Television

For anyone that hasn’t read, or doesn’t understand the article, the geo block ban the EU is proposing is aimed at broadcasters who are the primary buyers of content. Geo-blocking means that France Télévisions only serves a French audience, while ZDF serves German… BBC would be a more obvious example for English speaks, but, Brexit.

This ban would consolidate Europe into a single media market and would likely result in Germany and France controlling the a large portion of the content the rest of Europe views.

Additionally, a filmmaker can sell rights to something multiple times if there is interest in each market. This allows for larger budgets than you could afford if only sold once.

The European market is a bit archaic, and the filmmakers concerns are self serving, but consolidation around a few central players doesn’t seem likely to improve quality.

I’ve heard enough Canadians talk about their “second amendment right” to handguns to know there are deeper societal issues that are at risk as well.