Valued at €141 billion, the European audiovisual sector remains one of the continent’s most significant cultural and economic industries, spanning cinema, television and on-demand services. Yet, despite its continued growth, the balance of power within the market is increasingly tilted towards non-European streaming players, which now capture 89% of non-traditional audiovisual revenues, according to new figures published by the Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA).

The data forms the backbone of the first edition of SAA’s first-ever Flash Report, which offers an overview of the European audiovisual market alongside a detailed snapshot of royalties collected by collective management organisations (CMOs) representing screenwriters and directors across Europe.

The report underscores the central role played by the audiovisual sector in making European works available to audiences and in shaping cultural identity. While the sector’s overall value continues to rise, the rapid expansion of online and streaming services has profoundly altered its economic structure.

US-based platforms now dominate subscription video-on-demand and advertising-funded services, capturing the vast majority of revenues generated by these formats. By contrast, European broadcasters - both public and private - remain the main commissioners of original fiction, even as their influence within the digital distribution ecosystem weakens.

This growing imbalance highlights a structural contradiction: European players continue to shoulder much of the creative and financial risk associated with original production, while the largest share of growth in digital revenues flows to non-European companies.

At the heart of the report lies the question of authors’ remuneration. Screenwriters and directors remain key contributors to the audiovisual value chain, yet their royalties vary widely depending on the medium and the country.

The EU-harmonised collective management of retransmission rights, introduced in the 1990s, has demonstrably increased authors’ revenues. However, this framework does not extend to all forms of exploitation. As a result, the scope of collectively managed rights - and therefore the ability for authors to receive remuneration - differs significantly from one national market to another.

According to the report, fragmented legislation across Europe continues to prevent authors from receiving royalties for all uses of their works in all markets, particularly in the online environment.

Collections linked to on-demand and online uses did increase again in 2024, exceeding €100 million for the first time. Despite this milestone, they still account for just 13% of total collections, a figure that stands in stark contrast to the central role played by streaming in contemporary audiovisual consumption.

The analysis suggests that this discrepancy points to a growing misalignment between how audiovisual works are consumed and how authors are remunerated - an issue that is likely to become more pressing as digital platforms continue to expand their reach across Europe.

SAA members represent audiovisual authors by negotiating licensing agreements with broadcasters, retransmission operators and streaming platforms, collecting the resulting royalties and distributing them to rightsholders. This system, regulated at EU level by the 2014 Collective Rights Management Directive, is designed to ensure fair remuneration for authors while offering efficient licensing solutions that support market growth.

With the publication of its first Flash Report, the SAA positions itself as a key source of market intelligence at a time when debates around sovereignty, cultural diversity and fair remuneration are intensifying across the European audiovisual landscape.