The Spanish regulator CNMC has published the results of an audit of the compliance of European film and series financing in the country.
Under the terms of the General Law of Audiovisual Communication (LGCA), TV service providers are required to allocate 5% of their operating income to finance European audiovisual works. In the case of publicly owned companies, the figure rises to 6%. The term European audiovisual works encompasses films for cinema and television, series, documentaries and animated films and series.
According to the LGCA, 60% of the financing must be allocated to the production of cinema films and, in turn, 60% of said percentage to works in one of the co-official languages of Spain and, in turn, 50% of said percentage to works films from independent producers. In the event that the company is publicly owned, these percentages are 75%, 60% and 50% respectively.
CNMC says its audit found that in 2019 the following companies exceeded the 5% threshold: Multicanal, Mediaset, Telefónica, Atresmedia, Euskaltel / R-Cable / Telecable, Orange, Vodafone, History Channel, Filmin, 13TV, Rakuten, NBC Universal, Veo TV, Net TV, Cosmopolitan, Sony, FOX and Viacom.
Meanwhile, CRTVE exceeded the different obligations with the exception of the advance financing of films and television miniseries in fiscal year 2019, so will have to compensate for this deficit in fiscal year 2020 and later. On the other hand, Cineclick and Lomatena Investments accumulated the corresponding amount for fiscal year 2019 for 2020.
