicat des Producteurs Français d’Animation (SPFA), a French animation producers association, French animation companies have finally become the main suppliers of animated programs in that country. French animated shows make up 45 percent of programs aired, followed by American programming at 33 percent and Japanese at seven percent. European productions represent 60 percent of all animated programming shown on French TV.

To date, the catalogue of animated French programs totals approximately 130,000 minutes, which has been helped along by publicly funded institutions such as the Centre National de la Cinémagraphie (CNC). It is estimated that the CNC has contributed approximately FF1.1 billion (US$185.5 million) and almost 18,000 minutes of programming since the early 1980s.

Among French channels, France 3 is the leading investor in animated programming (33 percent of the market), followed by TF1 (20 percent), France 2 (17 percent) and M6 (13 percent).