Hollywood Films Still Dominate European TV

Two-thirds of feature films broadcast on European TV are American, a new study reveals, with less than a third European.

New U.S. series may have a tough time getting into primetime on big European broadcasters these days, but when it comes to films, Hollywood is still king.

A new survey from the European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) found that U.S. feature films account for more than two-thirds (68 percent) of all movies broadcast on European channels in the 2015-2016 season. European films make up just under a third (28 percent) of movies broadcast, while non-U.S. films from outside Europe account for 4 percent of titles broadcast.

The EAO study sampled 131 TV channels from 18 different European countries.

Overall, the number of movies broadcast on European TV is evenly split between European and U.S. titles — of the more than 15,000 feature films aired on European TV during the 2015-2016 season, just under half (47 percent) were of European origin, the same percentage as from Hollywood, with the remaining 6 percent coming from outside the two regions.

The main difference, however: U.S. films travel, European titles less so. The average U.S. film was broadcast in 3.1 European countries in the period studied, compared to just 1.4 countries per European title. Fewer U.S. films get seen in more European countries. In fact, the 10 most broadcast titles were all U.S. features.

Rupert Wyatt's 2011 Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the most widely distributed title, broadcast in all 18 European countries surveyed.