The European audiovisual sector generated around €142bn in revenues in 2024, according to research published in the European Audiovisual Observatory’s Key Trends 2026 report.
Consumer spending – including streaming subscriptions, pay-TV, cinema tickets, and home video – accounted for over half of the market (€72bn), making it the primary engine of growth.
Advertising on linear television, radio, and AVOD services accounted for €38bn, around 27% of total revenues. Public funding of public service broadcasters accounted for €32bn, or 22% of total revenues.
Elsewhere, the report found that European film production hit a record high in 2024 with 2,523 feature films produced across 36 markets, confirming a strong recovery and continued growth since the Covid-19 pandemic. The increase was driven by both fiction and documentary output, while production budgets also continued to rise across much of Europe.
The researchers concluded that European audiences are spending most of their streaming time watching series rather than films. Overall, 78% of viewing time on subscription video-on-demand platforms is devoted to TV series, compared with just 22% for films.
The report also said that global streaming platforms are playing a rapidly growing role in financing European productions. Their share of spending on original European content rose from 8% in 2020 to 24% in 2024, reflecting both regulatory incentives and increasing demand for local stories across global markets.
Despite a vibrant industry, Europe accounts for only 12% of revenues among the world’s largest entertainment companies, far behind the US, which dominates the global market. Meanwhile, major global platforms such as Netflix, YouTube, and Meta are now among the leading audiovisual players operating in Europe.
Leading European broadcasters have called on the European Union to toughen regulation of smart TVs and virtual assistants powered by tech firms such as Google, Amazon, Apple, and Samsung. Discover more here.
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