European Commission Directorate-General Communication

Press Release Strasbourg, 15 October 2008 Over 6,500 TV channels available in the European Union and candidate countries (Croatia and Turkey)  in 2008
		MAVISE

As this year's MIPCOM reaches its halfway mark, the European Audiovisual Observatory announced its latest figures on the European TV markets in 29 countries. This data comes from the Observatory's MAVISE database (http://mavise.obs.coe.int), created in 2007 for the DG Communication of the European Commission.

The Strasbourg-based Observatory announced that, as of the 15 October, the estimated supply of TV channels in 27 EU markets + Croatia and Turkey was as follows:

The Observatory estimates that around 6500 channels are currently available to EU audiences. The database MAVISE currently identifies 5068 active channels. The Observatory's survey of  local television channels is still ongoing: a further estimated 1,500 small local channels are active in European markets and will be progressively added to the database. Of the 5068 channels identified in MAVISE, 4663 channels are established in one of the 27 EU countries or in the two candidate countries (Croatia and Turkey), and 405 originate from third countries.

Of the 4663 European channels already in the MAVISE database, this includes:

• 381 nationwide terrestrial channels (with an analogue and/or digital national licence),
• 2473 nationwide channels accessible through cable, satellite or IPTV (656 of those channels are established in one country and target one or more other countries),
• 1809 regional and local channels (including windows).

The UK is the country with the highest number of established TV channels

The Observatory's analysis of the breakdown of channels (local channels excluded) according to country of establishment shows that the UK is by far the country with the highest number of channels : 883 compared with 300 in Germany, 284 in Italy, 252 in France and 199 in Spain. The UK's leading position can be explained not only by the large number of thematic channels intended for the national market but also by the considerable number of channels established in the UK and targeting other European countries.

Source : European Audiovisual Observatory / MAVISE

Film and sport are the favourite genres for thematic channels

The MAVISE database also allows a statistical analysis of the range of channels available by genre. Among the channels available in Europe in 2008, generalist channels offering a mixture of different programme genres still represent the largest category: 376 channels of this kind are available.

Film channels represent the largest genre of thematic TV channels (333 channels), followed by sports channels (324 channels), entertainment channels (269 channels), and music channels (238 channels).

There are also 201 news and business channels, 189 children's channels, 135 documentary channels, 110 lifestyle channels, 103 home-shopping channels,  69 cultural/educational channels, and 26 travel channels on the market.

Source : European Audiovisual Observatory / MAVISE

MAVISE is a free online database unique in its kind, developed by the European Audiovisual Observatory for the DG Communication of the European Commission. It provides a full overview of all EU television markets plus Croatia and Turkey. Mavise contains detailed information on over 4,000 TV companies, as well as the line-ups of more than 150 DTT, cable, satellite, IPTV or DVB-H packagers.

MAVISE offers a  wide range of sophisticated search possibilities of TV channels according to criteria such as genre, geographical coverage, language, specific target audience.

The MAVISE database is available at http://mavise.obs.coe.int

Methodological note In a constantly changing television landscape we realise that no figure can be absolute. However, the research and resulting data provided by the European Audiovisual Observatory can be regarded as a fairly reliable overview of the European television market. MAVISE and the data it contains are constantly being up-dated to follow as closely as possible the developments of this extremely complex market. Furthermore, please note that different linguistic versions of a TV channel are considered as separate channels. The identification of existing TV channels is done by comparing data provided by various sources such as the lists of licences issued by regulatory authorities, the line-ups of satellites (as provided by Lyngsat website),  the line-ups of cable, IPTV, DTT and DVB-H operators (as published on their websites), the Observatory's network of correspondents and the trade press.

• For the DG Communication of the European Commission: Dr Thierry Vissol, Counsellor - thierry.vissol@ec.europa.eu
• Journalists, please contact:
  Alison Hindhaugh, Information and Press Officer, tel.: (00 33) (0) 3 88 14 44 10 -E-mail: alison.hindhaugh@coe.int

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The Directorate-General Communication of the European Commission The mission of the Directorate-General Communication is to : provide the citizens of the 27 countries of the European Union with information on EU policy and their direct implications for the citizens, by using all appropriate means (e.g. the web portal Europa, EuTube and the Europe Direct network) promote the increase of media coverage of European questions - in all editorial independence - in particular by the audiovisual media in order to contribute to the development of a European public sphere for democratic debate. In order to achieve this, the Commission provides broadcasters with sound and image elements, both live or from the archives, as well as technical means thanks to the following resources: "Europe by Satellite", a web portal, thematic collections of images on current topics, audiovisual archives on Europe (www.ec.europa.eu/avservices), and a calendar of Eu events. Furthermore, it contributes, via financial support, to the development of European radio and TV networks by initiating programmes which cover European issues. The European Commission supports media pluralism and editorial independence.

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).