Text of press release by EU-funded The European Audiovisual Observatory on 15 October; subheadings as published
[Over 6,500 TV channels available in the European Union and candidate countries (Croatia and Turkey) in 2008]
As this year’s MIPCOM [the world's audiovisual content market in Cannes] reaches its halfway mark, the European Audiovisual Observatory announced its latest figures on the European TV markets in 29 countries. This data comes from the Observatory’s MAVISE database, created in 2007 for the DG Communication of the European Commission.
The Strasbourg-based Observatory announced that, as of 15 October, the estimated supply of TV channels in 27 EU markets and Croatia and Turkey was as follows:
The Observatory estimates that around 6500 channels are currently available to EU audiences. The database MAVISE currently identifies 5068 active channels. The Observatory’s survey of local television channels is still ongoing: a further estimated 1,500 small local channels are active in European markets and will be progressively added to the database. Of the 5068 channels identified in MAVISE, 4663 channels are established in one of the 27 EU countries or in the two candidate countries (Croatia and Turkey), and 405 originate from third countries.
Of the 4663 European channels already in the MAVISE database, this includes:
- 381 nationwide terrestrial channels (with an analogue and/or digital national licence),
- 2473 nationwide channels accessible through cable, satellite or IPTV (656 of those channels are established in one country and target one or more other countries),
- 1809 regional and local channels (including windows).
The Observatory’s analysis of the breakdown of channels (local channels excluded) according to country of establishment shows that the UK is by far the country with the highest number of channels : 883 compared with 300 in Germany, 284 in Italy, 252 in France and 199 in Spain. The UK’s leading position can be explained not only by the large number of thematic channels intended for the national market but also by the considerable number of channels established in the UK and targeting other European countries. Film and sport are the favourite genres for thematic channels
The MAVISE database also allows a statistical analysis of the range of channels available by genre. Among the channels available in Europe in 2008, generalist channels offering a mixture of different programme genres still represent the largest category: 376 channels of this kind are available.
Film channels represent the largest genre of thematic TV channels (333 channels), followed by sports channels (324 channels), entertainment channels (269 channels), and music channels (238 channels).
There are also 201 news and business channels, 189 children’s channels, 135 documentary channels, 110 lifestyle channels, 103 home-shopping channels, 69 cultural/educational channels, and 26 travel channels on the market.
(Source: The European Audiovisual Observatory, Strasbourg, in English 15 Oct 08 via BBC Monitoring)
on Oct 17th, 2008 at 13:56
How many are worth watching I wonder?
I watch much less TV than I did 10-20
years ago and there are many more channels.
on Oct 18th, 2008 at 08:35
I have Sky TV here in the UK with hundreds of channels to choose from. The truth is I only actually watch about 25 channels on a regular basis. Hundreds of channels doesn’t equal better TV I’m afraid. Some channel’s content is very poor, in fact I’m not sure how some channels keep going with the poor viewing figures they surely have.
on Oct 19th, 2008 at 06:47
Nowadays (given Sky’s current EPG rules) you’ll find numerous channels carrying any old garbage (0113 for example [yes I know its radio] ) simply in order to hang on to the EPG listing until a “proper” broadcaster waives a very large cheque under their nose …
A Sky Digital EPG slot is a very valuable commodity …