US-backed players captured more than 80% of revenues from SVOD and in-video OTT advertising in Europe by the end of 2024, according to a new report from the European Audiovisual Observatory.
The Strasbourg-based Observatory, part of the Council of Europe, has published Top players in the European audiovisual industry – Concentration, statute, origin and profile (based on 2024 figures), and authored by analyst Laura Ene Iancu. The study ranks and profiles leading groups across operating audiovisual revenues, public funding, pay TV, SVOD, net TV advertising and in-video OTT advertising.
Across the overall audiovisual market, the report says Comcast, Netflix and YouTube were the top 3 groups in Europe by operating audiovisual revenues at end-2024.
European-owned groups still accounted for the majority share of operating audiovisual revenues across the top 100 AV groups (56%), helped by telco-driven companies. However, the Observatory says US-backed revenues are concentrated among a small number of very large players, leaving European interests with only around one-third of the top 10 groups’ AV revenues.
The report also tracks a shift over time, with US-backed players increasing their market share by 9% between 2016 and 2024, driven by the rise of pure streamers and video-sharing platforms. European telcos grew 3 times faster than broadcasters over the same period, cushioning the decline in the European share.
In pay services, Netflix overtook Sky in 2024 to lead the pay-AV service market, with the pair together controlling about one-third of combined pay-TV and SVOD revenues. SVOD represented roughly 40% of combined pay-TV and SVOD revenues, while traditional players (often led by telco or broadcasting arms) still generated 70% of revenues across the wider pay-AV service market. European-owned groups, largely telcos, accounted for almost half (45%) of pay-AV service market revenues.
In advertising, YouTube remained the leading player across combined TV and in-video OTT advertising revenues. The Observatory notes OTT advertising was almost on a par with the TV advertising market, while traditional players still generated more than 55% of combined TV and in-video OTT advertising revenues. European broadcasters took around half of total AV advertising revenues, reflecting their dominance in traditional TV advertising.
