29% of all European television channels are based in the United Kingdom, as are 27% of on-demand services. A new Brexit report from the European Audiovisual Observatory looks at the United Kingdom in the context of the audiovisual market in the European Union.
A recent Media Summits Brexit Stategy event produced by informitv outlined the issues involved for media companies based in the United Kingdom and exporting their services to the rest of Europe.
While the government has focussed on the implications for the trade of goods, there has been comparatively little consideration for services, particularly media services, including broadcasting.
With the prospect of a ‘no deal’ departure from the European Union, or a ‘bad deal’ without provision for media services, many media companies are making contingency plans.
The United Kingdom is, together with Germany, the largest audiovisual market in the European Union.
Although it accounts for only 12% of the television households in the European Union, the United Kingdom represents 21% of the audiovisual market of the 28 member states by value.
1,200 television channels out of just over 3,000 in the 28 member states are based in the United Kingdom, making it the main hub for television channels established in the European Union. That excludes local channels but includes language versions.
Close to 60% of all European channels targeting another country are established in the United Kingdom.
43% of the television channels established in the United Kingdom at the end of 2017 primarily target another country. That is a total of 514 channels established in the United Kingdom, aimed at the rest of Europe.
51% of on-demand services established in the United Kingdom primarily target another market. Close to 50% of all European on-demand services primarily targeting another country are established in the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom hosts three of the top 10 audiovisual groups, Sky, BBC, and ITV, as well as European subsidiaries of the major media groups from the United States.
Groups based in the United Kingdom account for 27% of the revenues of the top 100 audiovisual companies in the European Union, against 13% for Germany or France.
The United Kingdom ranks second, after France, for the number of film titles exported to other European Union member states in cinema and on television.
The United Kingdom also leads Europe, ahead of France, for the number of titles exported to other member states countries on transactional video services.
These figures are taken from a variety of reports and databases from the European Audiovisual Observatory. They support the importance of the United Kingdom for the European media market.
Previous work by informitv for the European Commission has investigated the television and online video market in Europe, demonstrating that the United Kingdom is by far the leading exporter of television channels.
While services licensed by the national communications regulator Ofcom are currently cleared for delivery to other member states, that will not necessarily be the case after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.
The report, Brexit in context: The UK in the context of the EU audiovisual market is available from the European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. It will be presented at its conference in Brussels on 29 November 2018: The impact of Brexit on the audiovisual industry: a European point of view.