European Commission Releases Study on Local Content

BRUSSELS, August 22: According to the European Commission,
broadcasters in the region devote more than 60 percent of their airtime to
European content, and more than 30 percent to titles from independent European
producers.

The seventh progress report on the promotion of European
works (2003-2004) also found that
broadcasters in the new EU Member States show as much European content as those
in the EU-15. Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding noted,
“This is proof of the high quality of
Europe's home-grown audiovisual content and of the vitality of an audiovisual
industry that draws upon Europe's rich cultural diversity. I am firmly
convinced that new media services such as mobile TV and video-on-demand will
stimulate and enhance the market for rich European content offers even
further.”

EU-wide average broadcasting time for European works was
65.18 percent in 2003 and 63.32 percent in 2004. Average transmission times
varied between 52.75 percent in Ireland and 86.20 percent in Denmark in 2003
and between 49.12 percent in the Czech Republic and 86.33 percent in Denmark in
2004.

The average share of independent producers’ works broadcast
by all European channels in all Member States rose from 31.39 percent in 2003
to 31.50 percent in 2004, well above the 10 percent quota.