Streamers Account for 16 Percent of European Content Investment

The total investment in European original production hit €17.4 billion ($17.3 billion) in 2021, per a report from the European Audiovisual Observatory, with 16 percent of that coming from the streamers.

The global streamers invested €2.8 billion ($2.7 billion) in European originals last year, with Netflix out front, accounting for 9 percent, Prime Video at 4 percent, Disney+ at 2 percent and HBO Max at 1 percent.

There has been a marked increase since 2015, the report indicates, with a strong rebound last year following a pandemic-induced drop in 2020. Pubcasters accounted for 41 percent of investments last year, with private broadcasters at 43 percent. Pubcasters in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands are leading the way. Spain, meanwhile, has seen its originals rise thanks largely to the streamers.

Netflix and Prime Video’s content investments in Europe have shifted heavily since 2015, when more than 80 percent was on acquisitions; last year, acquisitions represented 46 percent of their European content investments.

About 30 percent of investment in original European content went to the U.K. last year. The streamers outspent broadcasters in original content investments in the U.K., as they did in Spain. In Spain, the streamers accounted for 37 percent of original content spend, well ahead of other key markets like the U.K. (18 percent) and France (12 percent).