The European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, has published a new report examining the role of adaptations in European audiovisual fiction production. The study, entitled "Adaptations in audiovisual fiction production in Europe" sheds light on the years 2015 to 2023 and provides exciting insights into the emergence and dissemination of adapted fiction in Europe.
According to the report, over 160 new titles - consisting of TV films and series seasons - and more than 1,400 hours of adapted content are created in Europe every year. In total, adaptations accounted for 14 % of all fictional audiovisual works in this period.
One remarkable finding is that 88 % of European TV and streaming adaptations are based on original works from Europe. More than half of these originals come from the UK, Germany, France and Spain. In contrast, only around 12 % of European adaptations are based on non-European works, primarily from the USA.
Streaming services such as Netflix are playing an increasingly important role in this. They rely more heavily on adaptations than traditional television broadcasters: between 2021 and 2023, 20 % of the original fiction produced by streaming providers was based on existing originals, while the proportion was 15 % for private television broadcasters and 11 % for public broadcasters. The BBC, ZDF, ARD, Netflix and France Télévisions were particularly active in commissioning adaptations during this period, each realising more than 100 adaptations.
Most adaptations are based on books (74 %) or existing television series (19 %). Crime and detective novels are particularly popular, with works by Agatha Christie and Claudia Rossbacher among the most frequently adapted. However, the number of book adaptations fell by 13 % from 2022 to 2023, which is largely due to a general decline in fictional audio production in Europe.
The origin of the source material is also interesting: while most book adaptations come from the same country as the production itself, the source material for series adaptations almost always comes from abroad. Remakes of successful formats such as the Norwegian series SKAMthe British series Liarthe Israeli series BeTipul (In therapy) and the Belgian series Professor T.
In geographical terms, the share of adaptations in national fictional production is highest in the United Kingdom (25 %), followed by Italy, Sweden, France, Spain and Poland. While British and German productions rely heavily on book adaptations, countries such as the Netherlands and the Czech Republic combine books and series adaptations in equal measure.
Formats such as high-quality series with up to 13 episodes per season (54 %) or TV films (36 %) dominate the adaptation genre. In addition, the proportion of adaptations in co-productions is significantly higher (23 %) than in purely nationally produced content (13 %).
This comprehensive study shows that adaptations have become an essential part of European audiovisual fiction - with books as the main source of inspiration and a growing influence of international series templates.
The report "Adaptations in audiovisual fiction production in Europe" download.
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