Category Archives: BBC

The Broadcast Indie Survey 2023

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Paul Evans

The Broadcast Indie Survey 2023 is out [£] and I’ve given it a quick scan. Here are the highlights: Fragile confidence I you had to sum up the industry’s future outlook based on Broadcast Magazine’s 2023 Indie Survey in one … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Employment, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Low budget productions, Post-production, Public Service Broadcasting, Skills & capacity, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Broadcasting White Paper published

Posted on April 28, 2022 by Paul Evans

The DCMS has published its Broadcasting White Paper promising “a new golden age of programming” with changes to regulations on SVoDs, sports rights, and the privatisation of Channel 4. One change is that C4 will be able to start producing … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, SVoD | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

BBC as an antidote to social media competitors

Posted on January 24, 2022 by Paul Evans

A good post from Diana Coyle on the need for “a publicly-funded, public purpose and independent competitor of scale” in online markets such as social media.” “…foreign observers find it impossible to understand why UK governments are so keen to … Continue reading →

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Production growing in the nations and regions

Posted on January 19, 2022 by Paul Evans

Back in September, I posted here about The Pact Census (as carried out by Oliver and Ohlbaum). I’ve been meaning to pull out something about the impact on regional production from that for a while. So here goes. Pact chose … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Skills & capacity, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

BBC funding statment from the VLV

Posted on January 18, 2022 by Paul Evans

The Voice of the Listener and Viewer has published the following Briefing note and press release in response to yesterday’s BBC funding settlement.The briefing includes the claim that, on current projections, the BBC will be in deficit by between approximately … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Film & TV industry policy, Politics, Public Service Broadcasting, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives, The Conservative Party | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Lord Bragg: The BBC is an institution that is being damaged for political purposes

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Paul Evans

I can’t find it on the Radio Times website, but the Times is quoting Melvyn Bragg’s article there, saying… “…as the BBC entered its centenary year, it found itself “sniped at, disparaged and blamed for every current malaise from culture … Continue reading →

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BFI Screen Business report details the scale of the UK production boom

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

Anyone who has any doubts about the size and scale of the UK production boom can have a look at the latest BFI Screen Business report (if the annual Pact Census most recently published in September wasn’t convincing enough!). The … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Economics, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

UK radio to get ‘discoverability’ boost on smart speakers

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

Regulators have a number of tools at their fingertips. They can offer tax breaks linked to cultural tests. They can tell TV channels that a percentage of their content should be made within a particular jurisdiction. They can oblige distribution … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Quotas, Radio, Regulation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

BBC Studios Appoints Tom Fussell as CEO

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Paul Evans

As reported in Variety. “Fussell will oversee BBC Studio’s “ambitious” plans for global expansion, its focus on employee engagement and wellbeing as well as diversity, inclusion and sustainability.”

Posted in BBC, Diversity of representation, Environment & Sustainability, Wellbeing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Costs of streaming services relative to the TV licence fee

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Paul Evans

Tim Davie has been talking to the DCMS select committee yesterday about the licence fee. Some highlights: “Netflix, Spotify, Apple – price rises of 20-30% this year, we have gone up 1% this year.” There’s a useful summary of SVoD … Continue reading →

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BBC Chair warns against further cuts

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Paul Evans

From the FT [£], BBC Chair Richard Sharp warned that the licence fee must keep pace with inflation, pointing out that management (currently working towards savings of almost £1bn by next March had gone as far as they could: ““The … Continue reading →

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“Ten Culture Secretaries in ten years. We need a grown-up dialogue with government” – Davie

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

From Tim Davie’s speech at day two of the Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge: “We’re on 10 culture secretaries in last 10 years… the key thing I found is we need a really serious, grown-up dialogue with government to … Continue reading →

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Is UK audiovisual content about to hit a perfect storm?

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

I’d suggest that there is an emerging picture of where UK production is likely to head in the next few years, and it’s one that should worry us – particularly from the point of view of cultural diversity (which is … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, EU & Brexit, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Bectu BBC freelancer survey

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

If you are a freelancer working on BBC productions, we want to hear from you about your priorities for improving your workplace! Fill out our quick survey on this link and make sure to share it with your colleagues: https://t.co/2JtkAVNhQO … Continue reading →

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Cultural Diversity is not just about limiting discrimination – it’s an economic and industrial factor

Posted on September 10, 2021 by Paul Evans

It’s worth bookmarking Unesco’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions here. This is an important global statement on the need for cultural expressions to be produced, distributed, and owned ‘locally’ (in the Nations and … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Disability equality, Diversity of representation, Economics, Equality, EU & Brexit, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Gender equality, Gender representation, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Race equality, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios, Wealth inequality | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pact Census 2021 published

Posted on September 8, 2021 by Paul Evans

One of the biggest, and most useful info-dumps about UK TV production has landed today with the publication of the Oliver and Ohlbaum / Pact Census (which is also published alongside a briefing on the impact of Covid this year). … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Post-production, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Ofcom shenanigans – update

