European Union and online platforms in global audiovisual politics and economy: Once Upon a Time in America?

Abstract

The purpose of this article is twofold: to consider whether and how the European Union has a strong influence in global audiovisual politics and economy and to analyse whether the United States keeps playing a key role in global audiovisual flows or its domination is challenged by the European Union or other countries. These two purposes are analysed in the light of the rise of global online platforms, seen as the new dominant development in the audiovisual industry. In order to understand the European Union role and influence, the article highlights three interlinked factors: European/internal audiovisual policies, market profile and foreign audiovisual diplomacy. In the end, the article examines the competition that European Union faces in the global film economy, focusing notably on the US/Hollywood, China, India and global online platforms.

Global online platforms, COVID-19, and culture: The global pandemic, an accelerator towards which direction?

“…"The world cinema reflects the economic forces that showed up the global capitalism, namely an economic system that can only be operating in a global dimension" (Michalet, 1987: 112). The launch of disruptive US SVOD servicessuch as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Apple TV Plus, or Disney Plus -and the targeted export strategies of these platforms to global markets (Jin Dal, 2017;Lobato, 2018) follow the mechanics of 'world-cinema' (Vlassis, 2020). Here, the Chinese and European audio-visual markets and the action of regional VOD platforms are indicative of how the US-based platforms are the dominant players worldwide on one side, and on the other of how their global practices could initiate a new wave of media regionalization "with a renewed regional media geography" (Steinberg and Li, 2017: 181).…”

“…Secondly, in Europe, the only pan-European SVOD platforms are US companies, showing once again that the European audio-visual market is still an integrated component of the US entertainment economy (Vlassis, 2020). In 2018, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are the leading players, operating in each EU country.…”

“…The era of globally available, on-demand media content represents a considerable challenge both for policies expected to protect national or local cultures (Debrett, 2009: 822) and for media governance related to production, distribution and consumption of cultural contents (Albornoz and Leiva, 2019). In addition, global streaming platforms have traditionally favored self-regulation for digital technologies, underpinned by fear of inappropriate State intervention or suspicion of untimely public policies (Simpson et al, 2016;Vlassis et al, 2020). Therefore, their discourse has been built on a deep skepticism towards the intervention of the State for economic, social and cultural purposes.…”

“…The arrival of global online platforms represents an unprecedented change in production, dissemination and consumption of audio-visual content (Albornoz and Leiva, 2019;Nieborg and Poell, 2018;Vlassis et al, 2020). "The presence of these intermediaries in the everyday lives of citizens and consumers is raising major policy issues" (Mansell, 2015: 21).…”

“…"The presence of these intermediaries in the everyday lives of citizens and consumers is raising major policy issues" (Mansell, 2015: 21). Thus innovative subscription video on demand (SVOD) platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, or HBO Max, have major impact on the balance of power in the global audio-visual economy (Lobato, 2018;Vlassis, 2020), insofar as platformization drives changes in how people watch TV programs and movies and it entails the rise of the platform as dominant infrastructural and economic model in the industry (Evens and Donders, 2018: 4). In this context, the rise of global streaming platforms leads different stakeholders to rethink the key norms in the functioning of audio-visual industries (Lotz, 2019) and triggers various regulatory and governance challenges for policymakers (Poell, 2020;Vlassis et al, 2020).…”