FACTUAL TV


GENRE REPORT


Factual TV demand is shifting to the big, the


bold and the box set with plenty of new customers


now coming online. Pippa Considine reports


FACTUAL TV


demand for original programming is outstripping available crew and causing some productions to be put on hold. But, with Channel 4’s future in question and pressure for indies to mop up costs, not everything is smelling of roses. Income for the independent sector was down


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14 per cent in 2020, according to the latest PACT census. However, there was continued growth in original commissioning by the SVODs; international streaming services spent £356m with UK independents. While this spend only represents around one quarter of primary commissions, the significance of the rise in digital demand is manifold. In the UK, streamer content strategies are


already reflected in PSB commissions as they prioritise the growth of on-demand. While capitalising on linear’s ability to harness a live audience, domestic broadcasters are thinking about how new commissions will sit with their digital offering and looking to grasp the chance to bring down the average age of viewers.


SVOD OPPORTUNITIES Factual producers have long heralded a time when


their value-for-money content would underpin the more mature, international digital services. We’re not there yet, but there are signs of a tipping point. While HBO Max is only now expanding into Europe, as is Paramount +, they are both commissioning UK


televisual.com Autumn 2021


usiness for UK producers has not been as usual. A dramatic drop in revenue in 2020, as a result of the pandemic, has been followed this year by a bounce back. The volume of


factual. Factual play Discovery + will celebrate a year since launch in January and Discovery has doubled its originals spend in the UK. Apple, Amazon and Sky have been building their factual slates. Meanwhile, Netflix, having reached the 200 million subscriber mark is expanding across factual genres and pursuing a strategy of local commissioning. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Fiona


Lamptey Netflix director of UK features described the service as being “all about variety. If it means it’s a massive show or a smaller piece, both of those ends are brilliant….There’s room for softer, warmer shows, room for edgy shows… It’s not about the budget or scale, it’s about making sure there’s something to love when you turn on the TV.” New content includes dating hits, epic new documentaries, including Nutopia’s 6-parter Vendetta: Truth, lies and the Mafia (see page 20, this issue), and then there’s Snowflake Mountain from Naked, a series where ‘kidults’ are sent to bootcamp.


HOME GROWN Content with a British focus, as well as UK


production is high on the agenda. “This year more than any year,


we really got a sense of the fact that the streamers are looking for British Stories,” says Fatima Salaria, managing director at Fremantle factual label Naked. ”There’s a massive opportunity for people like us to be able to produce those stories.” She points to Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon “It’s amazing, with a massive celebrity. But at its heart, it’s


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