European Programme Rights: Movies is the only report to provide a detailed analysis of the market for feature films on television in Western Europe.The report includes ten year historical and forecast data on the value of sales of feature films to the free TV, pay TV and pay-per-view platforms in 16 Western European markets.
Also provided is a breakdown of the various film subscription services on offer in each market and detailed country profiles for each of the markets covered in the report.Some key findings from the report: * Although pay TV is well established in most countries, free TV is still the most valuable window for the sale of feature film rights in most European countries.
* Pay TV sales will grow at a faster rate than free TV sales over the next five years, rising to an estimated ?1.7bn in 2009, compared to ?1.3bn for free TV.
* Germany is Europe's most important market for free to air sales, which are still expected to exceed the value of pay TV sales in 2009.
* The supply of feature films to European TV is dominated by the Hollywood studios.
Exclusive output deals for their movies are essential to the success of pay TV platforms.
* Audiences for movies on free to air television have declined dramatically with the rise of home video and DVD, but feature films still remain an important part of prime time schedules.
* Independent distributors generally sell films to TV on a one-off basis.
However, some independents have secured local output deals in Germany, Spain and Scandinavia.
* Broadcasters are an important source of funding for European films in some countries: Canal Plus in France invests nine percent of its annual sales in French-language films, while broadcasters in Spain must allocate five percent of prior year turnover in film production.
Investment by broadcasters in the UK are relatively minimal.