A report by the European Audiovisual Observatory has found that despite the imminent onset of Brexit, the UK is a main hub for TV channels and on-demand services targeting other national markets across the EU.
The report, Audiovisual Media in Europe: Localised, Targeting And Language Offers, examines the European audio-visual media landscape by looking at the origin of locally adapted, that is localised, services for linear and pay-on-demand TV.It looked at them from three complementary angles: localised services, reflecting a trend whereby an increasing number of services are adapted to different national markets either in the form of TV channels in different linguistic versions or pay-on-demand services with local language user interfaces to increase viewership and subscriber numbers; the effect services specifically targeting other countries have on national licensing regimes; the consumer perspective, concentrating on the various broadcasting languages of TV channels available to viewers in their home countries.
The report found a total of 61 different languages are being broadcast across the EU and that over two thirds of linear and pay-on-demand media services established in the EU, and targeting foreign markets, were concentrated in just three countries: the UK, Netherlands and Ireland for pay-on-demand services; and the UK, Czech Republic and France for TV channels. It also revealed that the UK plays an even greater part in the provision of localised services than the UK percentage of all audio-visual services established in the EU28.
The Observatory also found that at the end of 2017, a third of all audio-visual media services established in the EU28 existed as localised versions, representing a substantial weight in the overall market. The percentage of localised pay-on-demand services was somewhat higher (35%) than that of localised television channels (32%). In UK, the Czech Republic and France accounted for 61% of localised TV channels while 53% of localised pay-on-demand services were based in the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Localised services were more likely to be owned by large US media corporations than the average media service established in the EU28. Two thirds of EU-based service providers of localised TV channels and localised pay-on-demand services belonged to a US parent company. Considering the total service offer, the percentage of localised TV channels was just higher (68%) than that of localised pay-on-demand services (64%). The ratio was reversed when looking at all audio-visual services established in the EU: services split 2:1 for those with a European parent group and those with US ownership.
Audiovisual Media in Europe: Localised, Targeting And Language Offers also found that even though US services Amazon Prime, iTunes Store, Netflix and HBO Go accounted for only 13% of pay-on-demand services established in the EU28, they represented 38% of services when localised versions were considered. Similarly, while the top TV brands of US groups Discovery, 21st Century Fox, Viacom and AMC Networks accounted for just 5% of TV channels established in the EU28, they represented 15% among localised services.
