Today’s Reactions to a UK steaming levy

📺 British TV Booms—and Busts?

Adolescence just became Netflix’s 4th biggest English-language show ever, hitting 114 million views in 24 days. But just as UK-made content breaks global records, a Parliamentary report warns that British TV is “under threat,” calling for a Streaming Levy.

🎬 The Culture, Media and Sport Committee says U.S. streamers like Netflix are inflating production costs, squeezing local broadcasters, and locking producers out of IP ownership.

💡 As Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky put it, the sequel almost didn’t get made due to ballooning budgets. It only went ahead after major fee cuts from Oscar-winners. He supports the streaming levy.

The committee wants global platforms to pay 5% of UK revenue into a fund supporting British drama—or face a mandatory tax.

🇫🇷 Other countries are acting:

• France: 20% reinvestment mandate
• Italy: 16%
• Belgium: rising to 9.5% UK? Still saying no.

📣 Chris Bryant, UK Minister for Creative Industries:

“We’re not planning to introduce a French-style streaming levy.”

Netflix responded with a warning:

“Levies diminish competitiveness… The UK is our biggest production hub outside North America—we want it to stay that way.”

📉 Meanwhile, UK drama production fell 27% in 2023, and key voices argue that successful indies are being gutted by buyout deals.

🌍 With Trump’s return looming, AI regulation delayed, and trade tensions rising, some say the UK is tilting toward U.S. tech interests—and British storytelling may pay the price. Is a streaming levy just a tariff by a different name?

👀 Big question:

Can we protect British creativity and keep investment flowing?

#TVIndustry #BritishDrama #Netflix #Streaming #IPOwnership #MediaPolicy #ContentEconomy #UKPolitics #DigitalRegulation #ChrisBryant