Scripted Series, Films Dominate European On-Demand Services

PARIS: Film and TV fiction offerings make up a dominant 61 percent of all pay on-demand services in Europe, compared with only 14 percent of TV channels, according to new figures from the European Audiovisual Observatory.

Among thematic channels, fiction (14 percent), sport (14 percent) and entertainment (13 percent) are the most prevalent genres. Only 9 percent of the 5,462 international and national TV channels established in Europe are generalist. Children’s accounts for 7 percent and lifestyle (including health, travel and leisure) accounts for 6 percent.

More than 60 percent of the 723 main pay on-demand services established and active in Europe identified by the Observatory are available online, whereas almost 40 percent are operated by the main TV distributors on their managed networks. Among the pay on-demand services, transactional services (416) outnumber subscription services (307).

Around 22 percent of international and national TV channels established in Europe are available in Digital Terrestrial Television (free or pay) in at least one country in Europe. Generalist channels access more easily to DTT: close to 46 percent of generalist channels established in Europe are available on DTT.