U.S. Companies Lead Europe’s TV & VOD Landscape

Nine out of the ten largest TV and VOD media groups operating in Europe are U.S.-based, according to a detailed new study by the European Audiovisual Observatory.

The 2024 edition of the Audiovisual Media Services in Europe report, penned by Dr. Agnes Schneeberger, an analyst within the Observatory’s department for market information, charts the number of TV channels, on-demand services and video-sharing platforms in Europe. As of December 2023, there were a total of 12,703 audiovisual media services and video-sharing platforms across Europe. Of those, 9,434 were TV channels and 3,269 VOD or video-sharing platforms.

About 23 percent of all private TV channels (excluding local TV) and 8 percent of on-demand and video-sharing services are U.S.-owned. U.S. companies lead in terms of the number of services, with Warner Bros. Discovery at 363, Paramount at 302, Comcast at 179, The Walt Disney Company at 122 and AMC Networks at 73. The top ten by number of services also includes CANAL+ at 123, just ahead of Disney, as well as United Group, Tekekom Srbija, Pink Media Group and RTL Group.

Of the top 20 TV and VOD players, Warner Bros. Discovery has the widest presence, active in 46 markets, with Disney at 43, Amazon and Netflix in 41 and Comcast and Paramount in 40. Rakuten is available in 37 markets and Huawei in 36. Of the key European payers, BBC is in 26 and Vivendi in 29. “Overall, European players have fewer market presences compared to Chinese, Japanese and U.S. players,” the report says.