These measure exist to ensure cultural and creative industries, European content doesn't mean content recorded in Europe by Americans...it's content from people in the country of origin. And all creative industries (cinema, music, etc.) don't only give money to few "millionaires", there is a lot of "common people" working in recording studios, live events, movie making etc.
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Apple TV+ Could Face Ban in Europe Unless It Meets Proposed Requirement of 30% European Content
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Darth Tulhu
macrumors 68020
No one had asserted anything against America yet and you were already playing the victim. You guys make me shake my head every time.
Do you really believe people from other countries don't like local content and only want to watch Hollywood ****?
Produce content that people want to watch and there will be no need for quotas. These are services to which people have to go out of their way to subscribe (unlike cable bundles). If people want shows that Apple is not producing, they will not subscribe. France has routinely required a certain amount of French content for movie theaters, but it cannot force people to watch it (and so they do not). Quotas like these do not strengthen this industry, they weaken it. If one knows one will get paid no mater how many people watch, one has not incentive to produce content that it of wide interest.
So EU content...... Lindenstrasse (Germany), Coronation street (UK), Some weird B/W French films, Spanish bullfighting, Fado (Portugal), Some weird Rumainian folk music program, Polish politics, Swedish version of the Price is Right ?????
The point of this legislation is to give European content a chance to compete against much cheaper American content. Why is it cheaper? Because what we get is second hand, the US has a very large domestic market which is all the same language. Selling to Europe is like printing money, the cost is lower and profit higher. European content is mostly produced for a single language region which is a much smaller base than with global streaming services. This means that for European production to survive, US importing needs to be regulated. It’s not ”Europe first”, it’s ”Let European media survive too”.
By the way India already has this legislation in place.
By the way India already has this legislation in place.
Darth Tulhu
macrumors 68020
I disagree with whoever is driving this ban.
It smacks of nationalist information suppression.
And I HATE nationalism and those who advocate it in any/all its forms.
It smacks of nationalist information suppression.
And I HATE nationalism and those who advocate it in any/all its forms.
If people want to watch other product, they would not need a quota. The existence of Apple TV+ does not preclude anyone creating a EuroTV+ service that focused on European content. If people do not like the selection of any of these services, they are not required to subscribe to them.
These posts are bang on.
If the mandated minimum can’t be met another approach would be to cut non-British content to sway the percentage. In the end bad for everyone.
....and that is why we (UK) voted leave.
I was vaguely hopeful (although ready to be disappointed) that the streaming era would eventually lead to the downfall of regional licensing deals. Of course I naively looked at this from the industry perspective and ignored governmental bodies. 
(not that industry would let go easily either)
(not that industry would let go easily either)
Why? aren't we free to choose what we want to watch? if the content on apple TV is not european, so what, I can switch channels and get what I want elsewhere, total pointless bs imho.... politics interfering once again...
They should have more than enough content if UK content counts. A lot of British shows are a lot better than stuff what Hollywood puts out. There's good storyline and dialogue, unlike so many 'Merican rom-com, sit-com, action/superhero shows. Fawlty Towers, Red Dwarf, Black Adder, Are You Being Served? so much better than anything I see over the air in the US, except Star Trek reruns.
I watch a some British dramas on PBS because the storyline and dialogue. Great stuff.
The population of the EU is under 450M people. Worldwide population is 7.7B people. So EU represents just under 6% of the global population.
I'd say having as little as 3% of the content be from the European Union would be perfectly fair. Requiring a minimum of 30% is just insane - that's like requiring that 250% of executives to be a particular gender.
China or India could reasonably argue that 10-15% of content being from their respective countries is fair. EU is just insane with what they're asking for.
I'd say having as little as 3% of the content be from the European Union would be perfectly fair. Requiring a minimum of 30% is just insane - that's like requiring that 250% of executives to be a particular gender.
China or India could reasonably argue that 10-15% of content being from their respective countries is fair. EU is just insane with what they're asking for.
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This is just insane government regulation if people want to pay for it let them have it. I pay for BBC and Korean content and its 0% American. What about an Asian or Middle Eastern focused service I'm sure they would have a hard time even justifying a lot of European content.
Darth Tulhu
macrumors 68020
What the hell is going on in the world today?!
We have the ability to be more connected than ever, to understand each other better, to share our triumphs and struggles, and to have a positive impact more than ever before, all through technology.
Instead, it seems to me the level of STUPID has been going up ALL OVER THE DAMN PLANET.
We seem more tribal, more oppressive, more self-victimized, and more angry.
/rant
Sorry fellas, this proposal just pisses me off. The irony.
We have the ability to be more connected than ever, to understand each other better, to share our triumphs and struggles, and to have a positive impact more than ever before, all through technology.
Instead, it seems to me the level of STUPID has been going up ALL OVER THE DAMN PLANET.
We seem more tribal, more oppressive, more self-victimized, and more angry.
/rant
Sorry fellas, this proposal just pisses me off. The irony.
If it is a cost issue, then subsidize the production (which they already do).
Why is the cost lower? It costs more to make content available in other regions for things like local edits, subtitling, dubbing, rights acquisition, etc. If you are saying Europeans cannot produce content that a broad market wants to watch, that seems like a problem for the content. The reason Netflix has so much European content is that it gets it so cheaply (as it is almost all subsidized).
Again, if you are producing content that is only of interest in a single language region, then of course it will not be of interest to anyone else. Israel is a tiny market and yet has produced quite a few shows that have been picked up in the United States, not counting all those that have had American versions produced. Again, I have no problem with the EU taking tax money and subsidizing production of local content and creating a free EU streaming service with that content. My issue is the requirement that other companies be forced to subsidize it when their views are not interested.
Sorry, that might have be an argument for linear TV and movie theaters. There is no restriction on how many streaming services can exist, so nothing limits people who want to watch European content from doing so. Forcing Amazon, Apple, Disney and Netflix to license European content does not restrict how much American content people in Europe watch. It just forces all customers who do not care about it to pay for it anyway.
I would just pull it from the EU all together ... let them watch their local content and lose access ... I mean the EU is always pulling crap to appease their needs costing its citizens ultra high taxes with very little return.
Nice try... but how do we want to add those 30%? That much content would need to exist in first place... and, no, we don't need "content" like "Berlin Tag & Nacht"...
Netflix is already doing its best on "diversifying" its production all over the planet (kudos for that - and one of the reason I keep the subscription). I don't really think more can be done... (in a meaningful way)
Netflix is already doing its best on "diversifying" its production all over the planet (kudos for that - and one of the reason I keep the subscription). I don't really think more can be done... (in a meaningful way)
I don’t think ‘forced’ content works. It doesn’t benefit anyone. If you can make a good show, you should make a good show, but you shouldn’t be forced to come up with something.
At the moment I only watch Hollywood shows, because there isn’t anything local that appeals to me at the moment. But they can definitely create appealing content here. We don’t need such stupid rules for companies. If I want those rules I’ll move to China or North Korea.
I would as well, but the way this law is written seems like nonsense. What qualifies? Can you compare a budget film with a $100 million dollar production? What if 4 governments had a 30% rule? What if a film was produced 50% in the EU. What about licensed content and back catalogs? So many ways this is impractical.