Download “Adaptations in audiovisual fiction production in Europe - 2023 figures”

A new report “Adaptations in audiovisual fiction production in Europe – 2023 figures” has just been published by the European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. The report analyses adaptations in European audiovisual fiction production between 2015 and 2023. Its aim is to provide figures and context on the production of audiovisual content in Europe.

This new report finds that:

• Over 160 titles and more than 1 400 hours of audiovisual fiction adaptations are produced in Europe each year (The term “title” refers to either a TV film or a TV season. Each TV season of a series counts as one title.)
• 14% of all audiovisual fiction works produced in Europe between 2015-2023 were adaptations. 
• 88% of European TV and SVOD fiction adaptations are based on original works from Europe.
   

The majority of European fiction adaptations are based on original works from Europe

88% of European TV and SVOD fiction adaptations are based on original works from Europe. More than half of them come from the United Kingdom (23%), Germany (17%), France (10%), and Spain (7%). Around one in ten (12%) of all European audiovisual fiction adaptations are based on non-European works, 6% of which originate from the US.

Adaptations have become a staple of European audiovisual fiction production. 14% of all audiovisual fiction works produced in Europe between 2015 and 2023 were adaptations - the equivalent of 1 524 TV film and TV series adaptations. On average, over 160 titles and more than 1 400 hours of audiovisual fiction adaptations are produced each year in Europe.

Streamers offer more adaptations

Compared to broadcasters, streamers rely more on adaptations. Between 2021 and 2023, their share of adaptations with regards to their total original fiction production was higher (20%) than that of private (15%) and public broadcasters (11%).

Public service broadcasters in major markets and Netflix are the top commissioners of audiovisual fiction adaptations. The BBC, ZDF, Netflix, ARD and France Télévisions have each commissioned more than 100 adaptations between 2015 and 2023.

Most fiction adaptations are based on books and TV series

Most audiovisual fiction adaptations are based on books (74%) and TV series (19%). Crime and detective novels are the most frequently adapted books. British icon Agatha Christie and Austrian author Claudia Rossbacher lead the way with ten adaptations each between 2015 and 2023.

The number of book adaptations decreased by 13% from 2022 to 2023. This decrease is mainly driven by the overall decrease in European audiovisual fiction production of minus 6 percent.

The majority of audiovisual fiction adaptations based on books are works first published after the year 2000 (68%). Adapted books first published in the 20th century accounted for 28% and pre-20th -century books represented 4%.

Books used for audiovisual fiction adaptations are mainly national while TV series are mainly international. For books, the country of origin is the same as the country of production in four out of five cases (82%). For TV series, the country of origin is different from the country of production in nine out of ten cases (92%).

The Norwegian TV series “SKAM” and the British TV series “Liar” have the highest number of remakes in six European countries each. Other popular adapted TV series include Israeli בטיפול / BeTipul (In Therapy) with five European remakes and Belgian Professor T. with remakes in four European countries.

The United Kingdom has the highest share of adaptations with regards to UK produced works of audiovisual fiction (25%), followed by Italy (19%), Sweden and France (18% each), Spain (17%) and Poland (15%).