Homemade Euro Fare On Rise Homemade Euro Fare On Rise / Study: More Local Shows In Primetime,...

The dramatic rise of locally produced fiction programming for primetime slots in the European marketplace is detailed in a new report that recorded an increase of 380 episodes in 1998. A total of 3,412 hours of locally made fiction aired in primetime in the five main European markets last year.

However, non-primetime slots on foreign broadcaster schedules saw a drop in homemade fiction of about 400 hours.

The contrast seems to confirm what U.S. studio executives have been predicting for some time: local programming will not always work for foreign broadcasters, and when that happens, they revert to reliable American product.

The study also indicates that the saturation level of primetime programming in Europe varies greatly from country to country. According to the Strasbourg-based European Audiovisual Observatory report called "Eurofiction: Television Fiction in Europe," the United Kingdom's primetime schedule consists of 89% locally produced fiction programming, while Italy's has only 17%.

Germany's primetime schedule contains 69% local fiction programming, France has 47% and Spain 50%.

"The report gives a good idea of the huge differences of quantity and structure of the national production in the examined five main European countries," said Milly Buonanno, editor of the Eurofiction report and coordinator of the project.

Almost two-thirds of the 5,095 hours of fiction made in the main European markets was produced in Germany and the United Kingdom. France and Italy combined made up for less than 20% of the production output.

The report points out that there is an "ongoing erosion" of production in France, while the Spanish TV industry nearly doubled its output in the past two years. But the Spanish TV industry is focused largely on soaps and longform series and offers a limited quantity and variety of titles.

The overall growth of fiction production in Europe is a result of "the reduced attraction of American TV fiction for large audiences, the disproportionate increase of prices for films and sports rights in combination with the success of indigenous fiction," the report concludes.

It also suggests, however, that where reduced production is seen, the reasons vary from increased production costs to a dearth of well-trained staff.