There is a serious potential impact on the European audiovisual market from Brexit. This was revealed in a study by the European Audiovisual Observatory (Council of Europe) published on 3 July.
This survey demonstrates that the United Kingdom, together with Germany, is the biggest audiovisual market in the EU 28 and accounts for almost 21% of the European TV market (twice as big as the French market). The country produces 16% of all EU28 films, excluding blockbusters films fully-funded by US majors through their UK subsidiaries.
With regard to content circulation, the Observatory report demonstrates that the United Kingdom exports much more then it imports. UK films therefore rely on the other EU28 countries markets, which account for a quarter of their worldwide theatrical admissions. In turn, the other EU28 countries’ films derive only 1.8% of their worldwide admissions from the UK theatres.
In the context of business presence, the United Kingdom has the highest number of TV channels established in the European Union: 29% of EU 28 channels (1,203 out 3,005) are established in the United Kingdom of which half targets another country as a priority. Within the EU 28, the United Kingdom is by far the main country of establishment for television channels and on-demand services. The UK hosts three of the top 10 EU28 audiovisual groups (Sky, BBC, ITV) also as European subsidiaries of the major US media groups.
The survey will be presented during a conference organised by the Observatory on 29 November in Brussels. Unfortunately, it has not drawn any conclusions from the concrete impact of Brexit on the British and EU 27 economies. The draft report can be examined at the following link: https://bit.ly/2z6CBYv . (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)