ITV

Tag: PACT

  • Indian imports of British TV series rise 17 per cent to £23 million: Pact report

    Indian imports of British TV series rise 17 per cent to £23 million: Pact report

    MUMBAI: Just like the British love the curry that Indians dish out in the UK, it seems Indians can’t get enough of the TV shows that British producers offer.  And this is proved by the fact that exports of British TV shows rose 17  per cent from £ 19 million  in 2022-2023 to £23 in million, pushing India  up from the thirteenth to the twelfth spot in 2023-2024. 

    Exports by country and revenues by UK

     A dekko at the Producers Alliance for Cinema & Television  (Pact) Annual British TV Exports report for 2023-2024 (which was released on 29 November)  throws up these numbers. 

    Total TV exports from Britain

    The report also gave a bit of a bearish trend for British TV exports all over the world as they fell two per cent in 2023-24 to £1,818 million from £1,853 million in the previous year. However, Pact, said the consolation is that 2023-24 figure is 27 per cent higher than the crash in sales British TV production industry experienced in 2020-21 in the thick of the  pandemic.
     

    Total EXports by country

    Also, the report said that the good news is that despite the challenges in the US market over the past 24 months, Uncle Sam continues to be the largest destination for UK TV exports, accounting for almost one third of all sales, and it remains the region of primary focus for British distributors. TV show shipments to the US grew by 13 per cent year on year to a new high of £593 million. Together with Canada, which de-grew seven per cent to £89 million, north America accounts for 41 per cent of all British exports. 

    Total exports by country

    Other countries in the top 10 that experienced growth included The Netherlands (a 25 per cent increase to £35 million) and South Africa (a 20 per cent increase to £27 million). Germany and The Nordics both saw eight per cent increases, recording Britain’s highest ever total export revenues (£118 million and £104 million respectively).

    Elsewhere in the top 10 countries, France (-21 per cent), Italy (-23 per cent) and Spain (-15 per cent)  all saw significant decreases, with France falling out of the top five for the first time. China and Japan saw a drastic drop of 25 per cent in purchases of British content to £17 million and £8 million respectively. Mexico, however, had the highest increase of 118 per cent to £15 million. 

    International co-productions fell

     
    An  alarming trend according to Pact is that  revenues from co-productions fell by 28 per cent to £120 million; TV and format sales too dropped eight per cent and seven per cent respectively. This is likely due to a reduction in activity (especially premium drama) by some of the large US media companies that have partnered with companies in previous years.

    Finished programmes fell by eight per cent (to £1,019 million) but still remained the largest contributor by some way. International Productions grew significantly by 29 per cent, to £325 million, increasing its share of total TV exports from 14 per cent to 18 per cent.

    Scripted drama continued to dominate the genre share of exports, but fell to 43 per cent from 49 per cent in the previous year, whereas entertainment saw the biggest increase of six per cent to 27 per cent.

    (All data has been sourced from Pact. If you would like the full report please send an email to sherylf@indiantelevision dot co dot in )

     

  • BBC & Pact outline policy framework for BBC Studios

    BBC & Pact outline policy framework for BBC Studios

    MUMBAI: The BBC has entered into an agreement with the British trade association Pact regarding the BBC Studios proposal.

     

    The proposed policy framework will “strengthen the UK production sector and bring substantial benefits in terms of opening up new commissioning opportunities to competition.”

     

    BBC director of strategy and digital James Purnell says, “We welcome the agreement reached with Pact. Creative competition is in the best interest of audiences and BBC Studios is an essential part of the BBC’s future.”

     

    Pact CEO John McVay adds, “Pact is pleased that we have been able to negotiate a progressive agreement with the BBC that will result in even more competition at the BBC for the best programmes regardless of who makes them. This will build on the success of the WOCC and ensure BBC licence fee payers continue to enjoy the best of British.”

     

    The new charter and agreement will set out a policy framework for the relationship between BBC Public Service, BBC Studios and BBC Worldwide.  The proposal is that the agreement should include a set of guiding principles for how BBC Studios, as a commercial entity, should operate, and its relationship with the BBC Public Service. Additionally, there should be no cross-subsidy from BBC Public Service to BBC Studios; a separation between the finances and operations of BBC Public Service and BBC Studios; and fair transfer pricing.

     

    The proposal also states that there should be an “arms’ length commissioning, with commissions offered to BBC Studios subject to the same range of published tariffs and terms as are available to external producers.”

     

    BBC Studios will receive new commissions, creatively tendered established/returning series and the opportunities afforded by de-commissions, following fair and transparent competition with third party producers.

     

    The BBC Board would set out methodologies and processes for meeting the above principles prior to BBC Studios being launched as a commercial entity. Additionally, BBC Studios will be set up and operated to ensure compliance with State Aid requirements.

     

    As was previously set out, the BBC Studios proposal will exclude Network TV commissioned content for children’s, current affairs and sport. For current affairs, the BBC proposes to reduce the current in-house guarantee on eligible hours from 50 per cent to 40 per cent and extend the independent guarantee from 25 per cent to 40 per cent, creating a 25 per cent swing when these two changes are added together. For children’s, the BBC proposes to reduce the in-house guarantee on eligible hours from 50 per cent to 40 per cent and extend the independent guarantee from 25 per cent to 40 per cent. The BBC proposes that these changes are phased-in over a two year period from the new charter. For sport, the current in-house and independent guarantees would remain unchanged. Content made by BBC Studios, as a commercial entity, would not count as “in-house” and therefore would not count as part of in-house quota.