Ireland is targeting UK-based TV channels as it continues to accommodate major relocations ahead of Brexit, according to the Guardian.
The country has already welcomed the likes of Barclays and Bank of America to its EU-related HQ in Dublin, and is now reaching out to broadcasters who may also need to relocate to continue broadcasting across the bloc.
Under cross-frontier broadcasting licensing laws, broadcasters need just one ‘country of origin’ licence in one EU state to be able to broadcast throughout the bloc.
“The likes of Discovery, Turner – they are all potential movers,” Martin Shanahan, the head of the country’s Industrial Development Authority, told the Guardian. “We are going to be starting conversations with some of these organisations in the near future.”
Around 1,400 channels are based in London, with 750 of them broadcasting to another EU country.
Companies are now looking to cities such as Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt to retain their ‘passport’ to operate across the EU, and Ireland is attempting to get the jump on its rivals in the broadcasting sector.
It faces stiff competition, with Belgian authorities understood to have also held events in London for the broadcasting industry, as well as Luxembourg.
“The UK is Europe’s number one broadcasting hub for good reason and no one wants to restructure their business. But if a UK broadcasting licence is no longer recognised by the EU, international channels will have no choice [but to move],” said Adam Minns, the head of the Commercial Broadcasters Association.
As with banking, a broadcaster needs to have significant presence in the country of its EU regulation – meaning core functions such as commissioning editors and schedulers will have to move.
Ireland has reportedly already lured 21 financial services to Dublin.
