US streamers ramp up spending on European original content

US streamer spending on European original content increased by 42% in 2024 to hit €8.5bn, according to research by the European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO).

The EAO report said Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video each spent over €2bn on original European content last year, while Apple TV+ accounted for €600m and HBO Max for €500m.

The report spans the wider Europe area, including the UK, but excludes Russia.

In total, global streamers accounted for 34% of all spending on European original content excluding news, sport and acquired film and TV shows. 

However, the streamer spend is highly concentrated in Europe: the UK and Spain together accounted for 58% of their spend in original European content.

The streamers spent €2.9bn in the UK on original content last year and €2bn in Spain.

Next up was France and Italy which each saw a spend of €0.8bn, followed by Germany (€0.7bn) and Sweden (€0.3bn).

Scripted programming accounted for the lion’s share of global streamer spend, although unscripted programming spend also increased.

Among scripted content, series accounted for about 90% of global streamer spend compared to 10% for films. Netflix film Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, as well as Apple’s Slow Horses and HBO’s The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon are among projects to shoot in Europe last year.

The research concluded total spending on European original works by streamers, public and private broadcasters - excluding news, sports rights and acquisitions - amounted to €25.1bn in 2024, up from €22.6bn the year before.

Traditional broadcaster spending still accounted for the majority of investment - €16.7bn - in original content, but it is growing at a slower pace than the streamers.

Private broadcasters were the biggest investors in European original content in 2024, spending a combined €8.8bn.

Public broadcasters together invested €7.9bn in European original content in 2024.

The UK recorded the lion’s share of total spend - €7.3bn - followed by Germany (€4.5bn) and France (€3.3bn).

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