LONDON SCREENINGS: German broadcasters and platforms are buying British in a big way, as new platforms emerge and competition hots up.
Jens Richter
Data published by UK producers’ trade body Pact and research outfit 3Vision last November revealed Germany jumped from sixth largest buyer of UK television content in 2021/22 to the third largest in 2022/23. That’s quite a leap.
The 3Vision study comes to clear a conclusion: Germany is now the third most important market for UK programme exporters after the US and Australia.
German networks and platforms spent a hefty £108m (US$136m) on TV and streaming content from the UK – a rise of 26% on 2021/22 and up 88% on the total for 2020/21. That means Germany accounts for around a quarter of all revenue generated by British exporters abroad.
Jens Richter, CEO of commercial and international at RTL Group-owned production and distribution group Fremantle, says the data reflects an earlier boom in new platforms in Germany.
“You always have to bear in mind, especially when it comes to coproduction, there is always a time lag. This means that most of these deals were closed in 2021 and 2022. That was a time of ‘peak TV,’ when all platforms were competing strongly with each other.”
A number of new VoD services were launched in Germany in particular, which is one of the main reasons for the increase. “Overall, from a macro perspective, demand for UK productions has increased. That’s a mega-trend,” says the exec.
Frank Tönsmann
Given the amount of UK content on its slate, Germany is an important market for his company. “For example, we have launched a Jamie Oliver FAST channel on Pluto TV, and this month it will be launched on Samsung TV, which is a new form of exploitation for us and a new way of reaching viewers,” says Richter.
In general, Fremantle is well established in Germany with a variety of dramas, cookery, lifestyle and factual formats. Subsidiary UFA operates as a German division, but when it comes to a local version of a format like Got Talent, the fees go to London and the production revenue is counted in the local market.
As far as the Oliver formats are concerned, RTL Germany has the majority of pay TV, free TV and streaming rights. A comprehensive, multi-year framework agreement has been concluded with rights holder Fremantle, which gives RTL priority access to the entire portfolio.
Furthermore, Frank Tönsmann, commissioning editor at regional broadcaster WDR, is not surprised there has been a significant increase in demand for UK content. He is responsible for coordinating series at WDR and also for international coproductions.
“With 80 million inhabitants, Germany is the largest domestic market in Europe, and interest in UK content is traditionally very strong here. A few years ago, we founded an initiative with [other regional German broadcasters] SWR and NDR called Fab Fiction to promote coproductions in the series sector,” says Tönsmann.
WDR successfully aired an adaptation of BBC crime drama Happy Valley
Examples of past UK formats with which WDR has had good experiences are Happy Valley, Wakefield and the remake of All Creatures Great & Small. But the initiative isn’t limited to UK content; he is currently preparing a major project with Irish partners, with filming due to start in the spring.
“Today, we are always interested in participating in coproductions, because for around three years our focus has been on the [on-demand] library and we would not license a programme that could not be offered in the library to an appropriate standard,” says the WDR exec.
This is because licensed productions can usually only be placed in the content libraries of public broadcasters for a short time. However, while the costs of coproductions might be slightly higher, the rights position is usually better.
“The difference is no longer so great, as there are now always several partners involved in such coproductions,” says Tönsmann. In the licensing business, €100,000 (US$108,000) per episode is a common figure, he says, whereas in coproductions, it can be up to €150,000 per episode, unless it is an exceptional project like sci-fi drama The Swarm.
Oliver Bachert
The fact content from the UK has always been attractive in Germany has to do with cultural familiarity. “German audiences are more familiar with the Anglo-American region than with the South American region, for example,” says Tönsmann.
In terms of content, he sees “immersivity” growing in importance. “Audiences are looking less for specific genres and more for unknown narrative worlds they can immerse themselves in. Horror, fantasy and near-future are the right areas for this,” he explains.
When it comes to getting hold of UK content, WDR is usually approached directly by UK producers. “This usually happens at international events such as Content London or during a pitching session. Such events are important for building networks,” says Tönsmann.
In principle, his station does not provide basic financing for such projects and nor does it take the lead, and it is therefore interested when UK producers have a domestic broadcaster as a financier.
Oliver Bachert, chief distribution officer at Beta Film, confirms there is now more participation in UK content than before. “This has to do with the fact the markets have opened up more, with different financing models. The platforms no longer want everything, which gives us more room to act as coproducers,” he says.
According to Bachert, Beta is also always an early partner, but not the first. “We still have various levers to bring in ideas in terms of content and rights – and that is a better model for us than licensing, where we can no longer exert any influence at all.”
Successful UK formats on the Beta slate include Professor T, Hotel Portofino and The Couple Next Door, coproduced with the UK’s Eagle Eye Drama. At London TV Screenings this week, the two firms announced new crime series Patience (6×60’), starring Laura Fraser (Breaking Bad) as detective Bea Metcalf. Meanwhile, Professor T has just been greenlit for a fourth season, bringing the total number of episodes in the series to 24.
Terra X airs BBC natural history series Planet Earth III
German public broadcaster ZDF, which describes itself as “Europe’s largest coproducer,” likewise considers the UK market one of the most interesting and it has numerous important co-operations underway with British players in current affairs and documentaries.
“BBC Studios, Journeyman Pictures and ITV Studios, for example, produce high-quality journalistic and documentary content that fits in well with ZDF’s offering,” says Florian Kumb, ZDF’s head of planning.
