Streaming services such as Netflix are taking advantage of the global shortage of new television programmes to outbid British channels for new shows, forcing traditional broadcasters to find new ways to fill schedules in the coming years.
Although television audiences rose sharply during the coronavirus lockdown, the near-global production shutdown has created a looming shortage of new material to show to viewers in the coming months. At the same time Britain’s commercial television channels are dealing with the collapse in the advertising market caused by the recession, leaving subscription streaming services able to swoop in and spend big on new commissions to maintain their growth.
John McVay, head of the trade body Pact, which represents the UK’s independent television production companies, said the circumstances posed a challenge for traditional channels. “I know a lot of people who work for streamers in acquisitions and they are buying everything,” he said. “Unless we can get new, fresh content into the British schedules that is engaging and resonates with our experience of the world we’re living through, then I fear for our broadcasters.”
He said that there was a particular demand for already made shows looking for a home, as broadcasters and streamers seek to satisfy audiences that want to watch new material. “If you’ve got good quality British content that you’ve made – finished programmes – then you can charge a premium.”
McVay was speaking before Monday’s start of the annual Edinburgh television festival, an event where channel controllers and independent production companies usually meet in the Scottish capital to discuss the industry’s trends.
But because of the pandemic an industry that is already being transformed by streaming has also found itself having to go fully online, with speakers such as outgoing director general Tony Hall, actor Jameela Jamil, and historian David Olusoga delivering their remarks via livestreams.
Stewart Clarke, the festival’s creative director, said the entire television industry was in a state of flux. He said: “The big issue is that people want to watch telly – including streaming – more than ever, but how that is funded and made is more complex than ever. It’s how you match up those two different issues.”
He said the decision to offer free access to the virtual festival to freelancers, who have been hit hard by the collapse of British television production, would hopefully bring new voices to their events. Clarke said: “People are very keen to understand what can be made, who can still commission, and how viewer tastes have changed during the [lockdown] period.”
British television production is slowly restarting, assisted by the government’s offer to cover the cost of insuring productions against coronavirus-related shutdowns, but there is still expected to be a shortage of shows.
ITV has already reported a substantial drop in ad revenue, while Channel 4 has been forced to cut its programme budget. Both channels had already been struggling with changing viewing habits. Even before the lockdown more than half of the UK’s households subscribed to a streaming service, according to Ofcom, a number boosted further by the launch of Disney+, while the average age of a BBC One viewer is now in their 60s.
McVay said that while he welcomed streaming services spending substantial sums on big-budget British television shows, about 80% of his members’ commissions still come from the UK’s traditional public service broadcasters such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5.
He said the health of these channels was vital in order to sustain a distinctly British television industry. McVay said: “There are stories that we want to tell, which can only really be made by a British broadcaster. They will have no international value, but they’re important to us as citizens and to audiences.”