The market share of UK-based TV channels has dropped by five per cent year-on-year due to uncertainty over Brexit, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory.
The organisation’s MAVISE TV and VoD database revealed that the market share fell to 22 per cent in 2019, though the UK remains the biggest contributor to the overall supply of TV channels in the EU.
The report said the decline was led by the migration of channels as international TV networks (including Discovery, Viacom and Sony) sought to maintain distribution after Brexit, by applying for broadcasting licences outside the UK.
“This relocation saw the share of channels based in the UK and targeting markets beyond national borders drop to 57 per cent in 2019 (down by five per cent year-on-year),” said the European Audiovisual Observatory.
“Half of the TV channels targeting foreign EU markets were UK-based in 2018, as opposed to just over one third at the end of 2019,” it added.
