From Nordic Noir to Belgian Bright?

Players in the European market have developed a series of transnational collaborations and practices in the cross-border production and distribution of audio-visual content, media ownership, regulation and audience reception. Transnational subscription video-on-demand platforms have also visibly increased their investments in original content, in their attempt to expand and maintain their international subscriber bases. Among them, Netflix has been particularly active in investing in European markets. This article traces the evolution of Netflix investments in European original scripted series produced between 2012 and 2020 and analyses the platform’s investment strategies in European markets through the lens of transnational television theory. The findings point to various elements of transnationalisation, placing European originals at the intersection between local and global, through market dynamics, strategic collaborations and content with transnational appeal. The findings also confirm the growing importance of rights retention and premium content offerings through the increase of big-budget commissions, particularly in developed European markets.

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Netflix in Europe: Four Markets, Four Platforms? A Comparative Analysis of Audio-Visual Offerings and Investment Strategies in Four EU States

Iordache

2021

Television & New Media

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In the context of Netflix’s rapid expansion in European markets and its growing investments in original content, this article conducts a comparative case study analysis of Netflix offerings and investment strategies in four European Union countries: Belgium, Romania, Spain, and Sweden. A first aim of the article is to establish the extent to which offerings in these markets confirm or reshape the findings of transnational flow studies on the imbalance of content supply. A second aim is to analyze how these offerings reflect the platform’s investment strategies in the different markets. Although findings point to increased diversity in catalog composition, as well as growing investments in European works, Netflix also reconfirms and contributes to existing power imbalances between markets. US content dominates the four European catalogs, while investments in European original content considerably favor strong media markets over weaker ones.

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From Nordic Noir to Belgian Bright?

Cited by 5 publications

References 14 publications

From Undercover to Ferry: SVOD Franchise Development in Small European Audiovisual Markets

From Undercover to Ferry: SVOD Franchise Development in Small European Audiovisual Markets

Transnationalisation revisited through the Netflix Original: An analysis of investment strategies in Europe

Netflix in Europe: Four Markets, Four Platforms? A Comparative Analysis of Audio-Visual Offerings and Investment Strategies in Four EU States

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