Television Fiction in Europe Eurofiction 2002 Sixth edition Please note: The following report is a comprehensive analysis of fiction programmes scheduled in European TVs in 2001. The European Audiovisual Observatory could not publish anymore such a report for the following years. However, in the framework of its Yearbook, Film, Television and Video in Europe, Chapter “Programming”, the Observatory published for all the following years a statistical analysis of fiction programming in most of the European television markets. Milly Buonanno (editor) October 2002 Edited by Milly BUONANNO, EUROFICTION, Television Fiction in Europe, Report 2002 Sixth edition, European Audiovisual Observatory, Strasbourg, October 2002 ISBN 92-871-5028-1 The Eurofiction project team is coordinated by the Hypercampo Foundation, partner organisation of the European Audiovisual Observatory and comprises of: Italy University of Firenze Fondazione Hypercampo Osservatorio sulla Fiction Italiana (OFI) France Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA) Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA) Germany Universität Siegen Spain Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB) Corporación Multimedia y TVC United Kingdom British Film Institute (BFI) Director of Publication Wolfgang Closs, Executive Director of the European Audiovisual Observatory [email protected] Liaison Officer with Partner Organisation André Lange, Expert – Information on Markets and Funding andré[email protected] Marketing Markus Booms, Marketing Officer [email protected] Translators/Revisers France Courrèges, Paul Green, Erwin Rohwer, Ann Stedman and Colin Swift Print Production C.A.R. - Centre Alsacien de Reprographie Publisher European Audiovisual Observatory 76 allée de la Robertsau 67000 Strasbourg France Tel.: 0033 (0)388 14 44 00 Fax: 0033 (0)388 14 44 19 Email: [email protected] URL: www.obs.coe.int The analyses expressed in these articles are the authors’ own opinions and cannot in any way be considered as representing the point of view of the European Audiovisual Observatory, its members and the Council of Europe. © European Audiovisual Observatory Contributors Giovanni Bechelloni Head of the Communication Programme, Faculty of Political Sciences, at the University of Firenze (PhD, Master). President of Fondazione Hypercampo, Italy. Milly Buonanno Professor of Sociology of Communication, Department of Political Sciences and Sociology at the University of Firenze and at the Faculty of Sociology, University of Rome. Director of Osservatorio sulla Fiction Italiana (OFI), Italy. Hanna Andrzejczyk Head of Audience Research at Polish Television (TVP S.A.). Member of the Group of European Audience Researchers (GEAR/EBU) and European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR), Poland. Carlos Arnanz Audience Analyst at Radio TV Española. Head of Marketing, Audience and Contents at Corporación Multimedia, Spain. Sevilay Celenk Research Assistant at the Faculty of Communications of the University of Ankara, Turkey. Régine Chaniac Works in the “Direction de la Recherche” at the Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA). Associate Researcher at the CNRS (Laboratoire “Communication et politique”), France. Sonja de Leeuw Professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Isabel Ferin Professor and Researcher, Department of Communications Studies at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal. i Ursula Ganz-Blättler Teaches Sociology of Audiovisual Media as well as Mass Communications, Department of Sociology at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Gerd Hallenberger Teaches in the Media Studies course at the University of Siegen, Germany. Jean-Pierre Jézéquel Works in the “Direction de la Recherche” at the Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA), France. Charo Lacalle Professor of Semiotics at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain. Laurent Letailleur “Chargé de Mission”, Direction of Programmes, Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA), France. Fabrizio Lucherini PhD. student at the University of Firenze. Vice-Director of the Osservatorio della Fiction Italiana (OFI), Italy. Richard Paterson Head of Knowledge at the British Film Institute (BFI). Honorary Professor of Media Management at the University of Stirling, United Kingdom. Francisco Rui Cádima Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Director of Obercom – Observatório da Comunicação, Portugal. Lorenzo Vilches Professor of Communication’s Theory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Director of the Master’s Programme in Film and TV Scriptwriting (UAB), Spain. ii Contents Project Team ------------------------------------------------------------------------- vii Preface --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xi Part One Methodology 1. Preliminary Remarks --------------------------------------------------------- 1 2. Datasheet----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 1. A Comparative Overview by Milly Buonanno 1. A New Turbulent Environment --------------------------------------------- 5 2. The Offer of European TV Fiction in 2001: On The Increase ---------- 12 3. Formats: Between Abundance and Plurality ------------------------------ 19 4. Co-productions: Awaiting Napoléon--------------------------------------- 23 5. Sample Week: A Stable Model --------------------------------------------- 26 6. Successes: Fading------------------------------------------------------------- 29 2. Julie Lescaut Wins Over Loana - French TV Fiction in 2001 by Régine Chaniac et Jean-Pierre Jézéquel 1. The Audiovisual Landscape: The Year of Loft Story -------------------- 35 2. The Origin of Fiction: Small Evolutions----------------------------------- 37 3. Domestic TV Fiction in 2001: Production Down------------------------- 39 4. Successes and Failures: Some Surprises----------------------------------- 44 5. Success of Short-Format: Comedies --------------------------------------- 45 3. The Calm Before the Storm - German TV Fiction in 2001 by Gerd Hallenberger 1. The Audiovisual Landscape: A Precarious Scenario -------------------- 49 2. The Origin of Fiction: Programming as Usual ---------------------------- 54 3. Domestic TV Fiction in 2001: A Quantitative Approach---------------- 56 4. Successes, Failures and Innovations: A Special Year-------------------- 59 iii 4. Cloudy Fictionscape - Italian TV Fiction in 2001 by Milly Buonanno 1. The Audiovisual Landscape: (Almost) the Same as Before-------------65 2. The Origin of Fiction: Europe from Satellite------------------------------67 3. Domestic TV Fiction in 2001: All-Time Peak ----------------------------71 4. Successes and Failures: Back To the Past ---------------------------------75 5. The Last Fires? ---------------------------------------------------------------79 5. The Moment of Local Fiction - Spanish TV Fiction in 2001 by Carlos Arnanz, Charo Lacalle and Lorenzo Vilches 1. The Audiovisual Landscape: The Year of Operación Triunfo----------83 2. The Origin of Fiction: Fall in Offer ----------------------------------------86 3. Domestic TV Fiction in 2001: Autonomic Channels On the Up -------89 4. Successes and Failures: The Rise of Nostalgic Comedy-----------------92 5. Focus: Cuéntame cómo pasó and Temps de silenci ----------------------96 6. Sclerosis of the Schedules - UK TV Fiction in 2001 by Richard Paterson 1. The Audiovisual Landscape: Assessment for the Year ------------------99 2. The Origin of Fiction: UK Dominance-------------------------------------101 3. Domestic TV Fiction in 2001: Marked Increase--------------------------103 4. Successes and Failures: Old Titles on Top --------------------------------107 5. Concluding Remarks ---------------------------------------------------------108 Focus Section Gerd Hallenberger - Editor Note from the Editor ----------------------------------------------------------------113 1. Saturated with Domestic TV Series and Soaps – The Mirror of Everyday Life - Polish TV Fiction in 2001 by Hanna Andrzejczyk 1. The Audiovisual Landscape: Changes over Time ------------------------115 2. Formats, Genres and the Origin of Fiction: The Stable Position of Domestic TV Fiction---------------------------------------------------------118 3. Domestic TV Fiction in 2001 -----------------------------------------------121 4. Trends and Developments ---------------------------------------------------124 iv 2. Domestic Soap Operas Overtake Brazilian Imports Portuguese TV Fiction in 2001 by Isabel Ferin and Francisco Rui Cádima 1. The Audiovisual Landscape ------------------------------------------------- 127 2. The Role and Origin of Fiction --------------------------------------------- 128 3. A Case Study of Portuguese TV Fiction on Public and134 Private Television ------------------------------------------------------------ 132 3.1 Data Analysis------------------------------------------------------ 134 3.2 Analysis of Cultural Settings------------------------------------ 135 4. TV Movies--------------------------------------------------------------------- 137 5. General Trends ---------------------------------------------------------------- 139 UPDATES 3. Historical Fiction and the Telefilm - Dutch TV Fiction in 2001 --------- 143 by Sonja de Leeuw 4. Less Money to Spend, More Movies Made for SBC Swiss Television Fiction in 2001 ----------------------------------------------- 145 by Ursula Ganz-Blättler 5. Indirect Ways of Foreign Penetration - Turkish TV fiction in 2001---- 149 by