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Paul Evans

The film and TV industries, it’s probably true to say that it’s more important to beat regulators than it is to beat competitors. If a regulator has a particular set of prejudices, it can be very bad for the industry … Continue reading →

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BBC at Elstree update

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Paul Evans

There was a post here recently about the Elstree Studios site (power struggle, lots of expansion, council involved in a row, etc), but the term ‘Elstree Studios’ is a cause of substantial confusion (not least because it’s quite common for … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Public Service Broadcasting, Skills & capacity, UK studios | Tagged | Leave a comment

British content projecting Britain

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Paul Evans

I’ll be posting more on this in the coming weeks, but there are some very big concerns circulating even in Conservative circles about the potential damage that the UK could sustain due to changes in the film and TV industry. … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation & VFX, BBC, Coronavirus, Coronavirus, Culture policy, EU & Brexit, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, The Conservative Party, UK studios | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

BBC & Channel 4’s contribution to the UK economy

Posted on July 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

Channel 4 recently published a study by Ernst and Young of the Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy [pdf]  from their activity. This report focuses on the contribution to the Nations and Regions of the UK and concludes … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Economics, Employment, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Productivity, Public Service Broadcasting | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Ofcom calls for stronger system of public service media fit for the digital age

Posted on July 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

A strong position from Ofcom here – particularly in the current climate (with C4 privatisation firmly on the table) “Public service content matters – but it’s under increasing threat.” From the Ofcom site: “Ofcom is today recommending a radical overhaul … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Regulation and Policy related to audiovisual works – an overview.

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

These are my notes on a presentation from Maja Cappello – Head of Department for Legal Information – ‘European Audiovisual Observatory on Regulation and Policy related to theatrical and non-theatrical production.’ There are two initial key questions when we think about … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Huge growth in Netflix investment in European scripted production

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

Netflix has now become the largest single commissioner of new European Scripted content, surpassing both the BBC and ZDF in terms of number of new show commissions across Western & Central Europe in 2020. Read @tvintelligence latest insight here: https://t.co/ai3VXQMVPo … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, SVoD, Tax incentives | Tagged | Leave a comment

BBC v ITV viewing figures for Euro final (England v Italy)

Posted on July 12, 2021 by Paul Evans

This translates as…. 18.2% for ITV 81.8% for the BBC. Wow the TV audience for the football last night peaked at 31m (91% of all those watching TV) and averaged 22m, with 18m BBC and 4m ITV according to Broadcast … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Film & TV industry policy, Outside broadcast, Public Service Broadcasting, Sports rights and broadcasting | Tagged | Leave a comment

File of Four (BBC Radio 4) bullying survey details.

Posted on July 9, 2021 by Paul Evans

BBC bullying survey (as featured in the recent File on Four programme). This is a survey that was promoted by Bectu in June 2021. Details of the results are below (raw data is the property of the BBC and can … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Bullying and Harassment, Equality, Film & TV industry policy, Management, Mental Health, Safe working practices, Sexual harassment, Wellbeing, Whistleblowing, Workplace conflict | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review of the BBC’s child protection and safeguarding procedures

Posted on July 9, 2021 by Paul Evans

A detailed report on this was presented by The Good Corporation to the BBC management team containing a list of recommended actions that have now been implemented. It can be seen here [pdf] – it has stuff on whistleblowing and … Continue reading →

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Tim Davie on the future of the BBC

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Paul Evans

Tim Davie on the future of the BBC https://t.co/1isPfIVKyO | opinion — Financial Times (@FT) June 15, 2021

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ESM4130 – Particular Occupations: Entertainment Industry: TV and Radio Presenters (IR35)

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

HMRC have published new tax guidance for TV and Radio presenters – ESM4130. This concept will be familiar to many Bectu members who are covered (or not, as the case may be) by ESM4118 covering ‘behind the camera’ crew.

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The BBC and paywalls

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Paul Evans

With the next licence review, this (in the FT = ££) is going to be an important discussion.

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Death in Paradise – BBC’s optimum formula

Posted on May 25, 2021 by Paul Evans

From The Guardian: (13/01/2021) ….Death in Paradise has been pulling in ratings bigger than flagship BBC dramas on a modest budget, using a cast of C-list actors, week after week, for nine years.

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UKCCD response to Ofcom on the future of Public Service Broadcasting.

Posted on May 22, 2021 by Paul Evans

The UK Coalition for Cultural Diversity circulated their response to OfCOM’s report on the Future of public service broadcasting, Small Screen: Big Debate, UKCCD believes that monies for public service broadcasting should not be spread more thinly and that investment in … Continue reading →

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Kaye Adams (BBC presenter) IR35 case

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Paul Evans

“HMRC is disappointed that the Upper Tribunal has decided that the intermediary rules, also known as IR35, do not apply in this case.” Also this:

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