European high-end fiction series: State of play and trends This report was prepared with the support of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. If you wish to reproduce tables or graphs contained in this publication, please contact the European Audiovisual Observatory for prior approval. The analysis presented in this publication cannot in any way be considered as representing the point of view of the European Audiovisual Observatory, its members or the Council of Europe. The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. European high-end fiction series: State of play and trends Gilles Fontaine Marta Jiménez Pumares Table of contents Executive summary .................................................................................................. 1 Scope and methodology .......................................................................................... 5 1. Setting the scene in figures ............................................................................. 8 1.1. The production of high-end fiction series in the European Union .................................................................... 8 1.1.1. The UK is the primary producer of high-end series in Europe ................................................... 10 1.1.2. International co-productions: small but growing ........................................................................... 11 1.1.3. Commissioners of high-end series ....................................................................................................... 12 1.2. High-end fiction series on VOD in Europe ............................................................................................................... 12 1.2.1. Availability of high-end series on VOD ............................................................................................... 12 1.2.2. Circulation of high-end fiction series on VOD in Europe ............................................................. 14 1.2.3. Exports on VOD outside the EU ............................................................................................................. 21 2. High-end fiction series momentum ............................................................... 31 2.1. Looking back: the early days of internationalisation ........................................................................................... 31 2.1.1. Early (co-)production success stories .................................................................................................. 31 2.1.2. The UK export force: a long tradition in drama .............................................................................. 32 2.1.3. Scandinavian crime fiction ...................................................................................................................... 32 2.2. The push for high-end European series .................................................................................................................... 33 2.2.1. A view from the US: the TV peak? ........................................................................................................ 33 2.2.2. European broadcasters challenged ...................................................................................................... 34 2.2.3. Increased focus of US SVOD services on original production .................................................... 37 2.2.4. European SVOD services join the race ................................................................................................ 42 2.2.5. Original local European content as a key differentiator .............................................................. 43 2.2.6. Focus on original content in Scandinavia .......................................................................................... 44 2.3. Trends in the volume of high-end series ................................................................................................................. 47 2.3.1. Increase in the number of titles and hours produced ................................................................... 47 2.3.2. High rotation rate ....................................................................................................................................... 48 2.3.3. A reallocation of formats ......................................................................................................................... 49 2.4. Case study: the Spanish boom ..................................................................................................................................... 50 2.4.1. Local players ................................................................................................................................................. 51 2.4.2. Movistar+ ....................................................................................................................................................... 53 2.4.3. The US studio model: The Mediapro Studios ................................................................................... 54 2.4.4. Madrid: production hub for global platforms ................................................................................... 54 2.4.5. Professional opportunity .......................................................................................................................... 55 2.5. Case study: how the UK fiction industry is reacting to market (r)evolutions ............................................. 55 2.5.1. Platforms in the UK: subscribers and revenues ............................................................................... 56 2.5.2. Local original production ......................................................................................................................... 58 2.5.3. Commercial players moving too: focus on Sky ................................................................................ 60 3. How is the European fiction industry adapting? .......................................... 61 3.1. Are budgets increasing? ................................................................................................................................................. 61 3.1.1. Qualitative insights on production budgets ..................................................................................... 61 3.1.2. Increases in budgets should not be overestimated ....................................................................... 62 3.1.3. Coping with the increase of budgets ................................................................................................... 63 3.1.4. Beyond production budgets: marketing power................................................................................ 66 3.2. What role for the producer? .......................................................................................................................................... 67 3.2.1. Exploiting the rights vs. servicing company ..................................................................................... 67 3.2.2. Distributors playing (co-)producers ...................................................................................................... 68 3.2.3. Third-party investment by private equity investors ....................................................................... 68 3.3. The industry structure: consolidation, co-productions, coopetition .............................................................. 69 3.3.1. Consolidation in the production sector? ............................................................................................ 69 3.3.2. What role for co-productions? ............................................................................................................... 71 3.4. A competition for talent? ............................................................................................................................................... 75 3.4.1. Snapshot of directors and screenwriters of high-end European series .................................. 75 3.4.2. Writers, showrunners and other creators ........................................................................................... 79 3.4.3. The battle for talent .................................................................................................................................. 80 3.4.4. Internationalisation of working opportunities ................................................................................. 82 Figures Figure 1. Volume of 2-13 episode series produced in Europe, 2015-2018 ......................................................................................... 9 Figure 2. High-end series (2-13 episodes) vs. total AV fiction production, 2015-2018 ................................................................. 9 Figure 3. Number of TV seasons by country of origin (average 2015-2018) ................................................................................... 11 Figure 4. Share of EU28 cumulated series titles, seasons and episodes on SVOD and TVOD, October 2019, in % ........ 13 Figure 5. Share of EU28 non-national and national cumulated titles on SVOD and TVOD, October 2019,in % .............. 14 Figure 6. Circulation in average number of catalogues and countries of availability, looking at services’ ownership, on SVOD