European films and programmes get 31% of all promotion on TVOD services, according to the latest report by the European Audiovisual Observatory.
Key findings from the report, entitled The visibility of audiovisual works on TVOD, 2020 Edition and covering 57 leading TVOD services from seven European countries, include:
Visibility of films and TV content highlights the characteristics of TVOD, which employs a business model that relies on the sale of a limited number of high commercial potential films. These are supplemented by a long tail of other films that are hardly promoted.
Access to visibility on TVOD is a very selective process. out of about 1,800 films which were promoted in October 2020, the 10 most promoted ones captured about 44% of all promotion efforts.
TVOD services dedicate the bulk of promotion to recent films. 94% of promotion spots are dedicated to films, vs. only 6% for TV content, mainly TV series. 75% of film promotion spots go to recent films (produced in 2019 or 2020).
Films promoted by TVOD services are mainly theatrical films, either released in cinemas in the service’s country (87% of all films) or in another country of the sample (2%). The rest (11%) are direct-to-VOD (and also sometimes direct to DVD) films, not released in cinemas in any country of the sample.
No significant gap between the share of European works in catalogues and their share of promotion.
A relatively high share of EU27 or other European works (‘other’ refers to non-EU European Member States of the European Audiovisual Observatory) access promotion (26% and 39% of all titles promoted at least once, respectively). But each EU27 or European work is, on average, promoted less intensively than a US film.
EU27 and European works account for 18% and 37% of promotion spots. Of the 57 TVOD services in the sample, 31 had a share of promotion spots dedicated to European films above the 30% threshold.
The share of European works is significantly higher for theatrical films than for direct-to-VOD films.
In all countries but theUK and France, the majority of European works promotion spots go to non-national titles.
The promotion of European films is highly concentrated. Whereas the top 10 most promoted films account, on average, for 44% of all promotion spots dedicated to films, the top 10 most promoted European films account for 76% of all promotion spots dedicated to European films.
But there are significant differences between the category of players. On average, TVOD services with a multi-country presence tend to promote a lesser share of EU27 and European films: 11% and 25% of all promotion spots, respectively.
And the promotion of European films is even more concentrated: the top 10 most promoted European films account for 84% of all promotion spots dedicated to European films.
Figures suggest that the share of promotion captured by European works is increasing.
Despite changes in the sample, figures suggest that the share of promotion spots dedicated to European works has increased from 23% in 2017 to 31% in 2020.
The report notes that only a very minor part of catalogues is/can be promoted.
On average, a TVOD service proposes about 1,200 promotion spots during a given month. Also, on average these promotion spots are used to promote about 80 different titles (films and TV content) during a given month, i.e. about 1 to 2% of the total catalogue.
Furthermore, TVOD services dedicate the bulk of promotion to films. Films account for 90% of titles promoted at least once and for 94% of all promotion spots. TVOD is indeed driven by the sale or purchase of films, as TV content has often been previously broadcast on TV (except for simultaneous releases of US TV series in Europe) and therefore lacks the novelty (and also notoriety) of films.
Other findings include:
More TV content is promoted in Spain. The promotion of TV content is marginal in most countries, with the exception of Spain, where it accounts for 19% of all promotion spots.
TVOD services source primarily theatrical films. Films theatrically released in the country are the prime source for films. The catalogue is complemented by either films theatrically released in another country but not in the service country, or by “Full Direct-to-VOD” films, i.e. films with no theatrical release in any of the countries monitored in this report
The share of promotion captured by European works (31%) is similar to their share of TVOD catalogues (33%).
The share of European works promoted is higher for TV content than for films.
The share of EU27 and European films is higher among films theatrically released in the country. Films theatrically released in the country represent the bulk of promotion spots dedicated to films (75% of all film spots). It is also among films theatrically released in the country that the highest share of European works is found.
Poland, France and Spain promote more European works. Poland’s TVOD services dedicate 46% of film promotion spots to European films. France and Spain also promote European films more than the average sample country. The lowest EU27 share of promotion spots is found in the UK, the Netherlands and in Dutch-speaking Belgium.
Synthesis: 44% of promotion spots go to recent US films. Combining the age and origin of titles shows the prominence of recent US films.
The difference in the share of titles promoted and share of promotion spots reflects the fact that the same US films are present ? and therefore promoted ? in several territories.
The report looked at TVOD services in Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, UK, Poland and Italy.
