Mark Hill, RDF TV West

Triumph Through Adversity

There is undoubtedly much to celebrate in the continued quality and range of TV and film produced in our region
over the last year and some reasons for continued
cautious optimism, but there’s no getting away from the
fact that we are all living in an extraordinarily tough economic climate right now.

The chill winds of recession are veritably howling through the corridors of all the commercial broadcasters in the face of up to 40% falls in their advertising revenue and increased competition from other media for that income. Even the BBC, with its renewed licence fee settlement, is also facing significant cutbacks.

The scale of the downturn that we are all facing is certainly unprecedented for most of us and it is hard to know how deep it will go and how long it will last. What is clear is that the cuts broadcasters are having to make are starting to be felt deeply by producers and will gradually permeate the whole industry all the way down. New commissions are harder than ever to come by as broadcasters seek sure-fire hit, value-for-money shows, start to demand an increased share of programme rights and on returning series re-commissions budget cuts in excess of 20% are
becoming common place. All of this means radical change in what
we do and how we do it in order to survive and keep delivering
quality content. We are having to be cleverer and more imaginative in how we hang on to and exploit rights in our content with negligible profits to be obtained from UK broadcaster income alone. But we also have to make radical choices in how we make our shows to meet
broadcaster cuts and producers have no choice about sharing that economic pain in tougher deals with facilities companies, crews, on-screen talent and freelance production staff in order for us all to survive. The worry is that this money will not come back into the industry once it is taken away.

And yet, there are still reasons to be hopeful. In spite of reports of the demise of traditional TV and film watching, viewing is higher than
ever, content is still king with new outlets for that content in other media and broadcasters are as hungry as ever for must-have hit shows, albeit with lower price tags. Broadcasters are also under ever-growing pressure to commission more network shows out of London. The South West and Bristol particularly are as well placed as anywhere else to capitalise on this demand in terms of proven track records of successful series, key producers that are trusted and an ever-growing critical mass of production talent. I’d argue that Bristol can now lay claim to being the UK’s second or third media city outside of London.

We are also collectively slow to recognise and market our
creative strengths. Our reputations as world class leaders in natural history programmes and animation are well known and huge assets to the region, but we don’t often shout about some of our other pockets of specialism: - we are the biggest producers of daytime television outside of London with more than 500 network hours on screen this year; we have tremendous long term excellence in landmark documentaries, oral history, features and factual entertainment formats, high adrenaline adventure programming, observational documentaries and arts series; some of television’s most well known presenters – from Sir David Attenborough to David Dickinson, Fiona Bruce, Noel Edmonds and Bear Grylls – are the faces of our most successful shows; and whilst Casualty will be a sad loss for Bristol, we have to remember that the city is still the location for hit drama series such as Skins, Mistresses and Being Human.

So, yes, times are tough. But we must remember that as
producers we have always had to thrive in a fickle and unpredictable industry, to adapt swiftly to change, respond to uncertainty and to
seize opportunities in the face of adversity. That resilience and creative flair is now under more pressure than ever, but we have the collective creative strength to see out this recession.