The way audiovisual content is distributed to, and consumed by, the public at large has undergone major transformations in the recent years, including the emergence of services of Subscription Video on Demand and Advertising funded Video on Demand. These current trends put the Flemish production sector under pressure. Therefore, the existing investment obligation for private broadcasters providing non-linear television services and the incentive scheme for service distributors is updated, aligned and complemented by an obligation to participate in the production of audiovisual works for video platform service providers. In this way, the viability of the broadcasting system and of the audiovisual production houses in Flanders can be increased, the quality, the diversity and the pluralism of the media are guaranteed and this measure shall prevent Flanders from being flooded by foreign and often cheaper television programmes. The social, democratic and cultural value and the positive spill-over effects of audiovisual services should therefore be permanently guaranteed.

The present decree concerns a new unified regulation to stimulate the production of audiovisual works and regulates the scope, the form, the exclusion thresholds, the tax bases and the specific contributions to be paid.