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Europe law to ensure 30% local content for streaming services

Netflix & Amazon services in Europe will have to dedicate 30% local content to their catalogues.

New rules requiring streaming services operating in the European Union to dedicate at least 30% of their catalogues to local content are are on track to be approved in December.

The proposal was outlined in April but is about to become enshrined in law.

“We just need the final vote, but it’s a mere formality,” Roberto Viola, head of the European Commission department that regulates communications networks, content and technology, said at the Venice Film Festival.

Netflix, Amazon and other streamers will be required to fund TV series and films produced in Europe by commissioning content, acquiring it or paying into national film funds through a small surcharge added to their subscription fee.

By December, the EU’s 28 member states would have 20 months to apply these new norms and that countries “could choose to raise the quota from the 30% minimum to 40%.” EU nations can each choose whether the 30% includes sub-quotas on original productions in their countries and whether they want or follow a German model of adding a small surcharge on subscription fees.

Flmmakers including Mike Leigh, Paolo Sorrentino, Jacques Audiard and Laszlo Nemes are among 165 signatories of a Venice Declaration calling on the EU parliament members to pass the proposal on September 12.

Source: Variety

5 Responses

    1. That would see the cost of a streaming subscription rise exponentially, if the requirement was for the new content to be first run, but if not then what we’d end up with is a whole lot of older shows getting a run on streaming services. There would still be a cost either way, and it would be the subscriber who pays.
      Europe has 741 million people versus Australia’s 24 million.
      Sure, FTA has a similar content quota, but look at what happens there – most of it is live sport or news, 2 things the streaming services don’t do. Plus the FTA networks can repeat things frequently.
      The other risk is there would be a massive drop in content available in Australian versions of Netflix, Amazon and Stan so that the overseas based content fits in under the 70% radar.
      Higher costs or less content or both, that’s what you’ll end up with.

      1. Good points, Europe does have a well developed TV industry with some good writers and producers, as a business investment, Netflix et al will not lose out adding European content and attracting more paying subscriptions in the process. Australia does have good movie production facilities and locations too it’s just a matter of developing shows with universal appeal and not just with cultural themes best understood by Australian audiences.

  1. 30% of each catalogue is a pretty hefty investment. Wonder how that will be calculated is it based o 30% of Netflix original content or 30% of content period because thats a lot given the volume that Netflix stream.
    It’s not clear if this is just new content or can Netflix just begin licensing rights to stream shows that have already aired on network TV?

    1. 30% of titles available in their on-demand catalogue, I believe (with some minimum length & % funding criteria to stop them doing things like providing 1c towards a 2 minute filler & counting it as a ‘title’).

      I won’t say it’s a _bad_ idea, ‘cos if you want to have local production quotas its probably the logical way of doing it – but given Netflix is notorious for practices like burying the vast majority of stuff it claims to have so deep you can’t find it even if you search for it directly, you wonder how well it’ll work in practice…

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