As the Great British Switch-Off continues to loom on the horizon, Irish television broadcasters are bracing themselves for the impact it may have on their industry. While some predict that this could be a mixed blessing, others worry about the potential negative consequences for Irish television. One thing is certain; the change will bring further disruption to an industry already grappling with the challenges of a rapidly evolving media landscape. In this article, we explore the potential impact of the Great British Switch-Off on Irish television and the opportunities that may arise from it.
Irish viewers have long had an enduring love affair with UK television, from top soap operas like Emmerdale, Eastenders, and Coronation Street to premier league soccer games and popular TV dramas such as Peaky Blinders and The Crown. However, a leaked policy document recently revealed 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.
Under the new EU-wide Audiovisual Media Services Directive, adopted by Ireland in December 2022, 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.” Currently, despite Brexit, UK TV is still considered “European content” because they are party to the European Convention on Transfrontier Television. However, the EU Commission may be seeking to change this rule.
MEP for Ireland South Billy Kelleher criticized the leaked proposal as “petty and vindictive” and “politically motivated” while discussing the news with Claire Byrne on RTÉ radio. “It would certainly be very damaging to RTÉ and Irish viewers,” he said. “We need the Irish Government to lobby hard and tell the commission that this is a bridge too far.”
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 favorites.
However, given the demand for English-language TV shows across the EU, there may also be 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, with 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.
Ireland, now 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, joint managing director at Motive Television, the Irish TV production company behind popular reality shows such as Ultimate Hell Week and DIY SOS, 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.
“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 Late Late Toy Show and nine big sporting occasions being the 10 most-watched TV shows in Ireland last year. The biggest UK import was an episode of I’m A Celebrity, at 25 in the most-watched list.
According to TV Audience Measurement Ireland, Irish people watched 3.7bn hours of broadcast TV in 2022 — an average of 2.35 hours of television per day. 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, and 8% are web-only.
While the policy paper may be in the news, there isn’t even a formal proposal to make necessary changes to the Audiovisual Media Services Directive yet, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media. “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.”
