Category Archives: Regulation

The state of the UK film and TV economy

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Paul Evans

I occasionally get asked for updates on the general state of the UK film and TV sector, and I can usually reply offering a few links which general readers may find useful. My first, and most current link would be … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture policy, Economics, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Low budget features, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, TV Advertising, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The use of weaponry on film sets

Posted on November 3, 2022 by Paul Evans

Bectu has been providing assistance to the HSE in the review of Etis 20 – the most recent version of this guidance was produced in 2017 and can be seen here [pdf]. There’s nothing to report on the developments yet, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, Health & Safety, Regulation, Safe working practices, Safe working standards | Tagged , | Leave a comment

UK independent productions, the inflation punch-in-the-mouth, and the very European remedies.

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Paul Evans

The boxer, Mike Tyson, was once asked about his plan for a fight and he answered; “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Economists have a variation on that line: “Everyone has a plan until inflation … Continue reading →

Posted in EU & Brexit, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Low budget features, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

EU Media Freedom Act – just published

Posted on September 9, 2022 by Paul Evans

My thanks to Carole Tongue for sending this to me. The EU’s ‘Media Freedom Act’ has been published and the text will be voted on by the European Commission on 13 September before being submitted to the Parliament and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture policy, EU & Brexit, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD | 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

A distinctly British focus for TV programmes

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Paul Evans

David Tennant has been questioning some of the arguments around demands for ‘distinctly British programmes (or ‘lovely jubbly telly‘ as John Whittingdale didn’t say recently). “Is there some inherent criticism within this plea for more Britishness?” he said in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Diversity of representation, EU & Brexit, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Violation Tracker UK

Posted on November 2, 2021 by Paul Evans

Violation Tracker UK is a search tool that brings together data on a range of regulatory infringements committed by companies across the United Kingdom, including employment tribunal data. It has been put together by the Corporate Research Project of Good … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment Law and Rights, Regulation, Trades Unions | 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

UK commissioned productions losing crew talent to streamers

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Paul Evans

We’ve been saying it will happen for a while, but the wider world is beginning to notice. This, from the FT[£]; “Seetha Kumar, chief executive of ScreenSkills, said the “pinch points” were particularly acute in mid-tier roles — for which … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, EU & Brexit, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Regulation, Skills & capacity | Tagged | Leave a comment

Yet another big streamer eyes European markets

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Paul Evans

This time, it’s Paramount +. “In the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria (GSA), for example, Paramount Plus will launch on Sky platforms. Craig explained that according to the deal, Paramount Plus and Comcast/ViacomCBS streaming co-venture SkyShowtime will be … Continue reading →

Posted in EU & Brexit, Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

French cultural policy

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Paul Evans

France has always had an interesting, and different approach to cultural policy to the UK’s equivalent. In thinking about this last night, I remembered this 2013 document [pdf] from the Coalition Francaise and I thought I’d bookmark it here. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Copyright & Intellectual Property, Culture policy, Diversity of representation, Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Tax incentives | Tagged , | Leave a comment

DCMS parliamentary committee (effectively) opposes Paul Dacre appointment at Ofcom

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Paul Evans

It seems that Julian Knight MP, the (Conservative) chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee wrote to Oliver Dowden (subsequently reshuffled) effectively opposing the appointment of Paul Dacre as chair of Ofcom. “…the industry standard for rerunning a … Continue reading →

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More on UK/US unscripted production partnerships

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

Futher to the recent post about Netflix partnerships with UK PSBs, NBC Universal has also done an unscripted formats deal with the BBC.

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

France places new obligations on video-on-demand providers

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

From the European Audiovisual Observatory: “In future, VOD services must devote at least 20% of the turnover they generate in France to the funding of European or French cinematographic and audiovisual production. The proportion is increased to 25% for services … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture policy, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Free database of legal developments in the Europen audiovisual sector

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

This one is probably only useful to massive geeks (hi!) but I’m telling you about it anyway just in case you find it useful. The European Audiovisual Observatory maintains a database of legal developments in all key areas, all key … Continue reading →

Posted in 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 , | 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 →

Posted in BBC, Public Service Broadcasting, Regulation | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Unscripted TV production has too few customers

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Paul Evans

Another very good article from the consistently smart Sarah O’Connor in the FT[£]. There’s little more to add than that Bectu members can substitute ‘broadcast commissioners’ for ‘supermarkets’ and a lot of this will ring true for them. It’s the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Regulation | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Cultural Diversity arguments against Channel Four privatisation

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

The UK Coalition for Cultural Diversity (UKCCD) have published their submission to the consultation on Channel Four privatisation here [pdf]. It makes a key point that should concern Bectu members who are concerned about the quality of the content that … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

TV with an American accent?

