TV fiction on European channels declining, says new research

The proportion of fiction in the programming of European TV channels has fallen slightly over recent years, according to new research by the European Audiovisual Observatory.

For the 13 European countries the Observatory has been monitoring since 2006 – including the UK, France, Germany – the proportion of on-air fiction for European channels has fallen from 53.1% of programming time in 2006 to 50.5% in 2013, according to the research.

Broadening the sample to include 17 countries, among them Poland and Portugal, the proportion of fiction programming was found to be 48% in 2013.

“The proportion of fiction varies according to the channel genre. Logically, the position of fiction is particularly significant in the programming of channels that mainly show films: in 2013, for the 17 film channels analysed 91.7% of airtime was devoted to fiction programmes, 80% of these being films. The second category with the most fiction consists of children’s and youth channels,” according to the research.