The European Union is worried about US dominating future TV......
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Wednesday July 30 2:53 PM EDT
EU Urged To Gear Up For Explosive Film, TV Growth
By Suzanne Perry
BRUSSELS (Reuter) - The European Union must gear up to profit from the explosion of film and television services that will be offered to consumers over the next decade, the European Commission said Wednesday.
The EU executive, indirectly calling on Europe's industry to battle U.S. dominance, said in a policy paper that the EU's audiovisual market was set to grow 70 percent in the next 10 years.
However, despite various EU initiatives, including quotas on European television programs, the sector suffers a "massive" trade deficit of $6 billion, representing 250,000 jobs, it said.
With new services such as interactive television and multimedia applications on the horizon, the EU should try to boost the number of people employed in its audiovisual sector, now 1.8 million, to the U.S. level of 2.6 million, it said.
EU Audiovisual Commissioner Marcelino Oreja said he would appoint a high-level study group to advise the EU on ways to promote European products in the digital age and consider ethical and social questions related to the new technologies.
"Europe has a huge 'audiovisual consumption' potential," the paper said.
"European program industries need to improve their competitiveness, for example by developing marketing and brand policies, making economies of scale...and selling their products further afield, worldwide."
The Commission, citing a study by consultants, said the audiovisual industry's overall revenue in the EU would grow an estimated 69 percent from 1995 to 2005, with European program producers seeing a 55 percent increase.
Household expenditure would grow from 33 percent to 48 percent as a share of total revenue as consumers turn to services such as pay-per-view and video rentals, it added.
The market for traditional television programs would account for 65 percent of producers' revenues in 2005, down from 85 percent in 1995.
Other markets such as cinema, video, pay-TV, interactive television and multimedia applications are dominated by U.S. products, it noted. But Europeans could increase their market share from 13 percent to 21 percent over the decade if the EU maintains its present level of support, it added.
The EU has set aside 310 million ecus ($328 million) for the 1996-2000 period to aid the film and television industries in areas such as training, project development and distribution.
The Commission is also trying to set up a guarantee fund to generate investment in the sector, but has been unable to forge agreement among EU states in the face of German opposition.
Reuters/Variety |
