US broadcasting groups have a substantial influence on the European audiovisual sector, with a significant market presence compared to their European counterparts, according to a new study by the European Audio Visual Observatory.
Around one in four (23%) of all private TV channels (excluding local TV) are US-owned and one in ten (8%) of all on demand services available in Europe belong to a US company.
US TV channel portfolios are also significantly larger than European ones, with 71% of channels in the top 10 TV groups owned by just five US companies.
The Observatory’s report find the top pan-European players are either multi-brand players, like Comcast, active in both TV and VOD markets or single brand players, like Netflix, with a focus on on-demand markets. As they build their on demand presence, the top players concentrate on areas where they already have a significant TV footprint. Overall, most broadcasters in the top 20 ranking launched VOD services.
However, pan-European players employ different strategies. Netflix, for example, uses a centralised strategy with one main country of establishment from where it targets the European markets. A multi-country strategy is used by French Vivendi, where typically a small number of countries serve as a basis to target various national markets with its brands Canal+ and Filmbox+. Warner Bros Discovery by contrast, applies a decentralised strategy where a larger number of establishment hubs serve the European markets to disseminate the Discovery, Eurosport and HBO Max brands.
The most significant establishment for single-brand streamers is Ireland. The country is used as an exclusive establishment hub by Chinese Huawei and US players Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft.
