Television Documentary: an Endangered Genre in Europe

Abstract

In the fifties it seemed obvious that the natural habitat of documentary films was television, and the genre and the medium evolved simultaneously for decades. Since then, however, the imposition of commercial imperatives on television has led to the modification of the original qualities of the genre and has meant the gradual disappearance of documentary films form the program grids. This article analyses the current state of the issue, quantifying and analysing the documentaries shown during the primetime slot in the 5 major European television markets. The results demonstrate a minimum presence of documentaries in Europe, with the sole exception of the United Kingdom.