06/02/2003 - An 7.2 per cent increase in TV drama production since 1999, headed by Germany, followed by the UK and France

Report, carried out with funding from the National Film Center (CNC) and the European Audiovisual Observatory and the Media Development Office (DDM).
A total of Euros2.9b were invested by leading European countries like Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom in TV drama production in 2001, an increase of 7.25 since 1999.
Germany is the frontrunner, having produced 2618 programmes for a total budget of Euros1b, followed by the United Kingdom’s 2406 programmes for Euros937m, France’s 715 for Euros457m, Italy’s 1245 programmes for Euros321m and Spain’s 2406 for Euros214m.
Production costs remained largely unchanged: the most expensive being French and British programmes, while Spain managed to contain costs.
TV series continue to fill prime time slots on 45 European TV channels. The United Kingdom leads the field with the numerous channels of the privately owned ITV, and state broadcaster BBC, followed by Germany’s three state broadcasters: ARD, ZDF and RTL.
381 production companies, 80 per cent of which are based in France and Italy, work independently.
Co-productions account for 17.2 per cent of all dramas produced for a total budget of Euros505m, but only 12 per cent of all European co-productions were made by three European partners.

(Translated from French)