Download "Film and TV content in TVOD,
SVOD and FOD catalogues - 2022 Edition" 

Note: The word ‘European’ in this press release refers to data concerning the 46 Council of Europe Member Countries. 

Main findings:

• European works (films and TV seasons) made up 32% of all works found in VOD catalogues with EU27 works representing 21% of all works and other European works 11%. 
• EU27 works included in catalogues are mainly of non-national origin. Of all EU27 works in VOD catalogues, on average, 79% were of non-national origin in SVOD catalogues, 63% in TVOD and catalogues and 61% in FOD catalogues.
• TVOD catalogues had the largest overall number of works on average with 6 567 works (5 477 films and 1 090 TV seasons), followed by SVOD catalogues with 1 660 works on average (990 films and 670 TV seasons) and FOD catalogues with 1 002 works (823 films and 179 TV seasons).

This new report was authored by Christian Grece, TV and VOD Analyst within the Observatory’s Department for Market Information. The VOD catalogue data comes from JustWatch and covers 971 VOD catalogues for film data and 497 VOD catalogues for data on TV seasons.
This report was supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission.

• 32% of all works found in VOD catalogues are of European origin.

Origin of films and TV seasons found on VOD - Cumulated - TVOD, SVOD and FOD catalogues

Source: JustWatch (www.justwatch.com) 

• A higher share of European works in SVOD and TVOD catalogues, more international works in SVOD catalogues

SVOD and TVOD catalogues had a higher share of European works than FOD catalogues.

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Source: JustWatch (www.justwatch.com) 

• The highest share of national works out of EU27 works is found in FOD catalogues

SVOD and TVOD services rely more on EU non-national works for their EU27 film and TV seasons offering than FOD services.

Source: JustWatch catalogue data (www.justwatch.com) 

• EU27 works circulated the best among countries in SVOD catalogues

On average, a EU27 film was found in 5.2 countries in SVOD catalogues. On average, an EU27 origin TV season was found in 3 countries on SVOD, enhanced by the presence of several pan-European SVOD services in the sample. The lowest circulation for EU27 works was in FOD catalogues.

How to read these graphs: on average, a EU27 film available on TVOD is available in 4 countries
Source: JustWatch catalogue data (www.justwatch.com) 

Methodology:

• For film data, 169 TVOD catalogues, 673 SVOD catalogues and 129 FOD catalogues in 25 EU countries (No data on CY and LU) were analysed based on JustWatch catalogue data. The data was collected in September 2022 and the titles were matched through databases with their countries of production. The consistency of data is obtained by matching each entry of each catalogue with a unique original title.  
• For TV content, the analysis was based on JustWatch data from 391 SVOD catalogues and 58 FOD catalogues in 25 EU countries (No data on CY and LU) and on 48 TVOD catalogues in 13 EU countries (No data on BE, BG, CY, EE, GR, HR, HU, LU, LT, LV, MT, RO, SI and SK). The data was collected in September 2022 and the TV seasons were matched through databases with their countries of production.
• Four regions of origin are considered: “EU27” titles have an EU27 country as first production country. “Other European” titles have as a first production country a European country that is a member of the Council of Europe, “US” titles are from the United States of America and “Other region”/”Other international” designates titles from all other origins.  

 Link to other VOD reports

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This new report finds that:

• The median average budget of a European theatrical fiction film released in 2017 amounted to EUR 2.01 million.
• The two largest financing sources were clearly direct public funding and broadcaster investments, representing 26% and 24% of total financing respectively.
• The percentage share of direct public funding in film financing decreases with increasing market size and budget volume.

Based on the actual budget analysis of 576 European live-action fiction films released in 2017, this is probably the largest pan-European data sample available to date on the financing of European fiction films. This report is the fruit of a major collaboration project between the European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and the European Film Agency Research Network (EFARN). It was authored by Martin Kanzler, Deputy Head of the Observatory’s Department for Market Information.

The report aims at providing concrete figures on how European theatrical fiction films are being financed. This analysis offers a big-picture, pan-European perspective, and complements work done at national levels. It provides unique fact-based insights on a wide variety of research questions, from the quantification of the average budget of theatrical European fiction films, to the importance of individual financing sources.

Theatrical fiction budgets in Europe

The data sample studied [see methodological notes below] suggests that the average mean budget of a European theatrical fiction film released in 2017 represented EUR 3.21 million while the median sample budget amounted to EUR 2.01 million. However, average budgets differ widely among countries. Not surprisingly, average budgets are higher in larger markets and lower in countries with lower box-office potential, as exploitation in national markets remains key for most films. The median budget of a European fiction film originating in France, Germany, Italy, Poland or the UK (the large markets included in the sample) amounted to EUR 3.2 million in 2017 compared to EUR 1.5 million for fiction films produced in a medium-sized European market and EUR 0.9 million for fiction films from small markets.

Financing structures for theatrical fiction films in Europe

Categories and importance of film financing sources in Europe [2017]

(Source: European Audiovisual Observatory)

In 2017, the financing of European theatrical fiction films was primarily based on five different financing sources: direct public funding; broadcaster investment; producer investment; pre-sales; and fiscal incentives. The two most important financing sources clearly were direct public funding and broadcaster investment, which accounted for 26% and 24% of total financing, respectively.

However, there appear to be significant structural differences among countries concerning how theatrical fiction films are financed. Some of these differences are apparently linked to market size.

The two most obvious differences concern direct public funding and pre-sales. The data clearly suggests that the weight of direct public funding in film financing decreases with increasing market size and vice versa. While comprising only 21% of total financing in the five large sample markets, public funding accounted for 43% in medium-sized and 54% in small sample markets.

In contrast, the importance of pre-sales (other than those to broadcasters) as a financing source decreases with market size. Pre-sales tend to be most important in large markets, where they in 2017 accounted for 17%, compared to ‘only’ 10% in medium-sized and 6% in small sample markets.

Methodology

The analysis is based on a data sample comprising detailed financing plans for 576 European live-action fiction films - theatrically released in 2017 - from 24 European countries. The data sample includes both 100% national as well as European-majority-led co-productions. It covers a cumulative financing volume of EUR 1.85 billion. The data sample is estimated to cover 49% of the total number of European fiction films released in 2017.