Almost half (48%) of European kids TV channels—and 59% of the region’s SVOD platforms (59%)—are US-owned, according to a new report from the European Audiovisual Observatory that was released today.
Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network are prime examples, with all three running pan-European operations that reach across the whole continent. The EAO’s Audiovisual media services in Europe says Disney alone operates in 44 different Euro TV markets.
The report goes on to break down how much kids content airs on European channels and streamers. Children’s programming only makes up 3% of everything running on TV channels in Europe, and the genre is tied with documentaries with one of the smallest shares. Looking specifically at public broadcasters, kids content makes up 4% of programming on these channels, beating out sports (2%) and docs (3%).
Interestingly, publicly owned SVOD and TVOD (pay-per-view) services in Europe devote 8% of their lineups to kids content on average. At 4%, privately owned SVOD platforms are making more room for children’s programming as their content libraries expand.
The report also looks at the top-10 TV broadcasters in Europe (eight of which are US-owned) based on number of channels, on-demand services and reach. As a group, these companies (including Disney, BBC, Paramount, WBD and Canal+) are giving 12% of their airtime to programming for kids.
Europe’s media industry features more than 12,000 services overall, with roughly 9,000 TV channels and 3,000 VODs. Among the TV channels, 18% (excluding local TV) are US-owned. And that figure for SVODs is sitting at 39%.
Photo courtesy of John Towner, via Unsplash