According to new figures from the European Audiovisual Observatory’s MAVISE database on audiovisual services in Europe, some 250 broadcast licences have migrated away from the UK due to Brexit.
The organisation’s research found Brexit and the transposition of the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) has led to a number of UK-originating channels relocating over the last two years.
Companies that have moved their licences out of the UK include Discovery, Disney, NENT, NBC, Viacom, Sony, SPI International, Turner as well as the international versions of both the BBC and Sky. In total, around 250 broadcasting licences migrating during this period according to MAVISE.
Most TV channels which relocated were cross-border services targeting foreign European audiences outside the country of origin.
Half of the channels available in Europe outside their country of origin (as defined by the European regulations) fell under UK jurisdiction in 2018, as opposed to only 10 per cent at the end of 2020.
The EAO said this shift has led changes in the location of broadcasters’ main European hubs, with the Netherlands now the most popular location at 27 per cent. It’s followed by Luxembourg (19 per cent), Spain (15 per cent), the United Kingdom (10 per cent) and France (6 per cent). It added that these figures have been taken in a context in which post-Brexit consequences are still to be felt and the AVMSD transposition is yet to be completed across the board.
