A new European TV database being launched tomorrow (Wednesday) at MIPTV will provide a significant tool for the film industry, offering benefits for distributors and rights owners, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory.

MAVISE (Marche Audiovisuel Europe), as the database is known, was established by the Observatory at the request of the European Commission (EC) DG for Communication. The aim is to provide the audiovisual industry and institutional decision makers with up-to-date information on developments in the European TV market.

The public version of the database provides key information on over 2,700 European channels and 2,500 companies. The data includes:

  • full contact details of each broadcasting company
  • a description of the channels provided
  • the technical means of broadcast
  • potential audiences
  • a directory of the management structure
  • and links to relevant websites.

Users will also be able to carry out searches on multiple criteria such as country, region, topic, target audience and corporate category.

With the development of digital TV across Europe providing new market opportunities for the film industry, the potential of the database will be evident to users such as distributors and rights owners.

For example, the database will be able to identify channels by genre and in the longer term the aim is to characterise channels in greater detail.

As Andre Lange, Head of Information on Markets and Financing at the Observatory explains, 'One of the key services is that the user will be able to directly identify all film channels existing in 27 countries across Europe. No other database can provide this service. You would be amazed at the number of film channels in Poland for instance. We aim to increasingly specify the specificity of channels. I think it will provide a really nice tool for distributors in the long term.'

The database will also provide access to information that has not previously been readily available, such as the technical penetration of channels, including how many households can actually receive a particular channel.

As Lange points out, 'This type of information could prove to be very useful for right owners when negotiating rights.'

However, the database does not include details of the editorial or production policy of channels.

'The database was designed at the request of the European Commission for news and information purposes. It will allow them to identify TV channels and to better communicate across the EU,' said Lange.

Information on two other areas will only be accessible to the EC - audience data and information about companies' finances.

As Thierry Vissol, an adviser to the European Commission's DG Communication explains, 'In the context of intellectual property rights, it was not possible to make information on the audiences and financial situation of companies available to the public free of charge.'

The launch of the public section of the database marks the end of the first year of a five-year project, which has already seen the development of software, data collection and collation systems.

MAVISE will continue to be extended over the next four years. However, the European Audiovisual Observatory was staying tight-lipped about the exact nature of future developments, preferring to focus on its near-term goals.

'The aim is to compile a list of the 6,000 to 7,000 channels in Europe by the end of the year,' the group said. 'In its present state, the database is far from being complete, but the most important channels in audience terms and the main special-interest channels are included and the database is already proving very useful.'

The database will be available at http://mavise.obs.coe.int and will also be showcased at the Cannes Film Festival next month.

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