European productions accounted for 51% of all feature films, documentaries and series shown on television in the European Union (EU), according to the “Works on television in Europe 2023 data” report published on Tuesday.
In second place, with 40%, were feature films, documentaries and series produced in the United States of America. Of the European non-EU countries, the UK was the largest exporter to the European Union of its feature films, documentaries and TV series.
In the Works on television in Europe 2023 data report, all data in the report are summarised for the year 2023, the most recently processed year. The report is produced by the European Audiovisual Observatory, an intergovernmental organisation of EU countries based in Strasbourg, France, whose task is to monitor the audiovisual market in Europe.
In 2023, more than 138000 feature films and documentaries from all continents of the world were shown on TV in the EU countries, of which 88000 were made in Europe. At the same time, on average, 12,000 feature films and documentaries from all continents of the world were shown in each EU country in 2023 and of these, 6,500 were European productions.
A higher proportion of feature films and documentaries and series produced in Europe were EU countries on public TV channels than on private commercial TV channels.
The UK, France and Germany are the leaders in exporting feature films, documentaries and TV series from European countries to the EU. At the same time, the UK is by far the main exporter from all European countries to the EU of documentaries and fiction series; France is the leading exporter of feature films and Germany is the leading exporter of documentaries.
Nine of the top 20 most exported films from European countries to the EU were produced or produced by the Paris-based EuropaCorp of French film producer and director Luc Besson; 12 of the top 20 most exported feature TV series from all European countries to the EU were children’s animated TV series, of which 11 had France as the main country of production; 15 of the top 20 most exported documentaries from all European countries to the EU were historical documentaries.
In general, countries with a high level of their own film and video production (France, Germany, Poland, Italy) also had a higher than EU average share of European productions and national productions broadcast on television in these countries, but Spain was an exception in this case.
The countries with smaller film and video production volumes, such as Austria, Finland and Sweden, had a higher than EU average share of European works and national works broadcast on television in these countries.
