Report: EU TV fiction production down 600 hours in 2020
April 5, 2022
A new report, Audiovisual fiction production in Europe – 2020 figures, has been published by the European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The report analyses the volume, formats, origin, commissioners and producers of original European TV films and TV series released on TV and SVoD between 2015 and 2020.
Daily soaps account for 9 per cent of seasons but 60 per cent of hours produced and suffered from Covid-caused interruption of shooting. Meanwhile, shorter formats kept on growing, although at a slower pace. Figures also suggest a downward trend for TV films, maybe hinting at a substitution of the production of TV films by TV series. European TV fiction production dropped by 600 hours in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.
Germany is the leading fiction production country in Europe by number of TV seasons and TV films produced. But the UK is the leading producer of a 2-to-13-episode seasons. And figures suggest a production boom in Spain and in Scandinavian countries.
Some 48 per cent of screenwriters and 42 per cent of directors were active in only one year between 2015 and 2020. Therefore, on average, a writer wrote, and a director directed only about 2 episode per year (Excluding more-than-52-episode seasons).