The European Audiovisual Observatory’s Key Trends 2026 report says global streamers’ share of spending on European originals rose to 24% in 2024 from 8% in 2020, influenced by regulation such as the EU’s AVMSD and increased demand for local stories. Despite higher streamer spend, public service broadcasters commissioned 56% of European TV fiction titles in 2024 versus 14% for global streamers, while overall TV fiction production fell 5% year over year. The report also notes SVOD viewing time is heavily skewed to series (78%), and subscription growth is being driven more by price increases and ad-supported tier launches than by subscriber expansion.
Europe is becoming the clearest example of “checks written ≠ keys to the kingdom.” Regulation (AVMSD) and global demand for local stories are pushing streamer spend up, but PSBs still decide most greenlights—meaning rights, windowing, and talent relationships remain anchored in local ecosystems. Add a shrinking fiction pipeline and the strategic question shifts from “who’s investing?” to “who can secure supply and distribution leverage?” Meanwhile, the ad-tier/price-hike growth model and the dominance of series reinforce a simple streaming meme: episodic IP is the economic engine, and access to it is tightening.
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