"European Original Fiction": A National Resource and Different Ways of Self-Representation

Abstract

Original television fiction that has been created at a national and regional level plays a leading role in European countries. This paper presents research on the editorial strategies, cultural indicators, and scheduling of new fiction productions on national television networks in some of Western Europe's major countries during the second half of the 1990s. The reasons behind Western Europe's strategic choices in national television production are related to the recent history of European broadcasting, the present audiovisual landscape of these countries, the role of commercial and public service television companies, and the values of the producers and professionals behind the productions. These factors are today converging towards a greater importance for national television production in Europe.