The European TV market has seen a “trend reversal” in the past four years resulting in a drop in production accompanied not only by a lower number of episodes per season but also shorter episodes overall, according to the latest data from the European Audiovisual Observatory, presented on Tuesday at Series Mania in Lille, France.
Discussing “Key Trends in TV and VOD Markets,” Agnes Schneeberger, TV and VOD markets analyst at the European Audiovisual Observatory, said the trend reversal followed “uninterrupted growth that peaked in 2022.”
“After this growth that peaked in 2022, we have a trend reversal in 2023,” Schneeberger explained. “This downturn was preceded by a much earlier development. And what we saw there is that the development of TV series hours lags behind that of TV seasons. So the number of series in terms of hours has not kept pace with the actual seasons.
“What does this separation between hours from seasons mean? First, a lower number of episodes per season. And secondly, on the other hand, a much shorter duration of series episodes.”
Compared to the situation of high-end TV production in the U.S., however, Schneeberger pointed out three distinct trends: “First, a much stronger growth in Europe. Secondly, that production in the U.S. experienced a much sharper downturn. And thirdly, that streamers invested more in Europe than they did in the U.S.”
Likewise taking part in the discussion, Synnøve Hørsdal, producer and CEO of Norway’s Maipo Film, agreed that the “boom is probably over,” but stressed that “TV series will survive and will hopefully thrive more than they do right now.”
Hørsdal recalled that when she started out, it was difficult to get enough financing for 13 episodes, seen then as the necessary number for international distribution. “Then it went down to 10, and then it went down to eight, which I find normal, but everyone says six is also fine. So we’re more than half from what it was.”
In Scandinavia, broadcasters are not concerned about minutes, Hørsdal noted. “To get the budgets, you get less episodes and fewer minutes.”
Robert Franke, managing director of Berlin-based Intaglio Films, said the Observatory’s findings offered “the perfect illustration of a couple of trends which we’ve been exposed to and experienced over the last couple of years: One is the venture capital-fueled growth in the streaming industry, which was basically the way these big multinational companies gain market share.”
In order to gain market shares, international streaming platforms had to fill their catalogues and provide a compelling offer to end users, Franke explained.
“After COVID, that came to a stop because people started to go outside again and have a real life, not live precariously, glued to their TV screens.”
In addition, with market shares now distributed, “there was nothing to gain anymore. And what’s the reaction to that? Obviously, everybody’s starting to look at profitability and they are second guessing whether or not their investment into original content really goes that far.”
The second trend, Franke added, is “the democratization of content production and the pressure we as TV producers are feeling from the creator economy.”
The decreasing number of episodes and runtimes of episodes, for example, reflect a young demographic that is not particularly interested in being tied up into 10 or 12-episode TV series, he noted.
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