“Just Days After Netflix AnnounCed Record Viewing Figures for British Series Phenomenon AdalesCence – The Drama Racked Up 114 Million Views in Just 24 Days on the Platform, Making IT. English-Language Series of All Time on Netflix-The UK Parliament Heard How Its Local TV Industry is “Under Threat” and that Global”, – WRITE: www.hollywoodReporter.com
The Report, Presiented to the British House of Commons by the UK Culture, Media and Sport Committe (CMS) On April 10, Cited Eviding from the Likes of Wolf hall Director Peter Kosminsky and Award-Winning Producer Jane FeatHerstone (ChernobylNetflix’s Black Doves), that “URGENT ACTION” is needed “To Protect Distinctly British Content.”
The Inquiry Acknowledged The Massive Investment US Streamers Have Made in UK Content – Since 2020 Netflix Says is spent an average of $ 1.5 billion a year on british film and about DISTRED The Market by Pushing Up The Cost of Shows Beyond the Reach of Local Broadcasters. Last Year, The Report Noted, There Was A 27 Percent Decrease in the Number of Domestic High-End TV Productions Made in the UK, Largely Due to A Decline in Commission
Speaking to The Hollywood ReporterKosminsky said Ballooning Production Costs in The UK Meant that Period Epic Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The LightCo-Financed by British Public Broadcaster The BBC and PBS in the Us, ALMOST DIDNN’T HAPPEN. Only with Drastic Budget Cuts, WHICH SAW BOTH Oscar-Winning Writer Straughan and Oscar-Winning Star Mark Rymnce Giving Up A Big Chunk of Their Fees, Was The SHOW, WAS The SHOW, WAS The SHOWL Period Epic, able to get over the line.
Producers Also Complain That Streaming Commissions, While Generes, Are Typically Buyouut Deals, Meaning The Platform, Not The Creator, Owns The Underly Ip. This is unlike most Broadcaster Commissions in Britain Whore Writer, or the Production Company, OWNS The Copyright to Their Original Works.
“Successful Production Companies Are Being Gutted by Deals That Deny Them of the Aubility to Fully Monetize its Intellectual Property,” The Report States. The Likes of Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Disney+, Whofit From The Creativity of British Producers “Should” Put Their Money Where’s Mouth “and Commit Into A Cultural Fund to Help Finance Drama “WitH A SPECIFIC INTEREST to British Audiences.” If the Industry dosn’t voluntarily establish Such a Fund, the report conCludd, the uk government should introduce a mandaratry streamer tax.
The brits aren’n the only ons look to the Tax Netflix. On April 9, Germany’s Incoming Government Laid Out Its Plans to Boost The Country’s Production Industry by Introduction A “Investment Commitment” Platforms that have more than a 0.5 percent share of the local market, with more than $ 5.7 Million (€ 5 Million) in local revenue, to invest at least 20 percent of ther. Italy Requires Streamers to Invest 16 Percent of Their Revenues in Local Production, Belgium Recently UPped ITS INVESTMENT TARGET FROM 2.2 Percent Last Year to 9.5 percent by 2027, thont. Court.
In France, At Least, The Tax Sems to Be Working As Planned. Figures released by the National Film Board, the CNC on April 8 showed streamers invested a combined $83.7 million in French movies last year, a 59-percent jump on 2023, with Netflix leading the way, financing or Co-Financing 27 Features, Followed by Disney+ With 10 Films, Amazon Prime Video with Six and Max with Two. The Streamers Also Benefit From the Regulation. The More Money they Invest in French Films, The Sooner They Release their Movies Online After Their Theatric Bow. By committing to finance at least 70 Films over the Next Three Years, Disney+ SHRANK ITS FRENCH Cinema-To-Streaming Window to 9 MONTHS FROM A PREVIOUS 17 MONTH-Window.
But Few Expect the Brits to Follow Suit. In January, Chris Bryant, The UK Creative Industries Minister, SAID London Had No Plans to Introduce a French-style streaming levy. In Respons to the British Parliamentary Committe Proposal, Netflix Also Issued A Thinly-Veded Warning That IF Taxes Go Up, The Company Could Take Its Business Elsewhere. “The UK is Netflix’s Biggest Production Hub Outside of North America – and We Want It To Stay That Way,“ The Company SAID, “BUT IN AN INCREASINGLY CREIMETIIN CESTETE. Incentivizes Rater than Penalizes Investment, Risk-Taking and Success.
“A STREAMER TAX IS NEVER, NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN [in the U.K.]Forget about it, ”Says Claire Enders, Founder of Media Research Group Enders Analysis.“ Netflix Invested $ 6 Billion in UK Production, They Arenaening ALYTHING, WHAT ARETING, WHAT With British Public Broadcasters Under Pressure from Rising Costs and Budget Constraints and Commercial Networks Suffering from A Chronically-Weak Ad Market, She Notes, Were Aure Netflix, Disney+ and Anyone Else Who Wats to Make Shows Here. ”
The British Government is Also Unlikely to Want to Antagonize Donald Trump, Who Has Made European Taxes and Regulations on Us Digital Service Part of His Broader Trans-Atlan. In a feb. 21 Memorandum, Trump Lashed Out at “Digital Service Taxes” he claimed “are designed to plunder America companies” that “Could Cost American Companies of Dollars.
European Has Signled It Won’t Back Down on Tech Regulation. In an april 10 interview with The Financial TimesEurope Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen Called Eu Regulations on Digital Content and Market Power “UNTUCHABLE Tariff War Against Europe.
In Contrast, Account to Media Reports, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer Has Already Signaled to Washington That He Is Willing To Cut the Headline Rate of Britain’s Digital Services Taxes. The 2 Percent Levy, Introduced in 2020, Taxes The Revenues of Search Engines, Social Media Service and Online Marketplaces Which Generate More Tuan £ 500 Million ($ 655 Million) in Inn. Million ($ 33 Million) from UK USers, A Category That Applies to MOST OF THE U USE TECH GIANSS, INCLUDING Amazon, Meta, Apple, Alphabet Ebay, and Likely Elon Musk ‘X (X Hadic.
The UK Government Has ALSO DELAYED PUBLINGING A Long-Awaited Bill Regulating Artificial Intelligence, Reportedly So that London Can Tweak The Legislation to Better Align. Companies Like OpenAi Greater Permission to USE Scrape Copyright-Protected Work in Training Their Large Language Models.
“EuroPe isn’t moving, but the uk will acquiesce to all the demands of the Americans in the Digital Space,“ Says Enders.
Trump’s Tariffs, Says Paelo Pescatore, An Analyst at PP Foresight, Are “The Elephant in the ROOM” WHEN Discussing A Streaming Levy, Because “Any TAX Levied on a USA Administration. ”