Mumbai: The global streamers’ share of investments in European original content grew rapidly to 16 per cent in 2021. Netflix accounts for more than half (56%) of the global streamers’ investments in European original content, down from 92 per cent in 2019, as other streamers, notably Amazon Prime, increased their investments.

A new report, ‘Investments in original European content—2011–2021 analysis,’ has been published by the European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The report is based on data from Ampere Analysis. In 2021, private broadcasters accounted for 43 per cent of investments in European original content, slightly ahead of public broadcasters’ 41 per cent. Within the 16 per cent, Netflix claimed nine per cent, Amazon Prime four per cent, Disney+ two per cent and HBO Max one per cent.

The report analyses the evolution of financing of original European content by broadcasters and global streamers since 2011. In the report, “original content” refers to all categories of original works (fiction, documentaries, game shows, talk shows, etc.). “European” refers to the EU27 + UK + Norway.

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Streamers’ investments have increased both for acquisitions and original content. However, investments in original content have grown faster than acquisitions and now account for the majority of content investments in Europe since 2020.

Total investments in original European content have sharply increased with the entry of the global streamers into the European market. These investments by streamers were accompanied by a knock-on effect: they faced new competition and new standards for TV shows. Private broadcasters also increased their investments while public broadcasters faced budget constraints. 

The increase in investments in original European content by global streamers has chiefly benefited Spain, and to a lesser extent, the UK. Spain’s economy therefore relies strongly on global streamers, whose investments account for 38 per cent of all investments. The comparatively low level of investment by the public broadcasters in Spain is compensated to an extent by the above-the-average investments of global streamers in the country. Germany and France appear to be lagging behind in their ability to capture global streamers’ investments.

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The report’s other key findings are:

• Whereas the audio-visual sector in Europe was stable between 2011 and 2019, the share of revenues invested in original content has grown since 2015. But global streamers’ investments did not substitute for broadcasters’ investments.
• On the contrary, broadcasters increased their investments, at least until the pandemic, faster than before the entry of the global streamers on the European market.
• Global streamers kept on increasing their investments during the pandemic, therefore offsetting the decrease in investments by the broadcasters.
• The comparison of the content investments between categories of players faces limits: the broadcasters’ costs associated with the news are not available; among the streamers, investments in acquisitions are only available for Netflix and Amazon Prime.
• In the case of Netflix and Amazon Prime, 54 per cent of their content investment was in originals and 46 per cent in acquired films and TV.
• Nonetheless, investments in sports rights explain a large portion of the differences between players: none for global players, limited for public broadcasters, and dominant for private broadcasters.
• Private broadcasters significantly increased their investments in original content, even though sports rights costs were experiencing strong growth.
• In turn, public broadcasters’ investments have likely been limited by stagnating resources.