Global online video services accounted for nearly a quarter of all spending on European original programming in 2022. However, this is mainly in addition to the spending of broadcasters, which have generally increased their overall investment in programming. Total spending on European works was up by 13% in 2022.

A report from the European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, provides an analysis of investments in programming made by online video services and broadcasting groups.

Total spending on European original works, excluding news and sports rights, amounted to €20.8 billion in 2022, up from €18.3 billion the previous year.

Global online video services increased their spending to €4.9 billion of that, accounting for 24% of all spending on European original programming in 2022, up from 16% the previous year. However, the growth may not continue, as some providers have indicated that they will limit their investment in programming outside the United States.

Netflix provided around 45% of spending by global online video services, although that was down from 58% in 2021, as other services, notably Amazon Prime, increased their investments in production.

Investment in original productions has not substituted broadcaster spending, which has continued to rise since the coronavirus pandemic. The increase has come mainly from private broadcasters.

Private broadcasters spent €8.6 billion on original programming, excluding news and sports, while public broadcasters spent €7.2 billion.

Original programming accounts for 35% of all broadcaster spending on programming, but sports rights represent the highest cost for private broadcasters and that grew significantly faster than any other category of programming.

The United Kingdom accounted for more spending that any country in Europe at €5.9 billion, representing 28% of spending across European countries. Germany followed at €4.0 billion, with France at €3.0 billion, and Spain at €1.8 billion.

The United Kingdom also accounted for more spending by global online video services than any other country, at €1.8 billion, double that of the next country, which was Spain.

The report uses a dataset from Ampere Analysis that analyses expenses for broadcasters and cash investments for global online video providers. As these are not directly comparable, this may overestimate the share of global online video providers in total spending.

The figures exclude the cost of news programming produced by broadcasters and programming acquisitions by services like Disney+, Paramount+ and HBO Max from their parent studios.

Audiovisual services spending on original European content: A 2012-2022 analysis is published by the European Audiovisual Observatory as is available from its web site.