WHAT THE PRESS SAY
Nearly one in six hours of BBC TV shows made by producers linked to rivals
Corporation says it needs to reform the way it commissions programmes as consolidation means fewer producers count as truly independent.
Nearly one in six hours of BBC TV programmes are now made by producers owned or part-owned by a rival broadcaster including Poldark, the Graham Norton Show and the Great British Bake Off.
A total of 16% of BBC programme hours were made by independent production companies in which another broadcaster has at least a 25% stake, according to figures published sometime ago.
It reflects the changing nature of the global TV production business, which has seen rapid consolidation in recent years.
The figures will be used by the BBC as further evidence of the need to reform the way it commissions programmes under director general Tony Hall’s “compete or compare” revolution outlined last year.
Poldark producer Mammoth Screen and So TV, maker of the Graham Norton Show, are both owned by ITV while Love Productions, maker of The Great British Bake Off, is majority owned by Sky.
Last year saw further consolidation with All3Media, maker of Inspector George Gently and Horrible Histories, bought by Discovery and Liberty Global, and the tie-up of Endemol and Shine in a new company 50% owned by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.
Currently the BBC guarantees 50% of its hours for in-house production, 25% for independent producers and 25% in a so-called “window of creative competition”, or WoCC, open to all.
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The WoCC has long been dominated by independent producers, which accounted for 81% of available comedy hours last year, 89% of factual and entertainment hours and 100% of all drama.
The BBC has said the WoCC needed to be reformed because of the number of production companies bought up by broadcasters which no longer qualify as “independent”.
Hall proposed last year that independent production companies should be free to pitch for the entire BBC schedule (news, sport and a few other areas excepted) for the first time.
In return, the BBC’s in-house team would be allowed to make programmes for all broadcasters, including ITV, Channel 4 and Sky. It would herald a revolution in the way the corporation makes and commissions programmes.
The BBC Trust said last month that the BBC’s system of in-house quotas should be cut back or abolished.
A BBC spokesman said: “These figures show that there is continued growth from non-qualifying independents and, whilst in-house production has remained relatively flat, qualifying indies have been squeezed.
“This trend only looks set to continue unless action is taken to crate a more level playing field – which would be in the best interest of audiences who would benefit from as wide a variety of supply as possible.”
Source: The Guardian
