If about five years ago we were talking about the dynamic relaunch of Greek fiction after the financial crisis, today and after the pandemic that put the Greeks at home and in front of Netflix, the production of Greek fiction is on an upward trend. It again becomes the dominant typology on several channels, does not disappear in the programs of the stations and is warmly received by the audience. “This circumstance has led to increased demands from both the public and the channels themselves, which have raised the standards of fiction production so that they can “meet” the needs of the viewers,” said Ritsa Masurow, program director of Open TV, and adds that a new generation of screenwriters and directors who, due to the economic crisis, turned to Greek cinema, “invaded” television, bringing new ideas, a more cinematic look, but at the same time writing closer to foreign standards. “Furthermore, the creation of EKOME and the financial support of fiction producers played a crucial role in the more general shift of all channels towards series,” he emphasizes.

Just before the end of the year, we count 32 series already airing or set to premiere in the coming months, double the 13 in 2019-2020. New but also smoked authors, millions of euro budgets and a mixture of optimism and reflection characterize the landscape of Greek fiction this year. “Due to the crisis, as well as the insistence on reinventing fictional series, the barriers between theatre, television and cinema have been broken down. We also gave some great actors the chance to show their talent to the TV audience. The bees will continue to feed the cast of the new series for a long time to come,” stresses Georges Pofantis, CEO of ANT1, of the series, which has been a great success.

“Most importantly, the audience was eager to see and support domestic production again, and the artists, authors, aspired and aspired to become a Greek series of quality again,” Ms. Masurou comments. “We have more accurate, good and thorough productions,” notes Alcystis Maragoudaki, program director of SKAI, “the scripts have also changed compared to the past, when we had sitcoms and series based on a love triangle and broken love. Now we have detectives, psychological thrillers, biographies, historical series.” Jenny Wafaku, program director at ERT, also speaks of “an updated thematic, directing and drama structure”.

Satisfied with the formed landscape, creators appear. “I like to watch TV shows, not reality shows,” admits screenwriter Vana Dimitriu (Gi tis Elia, Mega). Vasilis Tomopulos (“Our Family”, Open) states that “this is an extraordinary period for creators, actors, technicians. The audience highlights really good works, because, having seen many foreign productions, they have trained in the best form, image and sound.

Problematization

“The overabundance confuses the audience,” says Georges Pofantis.

Channel executives, however, are hesitant to characterize the abundance of series as a “boom” of television. Ms Masurow recalls the pre-crisis “TV years when a channel could run up to seven shows at the start of a season.” Ms. Maragoudaki also speaks of a tiring phenomenon. “An overabundance of series will lead to the fact that the viewer will not be able to watch everything that is offered,” he explains.

For Mr. Pofantis, the current situation is reminiscent of the “frozen yogurt syndrome”. “He opens a store in the square, and four more opened within a year. After two or three years of incomplete functioning, everything is closed. This over-suggestion is confusing to viewers, but it also hurts the product itself, which gets “lost” in so many offers,” he says, and warns that we are in a “bubble” with very high costs. “It is, on the one hand, the need for television executives to follow safe trends, and on the other hand, the subsidization of fiction by EKOME, which makes it more attractive from a business point of view,” he notes.

“Due to the contraction of the advertising market, it is doubtful that all series will be able to generate revenue to balance the investment,” says Ms. Wafakou. He believes that this parameter, as well as whether subsidies from EKOME will continue, will determine the number of manufacturers in the future. “In this light, there is some concern about the overabundance of Greek TV series,” he concludes. The budget of the series ranges from 60,000 to 140,000 euros per episode. In the past, in the early 2000s and before the crisis, with the exception of The Island, which reached 140,000 euros per episode, the series cost 25–60,000 euros per episode. The EKOME subsidy, according to all market participants, affected both the number of episodes and the size of budgets.

Part of the picture is the growing interest of foreign markets in Greek products. “Now the climate has changed. While in the past there was much more of a need to buy foreign formats, in our recent meetings with international broadcasters, we have clearly seen that there is a strong demand for original Greek content,” emphasizes Mr. Soussoulas, who has seen Maestro. joined its Netflix film library, while The Quiet Road was purchased for distribution in Europe, America and Canada by Beta Film.

Viewers are rewarded by the channels and EKOME’s decision to pour hot money into a Greek production, but when the “dust settles” they will start voting with their remote control for a really worthy series. And as the discussion about the Greek fiction “bubble” continues, there are concerns about whether EKOME should horizontally subsidize all series.