Spain: SVoDs must provide regional language content
November 26, 2021
From David Del Valle in Madrid
SVoD services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and HBO Max, among others, will have to produce 6 per cent of their TV content in Spain in other co-official languages in the country – Catalonian, Galician or Basque language. The measure has been agreed by the Central Administration and the Catalonian party ERC to approve the 2022 General State Budget.
The draft law is set to be approved before the end of the year.Currently, the European legislation states that 30 per cent of VoD content must have an Euopean origin. In addition, the Spanish legislation lays down that that 50 per cent of that 30 per cent (15 per cent) are dedicated to films, TV series and documentaries is in Spanish. Now, with the modification, 40 per cent of that 15 per cent (6 per cent) will be destined to other co-official languages. Traditional pay-TV operators – such as Movistar, Orange, Vodafone and MásMóvil- will also have to meet the new obligation. The measure is a new setback to major streaming services which will also be forced to dedicate part of its revenues to finance public TV, RTVE. The industry has battled against the measure and some experts doubt that the obligation could be successfully applied to companies like US giant Netflix, who have no fiscal residence in the country.