The European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, has published a new edition of the report, Audiovisual fiction production in Europe – 2015-2024 figures.

The report analyses the volume of TV and SVoD fiction films and series produced in Europe, where they originate from, which ones are international co-productions, and who the main commissioners and producers are.

This new report finds that:

• In 2024, commissioning by streamers – the growth engine of fiction production – declined notably, by 7 per cent compared to the previous year.
• The overall downturn in TV fiction production in Europe continued for the second consecutive year. There was a 5 per cent drop in the number of fiction titles produced in 2024, as well as a three percent reduction in the number of episodes and a stagnation in the volume of hours produced.
• In 2024, public service broadcasters commissioned over half of all fiction titles produced in Europe (56 per cent), followed by private broadcasters (30 per cent) and global streamers (14 per cent).

The downturn in TV fiction production in Europe continues

This is the second consecutive year of an overall downturn in TV fiction production in Europe. In 2024, there was a five percent year-on-year drop in the number of fiction titles produced, as well as a 3 per cent reduction in the number of episodes and stagnation in the volume of hours. Commissioning by streamers – the growth engine of fiction production – declined notably, by seven percent compared to the previous year. After several years of significant growth, the number of fiction titles commissioned by streamers has been declining since 2023.

On average, over 1,200 titles, 23,000 episodes and 14,000 hours are produced in Europe each year. These are provisional figures. The term ‘title’ refers either to TV film titles or a TV series season. Animation is not included. Countries covered: EU27, the UK, Norway, and Switzerland.

While more than 2,000 production companies and groups produced at least one fiction title between 2015 and 2024, only 3 per cent of these did so every year for the last ten years. This high turnover rate can be attributed to the large number of new TV series: on average, first seasons accounted for over half (54 per cent) of all seasons produced each year during this period.

Despite the downturn, some of the fundamental characteristics of TV fiction production in Europe remained unchanged. Telenovelas and soaps accounted for the bulk (60 per cent) of hours produced. Furthermore, more than half (52 per cent) of all titles produced were series with 13-episodes-or-less-per-season.

The structure of fiction production varies between leading countries

Germany, Greece and Poland were the leaders in terms of volume of hours produced, with large volumes of telenovelas and soaps being produced each year. Spain, the United Kingdom, France and Portugal also produce significant quantities of these fiction formats.

The United Kingdom is the leading producer of series with 13-episodes-or-less-per-season, ahead of France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Between 2015 and 2024, almost half (48 per cent) of all TV fiction commissioned by streaming services was produced in just three countries: Spain (17 per cent), the UK (16 per cent) and Poland (15 per cent). These countries benefited the most from the additional investment by streaming services.

The top producers of TV fiction titles in 2024 were the ARD, the RTL Group, the Banijay Group, the Mediawan-Leonine Alliance, and the ZDF.

Public broadcasters commissioned 56% of titles and 35% of hours produced

In 2024, public service broadcasters commissioned over half of all fiction titles produced in Europe (56 per cent), followed by private broadcasters (30 per cent) and global streamers (14%). However, private broadcasters tend to attribute a bigger share of their commissions to daily soaps and telenovelas, resulting in a higher volume of hours produced (59%) than public service broadcasters (35 per cent) and global streamers (6 per cent).

Co-productions accounted for 9 per cent of all TV fiction titles produced in Europe in 2024. On average, over 100 TV fiction co-productions are produced in Europe each year, almost exclusively consisting of high-end TV series and TV films.

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Categories: Content, Headline, Production, Research

Tags: Drama, European Audiovisual Observatory, production, RTL, svod