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

A strong piece in the FT[£] here from John Gapper, outlining how strong SVoD investment in locally-set programmes may be a mirage – an attempt to build the subscriber base that can subsequently be fed content that is less rooted … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture policy, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD | Tagged , | Leave a comment

French windows (excuse the pun)

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Paul Evans

There are a few posts up here about how content regulation drives investment into film and TV, how the AVMS Directive is translated into national legislation and regulations, and on the general armoury that national governments have to shape the … Continue reading →

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

BBC Three relaunch as a full TV channel provisionally approved by Ofcom – EPG consultation to follow

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

Big news for us today. pic.twitter.com/eQ1xfgkP1T — BBC Three (@bbcthree) September 16, 2021 The channel has had a good run recently with Fleabag and Normal People and in noting Ofcom’s provision approval, the regulator said:

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Regulation | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Lovely Jubbly Telly Rule – and will Channel Four privatisation go ahead?

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

In an interesting twist to the cultural diversity on the screen debate, as UK-commissioned productions sector face a perfect storm that could threaten the UK’s long-established ability to produce TV content, written by UK writers, featuring UK actors and locations, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Regulation | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Ampere Analysis – strong case against privatisation of Channel Four

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

A strong thread here from Ampere Analysis, and a detailed report of their findings is here in The Guardian. Ampere has assessed a range of potential options surrounding the privatisation of @Channel4. Here is what we found: — Ampere Analysis … Continue reading →

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

Nadine Dorries appointed Culture Secretary

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

I try to avoid contentious or partisan comments on this site, so the only thing I can say is that Nadine Dorries has been appointed as Culture Secretary. This Nadine Dorries… Left wing snowflakes are killing comedy, tearing down historic … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, Politics, Regulation | Tagged | Leave a comment

Channel Four privatisation: Advertisers voice concerns about damaged competitiveness

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

… particularly if sold to ITV or Sky. The FT [£] reports… “Isba [Incorporated Society of British Advertisers] also said there was a “substantial risk” that Channel 4 programming appealing to a young and diverse audience would be “diluted and … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Regulation, SVoD, TV Advertising | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

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

How AVMS applies in every EU country

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

The Audio Visual Media Services (AVMS) Directive, like all EU Directives, is translated into national legislation and regulation by the member states concerned. The European Audiovisual Observatory tracks all of this on this table here. (H/T Carole Tongue for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives | Tagged , | Leave a comment

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

Study on financial investment obligations placed on VOD providers in Europe.

Posted on September 8, 2021 by Paul Evans

This, from Dr Marlen Komorowski of Cardiff University for the The Media & Society Programme of SMIT. It looks at the way VOD providers are subject to various financial investment obligations (one of the key forms of regulation and incentive … Continue reading →

Posted in EU & Brexit, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Channel Four privatisation – picking though the arguments

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Paul Evans

Yesterday’s FT [£] had a useful reminder of the objections to Channel Four privatisation, or more accurately, a critique of the reasons for privatising the channel. The sale has a number of objectives: Making the broadcaster more sustainable. John Whittingdale … Continue reading →

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

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 →

Posted in BBC, Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

BBC and Creative Wales partnership to boost Welsh TV industry

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Paul Evans

Following a prompt from Carwyn Donovan, I see that the BBC are reporting a new partnership – a formal agreement – between the BBC and Creative Wales. Carwyn and the Bectu reps in Wales have built a strong relationship with … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Theatre Tax Relief paid out £74 million to 3,660 productions last year

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Paul Evans

According to The Stage [£]… “This represents a £3 million increase on the figure paid out in 2019/20, which was £71 million, and comes amid calls for the tax credit to be increased to help the sector recover after the … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation & VFX, Culture policy, 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, Tax incentives, Theatre and Live Events data | Tagged | Leave a comment

Edinburgh TV Festival debates C4 sell-off

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Paul Evans

Broadcast has a report here [£]. In a statement that my be dismissed as hyperbole, John Thoday of Avalon says C4 privatisation will “kill the indie sector” and calls for the government to give C4 in it’s current form a … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

More stats on the impact of the creative sector on the wider economy

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

Further to this post about the Creative Industries Federation report, here are more stats on the (potential) contribution to the UK economy from the creative sector. The Creative UK Group projects that the creative industries can create 300,000 new jobs … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Regulation, Skills & capacity, Tax incentives | Tagged | Leave a comment