The number of channels based in the UK has seen an annual drop of 5%, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory’s MAVISE TV and VOD database.
The UK remains the largest contributor to the overall supply of channels within the EU28.
As reported previously in Broadband TV News, international TV networks that want to ensure continued international distribution after Brexit have begun licensing their services outside of the UK. These include Discovery, ViacomCBS, Sony and SPI International. The Observatory notes that this applies to the migration of localised versions but also of standalone TV channels addressing foreign markets.
Half of the TV channels targeting foreign EU markets were UK-based in 2018, as opposed to just over one third at the end of 2019.
However, Discovery and Viacom are leading an increase in the number of localised versions of their properties.
The main destination for new channel launches in 2019 has been the Netherlands, followed by Spain.
The top three hubs for international networks, still accounting for a cumulative 69% in 2019 of all TV channels targeting other EU28 were represented by the UK (37%), the Netherlands (22%) and Spain (11%) as opposed to 2018 ranking positions occupied by the UK (52%), the Czech Republic (9%) and Luxembourg (8%) at the end of 2018.
