European commercial broadcasters spend €15 billion on content

Commercial broadcasters across Europe spent €15.1 billion on content in the last year for which programme spend was measured.

The Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT) commissioned a study from the E-media Institute into the cumulative spend of advertiser-supported broadcasters in the region. The €15.1 billion figure is for 2010.

“We know that European television is an €84 billion sector – but we did not know until today how much of that revenue is reinvested in sport, news, entertainment or movies,” said Philippe Delusinne, CEO of RTL Belgium and president of the ACT. “When the contributions of public broadcasters, and of smaller operators, are also taken into account, we conclude that overall around 40% of broadcasters’ revenues are reinvested in the next season’s schedule. Quite simply, great program content isn’t cheap.”

The report findings come as European Commission research reveals the average European citizen watches linear TV for 228 minutes per day.

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