Total investments in European original production amounted to €17.4 billion in 2021, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory’s brand-new report “Investments in original European content - 2011-2021 analysis.” Whereas the audiovisual sector in Europe was stable between 2011 and 2019, the share of revenues invested in original content grew since 2015.
According to the report, total investments in original European content sharply increased with the entry of the global streamers in the European market. These investments by streamers were accompanied by an interesting knock-on effect: facing new competition and new standards for TV shows, private broadcasters also increased their investments while public broadcasters faced budget constraints.
The report noted that global streamers’ investments did not substitute 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. Meanwhile, global streamers kept on increasing their investments during the pandemic, therefore levelling the decrease in investments by the broadcasters.
At the same time, the global streamers’ share of investments in European original content grew rapidly to 16% in 2021. Netflix accounts for more than half of the global streamers’ investments in European original content, down from 92% in 2019, as other streamers, notably Prime Video, increased their investments too.
The study also indicated that the comparison of the content investments between categories of players faces limits: the broadcasters’ costs associated to news are not available. Among the streamers, investments in acquisitions are only available for Netflix and Prime Video. Still, investments in sports rights explain to a large extent the differences between players: non-existant for global players, limited for public broadcasters, dominant for private broadcasters.
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