Irish viewers may lose some UK TV favourites under EU Commission plan

Irish viewers may lose some TV favourites if an EU Commission plan to take UK-made television out of a definition of 'EU content' comes into force, Ellie O’Byrne writes.

Les Dennis on the set of ‘Coronation Street’. RTÉ and Virgin Media have both raised concerns about the mooted change.

FROM top soaps such as Emmerdale, Eastenders, and Coronation Street to Premier League soccer games, from TV dramas such as Peaky Blinders and The Crown to reality favourites such as I’m a Celebrity and Love Island, the enduring Irish love affair with UK television has stood the test of time.

But is the EU about to break up this marriage?

A policy document leaked to the online news site Politico revealed last week that the EU Commission has floated the idea of removing UK-made TV and film from its definition of “European content,” with potential impacts on Irish audiences.

The new EU-wide Audiovisual Media Services Directive, which Ireland adopted in December 2022, requires that 30% of the content of
on-demand services such as Netflix or RTÉ Player, and 50% of time on broadcast stations, outside of news and sports coverage, should be “European content”.

At present, despite Brexit, UK TV is still currently considered “European content” because they are party to something called the European Convention on Transfrontier Television.

However, the EU Commission may be seeking to change this rule.

MEP for Ireland South Billy Kelleher lashed out at the leaked proposal as “petty and vindictive” and “politically motivated” while discussing the news with Claire Byrne on RTÉ radio this week.

“It would certainly be very damaging to RTÉ and Irish viewers. We need the Irish Government to lobby hard and tell the commission that this is a bridge too far.”

from TV dramas such as Peaky Blinders and The Crown to reality favourites such as I’m a Celebrity and Love Island, the enduring Irish love affair with UK television has stood the test of time. Picture: ITV

Anticipating such a move last year, RTÉ director general Dee Forbes and Virgin Media Television managing director Paul Farrell wrote a joint letter to Media Minister Catherine Martin warning of potentially devastating impacts for Irish broadcasters if they were to lose their UK favourites.

They said a schedule stripped of UK shows would make it hard to maintain

But, given the demand for English-language TV shows across the EU, is there also an opportunity for Irish production companies to cash in on a potential change?

The booming UK film and TV industry needs up to 20,000 new skilled workers to fuel a projected expansion that would see the industry worth over £7bn (€7.9bn) per year by 2025, UK industry magazine Screen Skills reported last summer.

International streaming companies have been investing heavily in the UK: There were 211 “high-end TV projects” being shot in the UK in 2021, attracting inward investment of just under £3.5bn. The UK currently hoovers up 30% of all investment in “European content”, a report for the European Audiovisual Observatory found last year.

But Ireland — now, along with Malta, one of only two EU members with English as an official language — does not even make it into the top 10 countries attracting investment for TV.

Jamie D’Alton is joint managing director at Motive Television, the Irish TV production company behind popular reality shows such as Ultimate Hell Week and DIY SOS.

He believes that if the UK was removed from the definition of European content, Irish production companies would be well positioned to attract more investment from streaming services and international co-productions, an opportunity to stop being so reliant on State funding and RTÉ’s shrinking licence fees.

“I would see it as an exciting opportunity,” he says.

“Other countries across the world are more used to watching English-language content, sometimes with subtitles.”

Mr D’Alton says that being one of only two English-language countries in the EU “offers big opportunities in a market that has been, up to date, reliant on funding from Screen Ireland, the BAI, and licence fees”.

Homegrown content is king of Irish broadcast TV with The 10 most-watched TV shows in Ireland last year were ‘The Late Late Toy Show’ and nine big sporting occasions. The biggest UK import was an episode of ‘I’m A Celebrity’, at 25 in the most-watched list. Get Me Out Of Here has been one of the most popular shows on Irish television

On top of that, he says there might be more co-production opportunities through the North and through Britain as English companies seek ways to
continue to define their
content as European.

“UK production companies might look at ‘back door’ ways into Europe by partnering up with Irish production companies,” he says.

But we won’t be knocking down the set for McCoy’s pub and replacing it with the Rover’s Return any time soon.

The leaked policy paper may be in the news, but there isn’t even a formal proposal to make necessary changes to the Audiovisual Media Services Directive yet, a
spokesperson for the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media told the Irish Examiner.

“Any change to the definition of European works would require an amendment to the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and would have to be formally proposed by the European Commission and agreed by member states and the European Parliament,” they said.

“Prior to any change being proposed, the department would expect that, as is
standard procedure for the European Commission, a full impact assessment would be carried out by the commission to identify any unintended or undesirable consequences arising from such a change.”

Irish people watched 3.7bn hours of broadcast TV in 2022 — an average of 2.35 hours of television per day.

The top 50 most-watched TV shows in 2022 indicate that, for overall numbers, homegrown content is king.

According to TV Audience Measurement Ireland, The Late Late Toy Show was the top-viewed programme in Ireland last year, with over 1.5m viewers.

Sports programming including The Sunday Game Live Senior Gaelic Football, Six Nations, and World Cup coverage dominated the next nine places in the top 10, with viewing figures of 862,000 to 638,000.

UK TV didn’t get a look in for the most part.

An episode of I’m A Celebrity was the top performing UK light entertainment show: 523,000 people tuned in, making it the 25th most-watched show last year.

Viewing numbers are dispersed by the fragmented audience and the enormous variety of what’s on offer, but Irish viewers are watching a lot of UK TV, often via digital satellite connection.

Of Ireland’s 1.725m TV-viewing households:

• 38% have Sky;
• 22% have cable;
• 16% have a satellite dish;
• 5% receive UK channels via an aerial;
• 12% get Irish channels via aerial;
• 8% are web-only.

Irish channels’ top shows

RTÉ 1: Room to Improve, Dancing With The Stars, RTÉ News: Six One, RTÉ News: Nine O’Clock.

RTÉ 2: First Dates UK, First Dates Ireland, Saturday GAA Live Mayo vs Galway, Heineken Champions Cup Leinster vs Racing 92, Heineken Champions Cup Munster vs Northampton.

TG4: GAA BEO, Rugbaí Beo URC, The Three Amigos Live In Concert, The Foster and Allen Show, Glór Tíre

Virgin Media One: Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Harry – The Interview, News at 5.30, The Masked Singer UK Season 4.

Virgin Media Two: Love Island Season 9, The Family Chase, Tipping Point Season 10, The Chase Season 14, Eating With The Enemy Season 2.

Virgin Media Three: Heartbeat Season 5, Heartbeat Season 6, Coronation Street, Doc Martin, Heartbeat Season 4.

Virgin Media Four: Don’t Look Back In Anger, Storage Hoarders Season 1, James Nesbitt’s Ireland, The Deal Makers Season 1, Ireland’s Youngest Grandparents.