The UK government is taking significant steps to facilitate the consolidation of legacy broadcasters, aiming to adapt to the evolving television landscape and enhance domestic content production.
UK Government Initiates Review for Broadcaster Consolidation
The UK government aims to facilitate the consolidation and collaboration of legacy broadcasters.
Creative Industries Sector Plan Unveiled
In its long-awaited Creative Industries Sector Plan, the government has tasked the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) and regulator Ofcom to conduct a review. This review will explore how changes in the sector—such as the convergence of broadcast, on-demand, and video sharing—should be considered in future assessments of television and advertising markets.
Potential for Broadcaster Consolidation
This could involve “possible consolidation between broadcasters which may benefit their financial sustainability and audiences,” or “strategic partnerships” among competitors. The government stated that “the television market is transforming, leading to consolidation… to increase economies of scale.”
Adapting to a Competitive Landscape
In a fragmented and highly competitive TV landscape, the report emphasizes the need for domestic companies to compete effectively, ensuring they are not hindered from funding and producing distinctively British content that benefits audiences.
Traditional broadcasters are grappling with the impact of American streaming giants and rising production costs. This has led to partnerships like the BBC and ITV’s BritBox venture, despite ITV selling its stake. Recently, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky launched an “advertising marketplace,” allowing companies to advertise across all three networks through a single campaign for the first time.
Government’s Commitment to Domestic Broadcasters
The government’s acknowledgment of “consolidation” coincides with rumors of ITV or its studios division being sold, with interested parties primarily based outside the UK. We have inquired whether the CMA and Ofcom’s scope could include companies based outside the UK.
The creative sector plan emphasizes the need for active measures to ensure domestic broadcasters can adapt to the changing market while continuing to support independent producers, ensuring that intellectual property remains in the UK.
Policy Updates for a Level Playing Field
The plan indicates that the government will update policy and regulatory frameworks to promote a more level playing field for broadcasters, examining how the BBC’s commercial activities could better support the BBC and the broader industry.
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Investment in Film and TV
The plan reflects the UK government’s aspiration to prioritize film and TV as high-growth industries, aiming to make the UK the “best place in the world to make and invest in film and TV” by 2035.
On Friday, the UK government announced a £75M ($100M) “Screen Growth Package,” expanding the UK Global Screen Fund to £18M annually, allocating £25M to businesses in augmented reality and motion capture tech, and providing £10M to enhance the National Film and Television School, which is expected to unlock £11M in investments from various organizations.
The government also plans to modernize co-production treaties with Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, while identifying other valuable co-production treaties and ensuring tax reliefs effectively stimulate international collaboration.
The British Film Institute (BFI) is conducting a separate analysis to explore potential improvements to the UK’s film and high-end TV tax credit.
Additionally, the government is responding to industry requests by appointing a “creative freelance champion” to support the sector’s struggling freelance workforce, a move expected to occur later this year.
Philippa Childs, head of the Bectu union, expressed her delight that the government is addressing Bectu’s concerns, welcoming steps to support creative workers, including a strengthened commitment to combat bullying and harassment in the industry, a new skills passport, and support for self-employed workers through the Make Work Pay agenda.
