Financing European tv fiction in the streaming era: How policy steers investment dynamics between local and global financiers

With the rise of digital technologies and the globalisation of production and distribution, the
bargaining power dynamics between traditional and new financiers and producers of TV
fiction have shifted. Traditional industry boundaries have broken down. Television, film, and
streaming have converged in the evolving landscape, drawing in competitors from outside
sectors. Legacy players in film and television sectors now face competition from different
directions: multinational technology companies such as Amazon and Apple have ventured into
financing film and television productions. Hollywood studios have carried over their
established relationships in film production and distribution into the streaming segment,
aiming to compete with rivals like Netflix and Amazon by launching streaming services.
Operating at global scale, these financiers have disrupted the audiovisual industries and
fundamentally reshaped existing paradigms of production, distribution and consumption,
necessitating new ways to conceptualise competitive dynamics.
In this context, local commissioners of TV fiction have seen their traditional stronghold in
deals with producers being challenged. The roles of public actors and financiers have evolved,
and regulatory approaches in Europe have had to adapt to the complexities introduced by
Internet distribution.
This thesis examines the role of policy in optimising the financing of TV fiction in audiovisual
ecosystems in Europe, in the context of globalisation and the rise of digital technologies.
Beginning with the premise that competition among financiers and producers has been
redefined, it discusses six financing models for TV fiction situated at inter-organisational level.
These models shape the supply and demand relationships between producers and financiers
in audiovisual ecosystems. To analyse the impact of the shifting bargaining power between
local and transnational financiers and producers of TV fiction, this thesis adopts perspectives
on ‘power’ from the economic bargaining theories, the political economy of communication
tradition and the media economics literature.
Relying on interviews, document analysis and data analysis, the research in this thesis
discusses the strategic advantages held by the transnational TV conglomerates, studios and
global streamers as financiers, which allow them to amass significantly stronger bargaining
power relative to producers, public financiers in Europe and other local financiers. To analyse
the bargaining power of producers, the thesis examines the expansion of super-indies and
consolidated groups, challenges linked to the ownership of IP rights, and the link between the
ownership configuration of production companies and types of financiers involved in
productions. The empirical findings show that large integrated companies and super-indies
have stronger bargaining power and more influence over IP rights, motivating some smaller
TV fiction producers to become part of these large groups. Overall, power asymmetries
between financiers predominantly serving local audiences and global financiers point to the
risk of A-list screenwriters and producers of TV fiction with high production value prioritising
collaboration with the latter or committing to work exclusively for them. Global financiers
enter into multi-year first-look agreements with talent and producers, leading to ecosystem
risks such as talent shortages.
The analysis outlines that the primary distinction between the public financing model and the
other five financing models is its focus on public value objectives. The findings show that
audiovisual policy can not only reinforce the public financiers' model, but also ensure that
policy objectives are met through other commercial models for financing fiction. The
configuration of policy tools in place, such as investment obligations, tax incentives, and
selective funding, can either rebalance or intensify the power asymmetries between different
financiers, and between financiers and producers. Policy interventions in certain EU countries
target global financiers of TV fiction, such as streamers aiming not only to increase their
investments, but also to generate cultural value. In particular, the investment obligations for
providers of video-on-demand services in some jurisdictions support cultural diversity and
ownership of IP rights by producers and generate cultural value in the financing models of
studios, global streamers and transnational TV conglomerates.
This research contributes to the fields of media economics and management by adopting an
'ecosystem perspective' to examine the shifting bargaining power between financiers and
producers and by outlining the role of policy in preserving the fabric of independent
production. It provides a comprehensive analytical framework that examines power dynamics
between producers and financiers at the meso-level, cantering on the ownership structures,
performance, and the types of financiers linked to production companies.