Comparative VOD catalogue research: Circulation, presence and prominence of British content in Europe

Abstract

Video-on-demand (VoD) platforms have become primary spaces for encounters with transnational film and television, particularly among younger audiences. The expansion of global US-owned VoD services like Netflix has generated questions about the availability, discoverability, and prominence of domestic and European content, making the issue of how to analyse VoD catalogues pressing. Two perspectives are prevalent in VoD catalogue research: ‘back-end’ research emphasising composition and circulation; and ‘front-end’ analysing content presentation and discoverability. Quantitative methods facilitate comparative and longitudinal analyses of what is found on which VoD catalogues. Qualitative methods examine where and how audiences find content. This article, fostering synergy between the two, probes (1) the significance of VoD catalogue research in understanding the dynamics of transnational content flows and audience behaviours, and (2) its methodological possibilities and limitations. Focusing on British content in European VoD catalogues, it draws on two research projects: EUVoD (Aarhus Universitets Forskningsfond AUFF, 2021–2024), analysing the developing European VoD market within changing conditions of competition and policy; and Screen Encounters with Britain (AHRC, 2022–2025), investigating young Europeans’ use of British film and TV. The article utilises the European Audiovisual Observatory’s databases of European works and the streaming guide JustWatch.com, combined with systematic tracking of VoD landing pages. It thus maps content availability, popularity, and promotional strategies across different European markets and services, showcasing how patterns of presence, prominence and circulation shape probable audience encounters with non-domestic content. The article probes methodological considerations, complexities and caveats applicable to wider catalogue research into transnational media. In the case of British content availability on VoD, it shows how a vast number of ca. 15,000 individual UK titles available in European catalogues boils down to about 200 titles that can be easily found on Netflix, and 70 titles there of that young audiences (aged 16–34) recall as UK shows they know and remember.