C21 and O&O Business Sentiment Report 2021/22

The survey was conducted during November and December 2021, looking at topics ranging from the impact of Covid-19 and the latest trends in content to what the future of the industry looks like.

More than 200 respondents participated in the survey, sharing their thoughts and insights. The respondents came from across the sector, with 51% active in production, 20% in rights distribution and a further 8% in content commissioning or acquisitions, with the remainder from a range of sector activities including financing and advisory services.

Understandably, the sector has faced major disruption since early 2020 brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. Two-thirds of producers experienced delays or cancellations to production activities since the start of the pandemic, with 72% reporting that their company received financial support to help mitigate the impact of the disruption. Sixty-five percent of producers reported that all their delayed productions have restarted since restrictions eased.

Shrinking content budgets from traditional broadcasters was seen as one of the most important issues facing the content sector, identified as a major concern by 75% of respondents.

This could be connected to the strength of traditional players in the commissioning market, as 68% of producers stated that in recent years they have been working most with national linear networks, while only 25% said they work most with global SVoD players.

This trend, however, is expected to change when looking to the future, as 72% of producers said they see most of their production business in the next five years coming from global SVoD platforms. Sixty-seven percent of respondents also indicated the demand for drama content is likely to increase over the next five years.

Among content commissioners, nearly 60% indicated they find comedy and documentaries the hardest genres to commission, with new ideas often in short supply, while 43% of commissioners felt the drama market to be saturated. Half of commissioners suggested they expect to commission more documentary content, with one-third expecting to order less animated content in the next five years.

As we’ve seen already, the pandemic has had a far-reaching impact on the sector, not least for those working in rights distribution.

Sixty-four percent of distributors reported an increase in the demand for content distributed by their business since the start of Covid-19, while almost one-third of distributors said they are now experiencing a lack of new catalogue. Looking ahead, 30% of distributors expect the demand for US content to increase in the next five years and 75% expect the price of licensed drama to increase over the same period.

One subject that has increased in prominence over recent years is the measurement of on-demand audiences. Eighty-three percent of respondents felt they don’t know enough about on-demand audience measurement, with only 16% reporting they are very satisfied with the way on-demand audiences are currently measured.

Given the global success of Squid Game, perhaps it is no surprise that it was identified by respondents as the most influential show of 2021, while nearly one-third of respondents felt South Korea had become the hottest territory for new ideas and format development.

With the launch of so many new streamers in recent years, respondents were less positive about the prospects of some of these platforms – more than 80% anticipate a limited future for players such as Hotstar and Peacock over the next five years.