Press Release Strasbourg, 24 March 2009 American fiction is still overwhelmingly dominant on European television screens but is giving way to nationally produced fiction		Yearbook
		Volume 2 Trends in European televison

American fiction is still overwhelmingly dominant on European television screens but is on the decline. This is one of the many trends highlighted in Volume 2 of the European Audiovisual Observatory’s Yearbook “Trends in European television”, which has just been published.

The proportion of European fiction is increasing

The origin of fiction programmes (TV series, TV films, feature films, short films, animated films) broadcast by 124 channels in 13 European countries has been analysed on behalf of the Observatory by the company Infomedia. In 2007, these channels broadcast a total of 505,967 hours of fiction.

The proportion of European fiction (all formats) was 39.1%, compared with 37.6% in 2006 and 36.1% in 2005. The total amount of European fiction broadcast can be broken down into national fiction (14.7%), non-national European fiction (10.4%), inter-European co-productions (4.3%) and European co-productions with third countries. There was a significant increase in the share of national fiction (15.5% against 14% in 2006), to the detriment of non-national European fiction (10.1% against 10.9% in 2006). The share held by inter-European co-productions was stable (4.4% against 4.5% in 2006), while that of European co-productions with third countries grew significantly (9.1% against 8.1% in 2006). The proportion of non-European programmes in schedules (all genres combined) declined to 60.9% (compared with 62.4% in 2006 and 63.9% in 2005).

The public channels broadcast less fiction but offer the most European programmes

Both feature-length and short films circulate better in Europe than the other formats

The circulation of European works outside their national markets has continued to improve. The number of hours of non-national European programmes (including co-productions) accounted for 23.7% of the fiction broadcast in 2007. This proportion was 23.6% compared with 23.4% in 2006. European co-productions (including co-productions with third countries) had a significant share of this circulation as they accounted for 13.4% of those available, whereas imported 100%-national fiction only accounted for 10.4%. A significant proportion of co-productions consisted of animated and feature-length films, with co-productions in these two formats accounting for 23.2% and 21.7% respectively of the films available. The proportion of European co-produced series and soap operas was not very high (3.5% of the programmes available in this segment). Conversely, short films and, to a lesser extent, European television films were still the national formats with a significant circulation: the proportion of imported European works accounted for 33.1% and 15.1% of those available respectively.

American programmes still make up the majority in the case of series and soap operas (59.5% of those available) and films (55.7%). They also dominate the television film and animated film segments (49.3% and 45.4% respectively). Third countries other than the United States obtain their best market shares in the fields of short films (13.1%) and animated films (12.5%).

Differences in programming according to country

The proportions also vary considerably according to the countries examined. This is due to the different levels of development in the industry depending on the sector concerned, the extent of support policies or the impact of legislation. In France, for example, the proportion of hours of European programmes is much higher than the average for the 15 countries, whatever the format. For all formats, it was 56.5% of the fiction works broadcast in 2007.

In 2007, the proportion of European fiction broadcast by the channels of three countries was between 40 and 50%: Finland (49.7%), Switzerland (44.3%) and the Netherlands (43.9%). In 9 countries it was between 30 and 40%. The channels of three countries broadcast less than 30%: Sweden (29.3%), Denmark (19%) and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (0.5%).

The channels of the big countries are evidently those in a position to provide large volumes of national works (France 28.2%, United Kingdom 19.4%, Spain 18.3%, Italy 14.9%, Germany 13.4%). On the other hand, the small countries usually have better proportions of non-national European works (including co-productions): 41.6% in Switzerland, 41% in Finland, 38.4% in Belgium’s French Community, 33.4% in Ireland and 32.2% in Austria.

Methodology

The above overview has been produced by the European Audiovisual Observatory on the basis of detailed data gathered for 2005-2007 by the company Infomedia on the origin of fiction programmes broadcast by 124 channels in 13 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The sample was compiled by the Observatory on the basis of its significance for each country analysed: all the important public channels and all the important channels funded by advertising are included. We were forced to be selective with regard to film and special-interest channels but have taken care to choose the most relevant channels in terms of their market position.

Also published in the Yearbook are data relating to Spain and Luxembourg for 2007 gathered by Infomedia and data limited to imported fiction programmes – drawn up by the company ETS for 26 channels in 5 other European countries (Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal).

Journalists, please contact:
Alison Hindhaugh, Information and Press Officer, tel.: (00 33) (0) 3 90 21 60 10 - alison.hindhaugh@coe.int

For further information on the content of Volume 2, please contact André Lange, Head of the Department for Information on Markets and Financing.

The European Audiovisual Observatory Set up in December 1992, the European Audiovisual Observatory's mission is to gather and distribute information on the audiovisual industry in Europe. The Observatory is a European public service body comprised of 37 member states and the European Union, represented by the European Commission. It operates within the legal framework of the Council of Europe and works alongside a number of partner and professional organisations from within the industry and with a network of correspondents. In addition to contributions to conferences, other major activities are the publication of a Yearbook, newsletters and reports, the compilation and management of databases and the provision of information through the Observatory’s Internet site (http://www.obs.coe.int).