Report: International earns 40% of UK producer revenues
December 15, 2021
A report from online film and TV rights content marketplace Vuulr into international revenues for British producers, produced by WorkShare Consulting, reveals the importance of international sales in a Covid climate and highlights the resilience of producers who have been able to tap into budgets from international buyers. Conversely, companies reliant on domestic funding for production were hit far harder.
In 2020, production revenue (excluding distribution) declined 17 per cent year-on-year to £3.4 billion (€4bn). At the same time, distribution revenue declined by just 8 per cent in comparison.
International revenues proved resilient, showing only minor declines and now accounts for around 40 per cent of the total sector compared to 27 per cent in 2015.
The average cost per hour of premium content has swelled in the last decade, with drama reaching an average of £1.4 million per hour in 2019.
Global spend on acquiring and commissioning English-language content (excluding sports and movies) passed £60 billion in 2020.
Acquisitional spend represented around £28 billion of this and commissioning £31 billion. Growth in acquisitional spend has outpaced that of originals spend, growing 60 per cent since 2015.
Vuulr emphasises the importance for production companies to increase their focus on international revenue growth. It was revealed that over 66 per cent of the +1,800 deals (representing approximately 10,000 hours) made on the Vuulr content marketplace have been between buyers and sellers from different countries.
“Content producers and distributors have plenty of opportunity beyond their borders, especially now that they no longer have to rely on traditional ways of conducting business,” notes Vuulr CEO Ian McKee. “Vuulr makes it so simple for rights holders to list their content, engage with international buyers and monetise their entire catalogue.”