Referring to some of ZDF’s content strands, he says: “ZDFinfo also licenses documentaries from British suppliers in order to integrate their perspective into its own offerings; Auslandsjournal repeatedly takes up foreign reports; and Terra X also broadcasts glossy documentaries that are produced together with the BBC, such as the current series Planet Earth III.”
In addition to such high-quality docs, fiction from the UK plays a role on ZDF too. Free-to-air channel ZDFneo relies on “young and edgy programmes with a British flavour” in order to provide a focus for young audiences, explains Kumb.
Florian Kumb
“The genre spectrum of the series ranges from young-adult dramas to thrillers and comedy,” he explains. Together with the ZDFneo commissions and coproductions from other European countries, the UK series form a striking fiction slate.
For the main ZDF channel, the focus is primarily on British crime thriller series, as these enjoy great popularity among crime fans in Germany and expand the genre offering in the ZDF portfolio with some “European colour.”
ZDF works “trustingly” with UK partners, in the context of both coproductions and licensed programmes, Kumb adds. “For example, ZDFneo has recently acquired licences for British series such as Hullraisers, The Outlaws and This Is Going To Hurt,” he says.
However, there are also coproductions with the BBC in the field of young-adult fiction, including A Good Girls Guide to Murder. For the main ZDF schedule, a close collaboration has also developed between ZDF, the European Alliance and the BBC for fictional programmes, from which Around the World in 80 Days emerged.
In addition to the literary adaptation The Famous Five, an international coproduction between ZDF and the BBC, the German broadcaster was brought on by All3Media International as a copro partner on two seasons of drama thriller The Tourist.
As well as German in-house and commissioned productions, which make up the largest share of the line-up, European coproductions and licensed formats are also an important part of ZDF’s content offering. High-quality UK series, in particular, are very popular with viewers.
Jamie Dornan in ZDF and BBC coproduction The Tourist
Nick Percy, president of global markets, global media and streaming at BBC Studios (BBCS), confirmed the UK pubcaster’s close relationship with ZDF.
“We have a wonderful long-term partnership with ZDF to develop and coproduce world-class content, including the recent drama The Famous Five, based on the best-selling Enid Blyton books, alongside landmark series from our BBCS Natural History Unit – for example, Asia, which tells the story of the biggest continent on Earth through its epic landscapes and spectacular wildlife, and Mammals, which offers fascinating insights into the most successful animal group in the world.”
The BBC exec adds that scripted and natural history are not the only genres that are popular with German broadcasters. “Before the title launches at [the BBC’s] Showcase 2024, we have pre-sold to ZDFinfo the BBCS Science Unit’s upcoming landmark Solar System [working title], which explores the amazing events unfolding among the planets and moons of the solar system around us every day.”
Beyond his work with public service broadcasters, Percy also has a substantial factual output deal with Sky Deutschland, with upcoming titles including Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby S5, which highlights what it takes to make luxury hotels work, and Gods of Tennis, which explores the golden age of the sport.
The situation is similar at German commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 (P7S1), which has increased the amount of UK content it acquires in recent years.
Successful UK gameshow format The 1% Club was launched on P7S1’s channel Sat.1 as 1% Quiz – wie Schlau ist Deutschland, with Jörg Pilawa as host, at the beginning of 2023 to strong ratings. The follow-up season has been running since autumn 2023 with a strong reach well above the station average.
“We are looking for UK productions for our pay channels, particularly in the scripted sector. These include series such as Ripper Street, The Outlaws, Trigonometry, Scott & Bailey, Dead Pixels and The Musketeers,” a P7S1 representative revealed.
There are already a high number of UK unscripted format adaptations and ready-mades in the P7S1 schedules, particularly in factual. Examples include Gordon Ramsey: Uncharted on ProSieben Maxx and The Supervet and Tattoo Fixers on Sixx.
Another permanent fixture on the Sat.1 grid is Das Große Backen, adapted from The Great British Bake Off. This year marks the show’s 12th season for baking fans from German-speaking countries, and the show now has two successful brand extensions: Das Große Backen – Die Profis and Das Große Promibacken.
A German version of The 1% Club debuted on Sat.1 as 1% Quiz – wie Schlau ist Deutschland
The second season of Roadtrip Amerika – Drei Spitzenköche auf vier Rädern, the German version of Gordon, Gino & Fred: Road Trip fronted by local stars Frank Rosin, Alexander Kumptner and Ali Güngörmüş, has just had a strong start on Kabel Eins.
“British formats are still a focus for us – in all genres. The high production value of the formats, no matter what time of day they are shown, and the huge range of game and quizshows, which already herald teatime, provide a wealth of new ideas every year,” a P7S1 representative says.
“We are also looking for UK productions for our pay channels, particularly in the scripted sector. These include series such as Ripper Street, The Outlaws, Trigonometry, Scott & Bailey, Dead Pixels and The Musketeers.”
Finally, shows and format licences from the UK are an important basis for success at commercial German network RTL.
These include Let’s Dance (adapted from Strictly Come Dancing), IBES (I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!), Lego Masters, Bauer Sucht Frau (Farmer Wants a Wife), DSDS (Pop Idol), Das Supertalent (Got Talent) and Wer wird Millionär (Who Wants to be a Millionaire?).
Germany has always been and will be a very important market for UK exporters, concludes Percy.
“There are always opportunities to grow, but in our experience, the appetite for British content has always been strong and steady and the major German public broadcasters, in particular, are important partners for BBCS,” he says, pointing out the BBC has nearly 30 years of expertise in the country, with its own office in Cologne, and has built up strong relationships.
