Streaming powerhouses Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ account for a staggering 85% of all Video-on-Demand (VoD) viewership in Europe, according to a recent report by the European Audiovisual Observatory. VoD europe

This highlights the intense concentration within the European streaming industry.

Key Takeaways VoD europe

• US Dominance: American services systematically overpower European platforms where viewer attention is concerned.
• Content Trends: While 30% of viewing time is spent on European content (including UK), viewers are drawn to recently released films. These films make up 25% of viewing time, despite being just a tiny fraction (1%) of the available titles. Scripted content (TV and film) reigns supreme across platforms.
• The Power of Three: Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ are the undisputed leaders of European viewing habits.

Scripted content accounted for 87 percent and 95 percent of the viewing time of film and TV series, respectively. Viewing time is also mainly generated by recently released films (produced in 2022–23); they represented 25 percent of viewing time but only 1 percent of catalogs.

European works accounted for 30 percent of SVoD viewing time, including 21 percent for EU works, 9 percent for UK works and 1 percent for other European works.

These reports provide an analysis of the consumption of films and TV seasons on SVoD in 9 member states of the European Union in 2022/23 and an analysis of the offer of films and TV seasons in VoD catalogs of 25 member states of the EU in September 2023.

The reports were authored by Christian Grece and Jean-Augustin Tran, TV and VOD Analysts within the Observatory’s Department for Market Information. The VoD catalog data is provided by JustWatch and the VoD usage data is provided by Goldmedia. The reports were supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission.

The first report, SVOD Usage in the European Union, is the first edition of an overview of the viewing time on SVoD services of films and TV series by origin, genre, and – only for films – age.  This report is based on SVoD viewing time data provided by Goldmedia’s VoD-Ratings in 9 EU countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden) from September 2022 to September 2023.

Even if the limited number of EU countries in the sample does not allow for a proper typology, nuances appear between countries, in particular in terms of genre. But overall, consumption patterns are similar across all countries.

When comparing their share in catalogs and viewing time, US works are systematically overconsumed and European works underconsumed. However, among European works, national works are overconsumed in seven out of the nine countries of the sample, whereas EU non-national works are under-consumed in all countries.

Beyond European and US works, of note is the modest weight of consumption of works from other regions of the world (8 percent, well under their share of catalogs).

Key findings on Film and TV content in TVoD, SVoD and FoD catalogues:

European works (films and TV content) accounted for 31 percent of all works in VoD catalogs in 25 member states of the European Union, with EU27 works representing 21 percent and other European works 10 percent (32 percent in TVoD catalogs, 31 percent in SVoD and 26 percent in FoD catalogs).

For all types of VoD catalogs, European non-national works represented the majority of EU27 works, with 64 percent of all EU27 works in TVoD catalogs being of EU non-national origin, 78 percent in SVoD, and 67 percent in FoD catalogs.

VoD catalogs in high- and mid-volume film and TV production countries such as France, Germany, Italy, and Spain rely more on national works for their EU27 offering (with 64 percent of all EU27 works in VoD catalogs in France being of national origin) while VoD catalogs in lower volume production countries rely mostly on EU non-national works for their EU27 works offering (with 1 per cent of EU27 works being of national origin in VoD catalogs in Bulgaria, for example).

Implications VoD europe

These findings raise questions about the long-term sustainability and visibility of smaller European streaming platforms. The lack of diversity in the streaming landscape could:

• Limit opportunities for European content creators.
• Reduce viewer exposure to the wealth of European cinema and television.
• Hinder the growth of innovative, independent platforms.

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