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48 Communication Theory & Research
thus non-European) countries (such as the USA, Australia, New Zealand).
Germany and France search for co-productions within Europe, but they also show
a clear preference for cooperation with countries from the same language group.
Germany co-produces with Austria and German-speaking Switzerland and France
with French-speaking Belgium (Wallonia) and French-speaking Switzerland
(Buonanno, 1998a: 18). Co-productions deteriorate into an extension of the
national productions: deeply rooted in the cultural tradition of the dominant
country which also provides the main market (Buonanno, 1998a: xvi).

Films vs series

In our survey, the category of ‘fiction’ was further subdivided into ‘films’ and
‘series’. This brought to light some striking differences between both genres. The
US dominance is, for both films (57.4 percent) and series (64.2 percent), an
indisputable fact. It is striking, though, that the share of the American film
increases in prime-time (up to 67.2 percent) whereas the share of American series
decreases strongly (to 39.4 percent). The Hollywood movie dominates not only
the European cinemas but also the European television screen and this during
peak-time. American series on the other hand are used first and foremost to ‘fill
in’ the broadcasting schedules on the commercial channels in the morning and
afternoon and during the night.
The share of national series is everywhere much higher than the share of
national films and their concentration in prime-time is striking. In the 1990s, the
production of home-made series gained momentum in most European countries
(such as Germany, the Netherlands, Flanders – countries with formerly an
almost non-existent soap tradition). The increase of the domestic series coincides
with an increase of series in general. Eurofiction speaks of the ‘serialization of
domestic products’: ‘more serials and soap operas were being produced [in
1997], having formats that extended over an undefined, and even infinite
number of episodes’ (Buonanno, 1998b: 302). According to Mohr and O’Donnell
(1996: 62), the rapid evolution in the 1990s to more domestic series is the result
of the increasing competition between the increased number of channels:

The real ‘soap wars’ in Europe – both in relation to domestic and imported
serials – are no longer between Europe and America, but between different
stations competing within the same domestic market.

Series, and especially domestic series, attract viewers and commit them to daily
channel loyalty. It is mainly economic motives that are at the basis of this
evolution and not the concern about the national culture or European quota for
national productions. However, a number of authors (e.g. Picard, 1999) predict
that as a result of the future fragmentation of the television market and
consequently of the advertising market, television channels will have at their
disposal less and less revenue and fewer and fewer means to invest in their own
productions. [...]