GENRE REPORT
ENTERTAINMENT
KATE PHILLIPS DIRECTOR OF UNSCRIPTED, BBC
make it work on any new platform.” There are signs that platforms are preparing to
experiment with live entertainment. All eyes will be on the US this autumn, when Disney moves its hit Dancing with the Stars series from its broadcast network ABC to its streaming platform Disney+. The move has widely been interpreted as Disney
focusing on driving up subs for its streaming platform. “It will be fascinating to see if that works,” says
BBC head of unscripted Kate Phillips. “It could be a real game changer if the streamers do more of those type of shows.” Phillips stresses that broadcast channels remain a
“great platform” for entertainment at the BBC. “The channels are very much a shop window for iPlayer.” Saturday nights on BBC One remain focused around big linear shows like Strictly and Michael McIntyre’s Big Show. BBC Two has ‘quizzy Mondays’ with Only Connect, University Challenge and Mastermind performing strongly, while BBC One has ‘bizzy Thursdays’ with Dragon’s Den and The Apprentice. Reality shows with a hooky narrative like The
Apprentice perform strongly on iPlayer, and they are doing well on other streaming platforms too. Phillips says The Apprentice almost doubled its viewing on iPlayer, and explains that “big fact ent narrative arc shows” are a key focus for the commissioning team. “The reasoning is that that iPlayer is just as important
What role does entertainment play at the BBC? During the pandemic, people came to the BBC for the news and for the government press briefings. But you want them to come for the light joyful feelings as well. Covid reminded people of the value of entertainment and shared viewing. We got lots of people coming to our shows in that first part of the pandemic, when we pulled off Strictly. It galvanised us to steam ahead with new entertainment development. What’s been working for you? It’s been a combination: exciting new shows which are landing. We’ve seen growing consolidated numbers on those, which we’re looking at far more now than the overnights especially with young viewers coming to iPlayer. And also, nostalgia. People like comfort shows. During the pandemic, we launched Blankety Blank, and people seem to love it. Anything else you’d pick out? We’ve done some big fact ent plays too. Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars is really popular with a younger audience. Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof is wonderful - it’s an entertainment show, but it’s not an elimination / competition show. It’s a very different viewing experience. It can be moving, a bit shocking at times, and funny. Lee and Holly are very good and you’ve got this amazing character, Wim, at its heart. It feels like a different way of doing a celebrity challenge. What are you looking for? Big, fact ent narrative-arc competition shows. The Apprentice did gangbusters when it came back this year. Also, Big Saturday night shows – we don’t get pitched those nearly enough, because they’re really hard to come up with. We like having fun, lower cost high volume shows to kick off Saturday nights - Hitlist has grown and grown, and we have Pointless Celebrities and Catchpoint. But we’re looking at more of those fun, high energy quiz shows. And dating is interesting. BBC3 has done well with Love In The Flesh. And we’re looking at a couple of other formats there for them.
BEN KELLY AND DAISY LILLEY DIRECTORS OF UNSCRIPTED, NETFLIX
What is working for Netflix in unscripted now? We like to look at everything but the way we tend to commission is to find shows that are familiar but that we can put a unique Netflix spin on. So we would say that’s probably the unifying theme across all our shows, for example,. Nailed It or Is it Cake? is our twist on a baking show, Too Hot to Handle and Dated and Related is our twist on dating shows, Dance Monsters and Dance 100 our twist on a dance entertainment format: it seems familiar but it’s looking at it through a different lens. We’re always keen on noisy social experiment reality plays like The Circle and more broad entertainment talent formats. And we have just announced a new quiz show called Cheat which we are excited about. Why is Netflix doing more in the unscripted genre? We are relatively new in the unscripted journey at Netflix: we started commissioning in this field in 2017. There’s a wonderful freedom to commissioning at Netflix so we can really look at making what we think our viewers will love. We’re not bound by slots or quotas to fill so we don’t have a set number to hit every year. We look across the broad unscripted genre and judge everything on the merit of the idea, and if it’s strong and we can see it bringing joy to our members, we’ll commission it. It’s fair to say we are expanding our portfolio. What kinds of shows are you looking for out of the UK? There is great production and development expertise here as well as a rich history of finding and generating global IP, so it’s natural that we will look to that expertise both for the hits in the UK and travelable hits, although great stories and ideas can come from anywhere. The great benefit of doing English language content is that UK shows have the potential to break out and be a success in the rest of the English-speaking world.
Summer 2022
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THE REAL DIRTY DANCING
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