Evaluating the European Film Market: Unravelling the Supply-Demand Equation
European film and television have seen significant growth, with a surge in viewership on streaming services across various genres. But how well does the supply meet the demand? What are the most popular genres, and how can filmmakers, distributors, and investors make informed decisions in this dynamic market?
In a recent study, we scrutinised the EU film and television market, focusing on the share of European content viewership and analysing genre distribution amongst Productions
Results
The table below provides a detailed view of the supply-demand ratio for each genre across formats:
Movies
Clearly action movies are loved by European audiences and yet are under-supplied by European Production Companies.
TV Content
Conclusions
These imbalances present unique opportunities for stakeholders. By understanding genre-specific demand and tailoring content accordingly, filmmakers, distributors, and investors can optimise their strategies and achieve greater success.
Findings: Pockets of Opportunity
The study findings revealed a fascinating supply-demand imbalance in the European market. For instance, crime genres make up only 12% of European works in VOD catalogues yet account for 16% of total viewership for European works. On the other hand, documentaries, representing nearly 17% of the total supply, received just 3% of total viewership. Is this a function of low cost of production vs other titles?
Budget/Risk as a Driver of Over-supply?
Comedy and Documentary is produced by EU Production companies at a rate that exceeds the viewership. Some of these titles can be relatively easy to produce/lower budget so perhaps perceived as lower risk.
Under-supply Opportunities
Obviously action movies are historically quite expensive and this might be one of the reasons that few EU Producers are setting out to attempt to tackle them. However with recent advances in AI and VFX the costs of creation are being driven down.
European animation has always had a unique style, and clearly appetites are really strong, perhaps an opportunity is being missed by EU animators and producers.
Importance for funding bodies
Funding bodies in the EU will want to be aware of the over/under supply to ensure funding matches consumption.
Methodology and Approach
We used a comprehensive list of 7,724 titles produced in EU and Council of Europe member countries in 2022. The study covered a broad geographical area, encompassing 46 countries, considering genres ranging from crime and comedies to horror and documentaries.
We use piracy data sourced across millions of weekly events across the year as a proxy measure of demand. We have high-confidence using piracy data as a proxy having established a strong correlation in benchmarks against public viewership data, e.g the published Netflix Top 10 data.
The Power of Data: Introducing SlateIQ
SlateIQ is helping our partners developing/investing in ideas evaluate how big projects might be and research useful market indicators to understand the investment case. Regional supply/demand imbalances, and subgenres that might be ripe for exploration being just a small part of that.
By marrying creativity with data, you can make informed decisions that help align your content strategy with market demand, maximising your potential for success.
Our study highlights the importance of understanding market dynamics in a rapidly evolving industry. Leveraging tools like SlateIQ can provide crucial insights, giving you a competitive edge in the exciting world of European film and television production and distribution.
SlateIQ was developed by Noah Media Group as a way to evaluate, develop pitches for, and make investment decisions across their slate, and is now used by a number of companies on the Buy and Sell side.
As European audiences continue to seek diverse content across genres, the market offers a world of opportunities. Stay ahead of the curve, keep innovating, and remember, there’s a world waiting to watch your story!
