Pact Releases New Report on Independent Production

LONDON, January 22: A new report released by British trade
body Pact found that there was an overall decline in independent production
opportunities throughout the U.K. between 2004 and 2006.

Launched at the Salford TV Conference, Pact’s Production
Trend Report For Out of London aims to
provide an accurate picture of the production landscape for network programming
from across the Nations and Regions.

According to the report, the decline in independent
production outside of London has been felt across the board but is more
noticeable in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. In Scotland, independent
broadcast hours dropped from 179.6 in 2004 to 102.7 in 2006, for a total loss
of 76.9 hours worth approximately £11 million. The BBC was responsible for
dropping 71 of these hours. In Northern Ireland, hours climbed slightly from
7.5 to 11.2, a gain of only 3.7 hours. The five terrestrial channels in the
U.K. had only broadcast a total of 11.2 hours of independent network
programming from Northern Ireland during 2006. Meanwhile, Wales lost 11.3
hours, dropping from 70 to 58.7 over the 2004-2006 period. There was no network
programming from ITV in 2006 in Wales and only 9.5 hours were broadcast on ITV
in 2004. Five did not broadcast any programs from Welsh independent producers
in 2005 or 2006. While the report indicates that the broadcasters are meeting
their regional quotas, this is confined to specific regions. Pact suggests that
the BBC, in particular, is failing these areas and the current quotas are not
maintaining the cultural diversity that they purport to preserve.

In other English regions outside of London, the North East
had a drop of approximately 75 percent in broadcast hours, falling from 36
hours in 2005 to 9.9 hours in 2006. Meanwhile, Yorkshire and Humberside
experienced an increase of 60.4 independent broadcast hours, from 397.1 hours
in 2004 to 457.5 hours in 2006. ITV contributed a total of 18.6 hours to
figures from 2006 and Five only contributed a total of 11.5 hours. The North West
saw no growth between 2004 and 2006; ITV halved its independent production
hours in two years, a decrease from 21.6 hours in 2004 to 11.5 hours in 2006.
The Midlands experienced a reduction of 136.3 hours, slipping from 188.8 in
2004 to 52.5 in 2006. Channel 4 contributed to the loss by 56.3 of these hours.
For East of England, BBC One dropped from 40.6 hours in 2004 to only 2 hours in
2006, while Channel 4 dropped 13.3 hours in the same period, broadcasting only
5.1 hours in 2006.

The South East saw an increase from 422.4 to 1020.7 hours.
However this figure was dominated by one quiz show—The Mint—which contributed 665 hours. Without this
show, there would have been a loss of 86.7 hours. The South West saw an
increase of 446.2 hours for independent broadcasts, with all broadcasters
increasing hours and spending throughout the 2004-2006 period, aside from BBC
Two, which dropped its hours by 2.7.

Charles Wace, Pact’s chair, said: “It is apparent that now
is the time for change; a change that will give all of our creative industries
outside M25 the chance to prosper. The lack of opportunity within the Nations
and Regions is not just to the detriment of the companies outside of London, it
is to the detriment of the broadcasters, who are wasting an enormous pool of
talent, and it is to the detriment of the nation which risks the threat of
cultural hegemony. We are wasting not only the economic abilities of a huge
part of the sector; we are neglecting an opportunity to celebrate the diverse
creative voices of the nation. The question is how long can this remain the
state of the nation?”

—By Irene Lew