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The Flemish TV Market

Crime Drama as a Driver for Market Sustainability?

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European Television Crime Drama and Beyond

Part of the book series: Palgrave European Film and Media Studies ((PEFMS))

Abstract

This chapter questions to what extent crime as a genre has been contributing to the sustainability of small television markets. Drawing on quantitative data, the chapter presents an in-depth analysis of crime drama and its importance for sustainability of the TV drama market in Flanders (Belgium). The analysis specifically looks at the volume of crime dramas in Flanders, the diversity of the output, their style and storytelling, and the overall investment in, and budgetary composition of, crime series. The data are collated from the Flanders Audiovisual Fund, broadcasters, independent producers and distributors and is complemented by insights from expert interviews with key representatives in the Flemish television market.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As part of confidentiality agreements, all quotes and references to interviews were anonymised in this chapter.

  2. 2.

    Research for this chapter is part of a commissioned study of existing support mechanisms in Flanders (conducted between July 2016 and April 2017) and research within the framework of the HERA-funded project Mediated Cultural Encounters Through European Screens (MeCETES) which amongst others, investigated the characteristics and thresholds for cross-border distribution of crime fiction.

  3. 3.

    Examples in Flanders are the Parade’s End (BBC and VRT), White Queen (BBC and VRT 2013) and The Missing (BBC and VRT 2014), which were all co-produced with Flemish broadcaster VRT allowing UK producers to attract third-party financing.

  4. 4.

    HHI: the Herfindahl–Hirschman index is a measure of the concentration of a market. It is calculated as the sum of the squares of the market shares of the market actors. A factor above 0.25 indicates strong concentration.

  5. 5.

    Examples are Vossestreken (2016), Coppers (2016) and De Bunker (2015).

  6. 6.

    For example: Dicte (Denmark, €8.7 million), Bron/Broen/The Bridge 3 (Sweden and Denmark, €13.4 million), Den som dræber/Those Who Kill (2013–2016, Denmark, €11million), Trapped (2015, Iceland, €6.8 million), Mammon (2014–, Norway, €8.8 million), Jordskott (2015–, Sweden, €8.8 million).

  7. 7.

    Salamander was sold to several countries and picked up for international streaming by Netflix. Professor T. (2015–) got remakes in France and Germany; Cordon was broadcast on BBC Four in 2015 and remade in the US for the CW television network. Beau Séjour was included in the international Netflix catalogue and aired on ARTE in France and Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Tim Raats

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  1. Tim Raats
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Correspondence to Tim Raats .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aalborg University, Aalborg East, Denmark

    Kim Toft Hansen

  2. Grantham College, Grantham, UK

    Steven Peacock

  3. Faculty of Arts, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia

    Sue Turnbull

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Raats, T. (2018). The Flemish TV Market. In: Toft Hansen, K., Peacock, S., Turnbull, S. (eds) European Television Crime Drama and Beyond. Palgrave European Film and Media Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96887-2_13

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