DRAMA AND FILM
FACTUAL TV
WHAT’S NEXT?
The first part of a 12 page
special on the future
fortunes of each genre
in the midst of a global crisis
With cash in short supply, could
factual be the genre to quickly fill empty content
cupboards? Pippa
Considine reports
W
e’re wide open for business,” says ITV’s controller of Factual Jo Clinton-Davies.
“We are both developing at pace and commissioning into 9pm with the right level of funding that reflects the ambition of the show.” The UK’s factual commissioners
are determined to keep making high quality factual content, despite cuts. In March, ITV cut its programme budget by £100m, while Channel 4, announced a £150m cut in content budgets at the start of April and a lowering of tariffs. Around the same time, the BBC announced that it would need to save £125m this year. “Anyone reliant on ad revenue
has been really struggling,” says Harriet Armston-Clarke, director at factual distributor TVF International. “They need the content, but they don’t have the cash.”
CONTENT RUSH At the same time, with a hiatus in filming, there will be a scramble for new content. With budgets plunging, broadcasters have been reaching into back catalogues and relicensing, but repeats can’t sustain a channel. “There are big holes in people’s inventories and if anyone has anything in the can, now is the time to sell it,” says Armston-Clarke. Commercial acumen is vital
to survival. Enders Analysis chief executive Claire Enders, speaking on an RTS panel in May, predicted that half of the creative sector - including indies – may not survive the pandemic fall-out. Bosses of smaller and true indies
will rely on broadcasters to keep promises and deliver programming from a diverse supplier base. The crunch on budgets and doubling down on popular programming, together with the sustained growth from the SVODs – with their preference for premium factual shows – plays to the strengths of superindies, with cash reserves and a big back catalogue. “We want to reassure people that it’s business as usual.” Channel 4 head
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televisual.com Summer 2020 FACTUAL
of specialist factual Fatima Salaria (who’s now moved to Naked TV) echoes Clinton-Davis at ITV. There’s a clear need to focus on must-have content and to trim budgets or share costs, but the demand for original content is still out there. “It’s obviously bad news for
the indie sector. In the short term there are fewer commissions at lower tariffs,” says Voltage TV chief executive Sanjay Singhal. But commissioners have been available on-line and remote communication has temporarily levelled the playing field for regions and nations producers. During lockdown, Voltage scored
spin-off Inside the Factory lockdown series Keeping Britain Going for BBC2. “It’s been both good – with accessibility and speed of response – but bad, because of the uncertainty and waiting for the clouds to clear,” says Singhal. At Curve Media joint ceo
Camilla Lewis has a similar take on the Covid 19 effect, with profits down and pay cuts across the company. But while production on its Discovery franchise Salvage Hunters had to go on hold, Curve has been able to make reversions of 999 On the Frontline and landed commissions including Channel 4’s Sex in Lockdown and Curve Media Wales’ Britain’s Volunteer Army with Ross Kemp for BBC One.
MAGIC NUMBERS For factual producers there are silver linings. Audiences have been watching factual in higher numbers, reinforcing the notion that docs can stand shoulder to shoulder with drama and entertainment. A glance at the ratings for the last week in May shows the top 10 factual shows, on UK terrestrial channels, rating significantly higher than the top 10 in drama and entertainment. Factual can deliver at lower
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