Description and scope of the project

One year of the COVID-19 Tracker

Although the crisis in the audiovisual sector caused by the pandemic is far from over, it is clear that the situation has moved on. The number of new types of measures implemented has been tracked since the beginning of the pandemic but has recently been reduced. We now observe mostly renewals or extensions of existing measures already tracked. 

The tracker project has, therefore, reached the end of its first phase. For the moment updates to the tracker have been halted while we prepare the next phase.

The tracker’s success

  • almost 1200 measures tracked, 
  • almost 9000 downloads from the Observatory's web page
  • huge interest aroused in the public space, 
  • data collected used as a basis for analytical studies on national responses to the crisis, notably by the European Parliament Research Services (EPRS), the European Commission and various professional networks (e.g. ERGA, EPRA, EFADs, EBU), 
  • data served as a basis for the Observatory legal report "The European Audiovisual Industry at the time of COVID-19" (IRIS Plus).

Background information

In March 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic caused the suspension of all cultural activities in most European countries bringing unprecedented challenges for the audiovisual sector.
Film shooting, cinemas entries and distribution channels were all impacted. As was the broadcasting sector. 
In response to this, support was put in place in many European countries to help professionals and companies through the crisis.

Among the various measures created:

  • the creation of new emergency schemes,
  • the postponement of payments, 
  • the relaxing of payment deadlines,
  • the creation of platforms,
  • individual support,
  • solidarity measures.

To facilitate access to information about these support measures, the Observatory created its COVID-19 Tracker at the beginning of the pandemic and updated it regularly over a 12-month period. The aim was to provide information on the different initiatives implemented in the 41 Observatory member states, as well as at EU and international level. The measures included in the COVID-19 Tracker are specific to the audiovisual sector and to the cultural and creative industries.

Information sources for this project

To allow for rapid, reliable and trustworthy data, the European Audiovisual Observatory is making use of its virtually unparalleled network of professional and institutional information sources throughout Europe:

The information provided by these networks has been complemented by the documentary research of the European Audiovisual Observatory and compiled into a searchable Excel table accessible to the public, downloadable from the Observatory's web page.

  • This free to download EXCEL table is available on the right of this page. 
  • There is also a link to our HTML table.

For further information about our COVID-19 tracking project, contact: info.obs[@]coe.int

COVID-19 audiovisual sector measures

Download the EXCEL tracker here 

Link to the HTML table here

  • Measures taken:  
        1162

  • Downloads:
      8718

  • Last update:  
        09/02/2021 

Help us with this project

Tracking these developments as they happen is work in progress, updated every Tuesday.
If you wish to inform us about any new measures, send an email to: info.obs[@]coe.int  with a link to further information. We’ll include them in our table. Also, if you see any incorrect information in our EXCEL table, contact us using the same email address.