Pact: U.K. TV Production Revenues Fell 8 Percent in 2023

Television production revenues in the U.K. fell by 8.4 percent to £3.61 billion ($4.7 billion) in 2023, according to the latest Pact Census.

“We have seen two strong financial years as the industry rebounded following the pandemic,” said John McVay, Pact’s chief executive. “The 2024 Census shows how many producers are really feeling the impact of the financial crisis and tough market conditions, but also that producers are resilient and able to diversify during these tough times. Next year’s Census will give us a clearer idea of the longer-term impact of the uncertainty of the past few years.”

While the levels are still higher than they were before the pandemic, the sector has been hit by reduced commissioning spend, an ad downturn and rising inflation.

U.K. commissioning revenues dropped by 10.2 percent to £1.78 billion ($2.33 billion), primarily due to a 35.4 percent decline in revenues earned from multichannel commissions. Almost 36 percent of U.K. commissioning spend was on new IP, Pact found, highlighting ITV’s increased share of new content (58 percent, up from 27 percent the year before.)

International TV revenues, meanwhile, took a 12.9 percent hit to £1.41 billion ($1.8 billion). While there were fewer commissions by linear TV broadcasters—falling to £441 million ($576.3 million)—international digital commissions were fairly stable, slipping just 1.8 percent to £684 million ($893.8 million) and accounting for 23.5 per cent of all primary TV rights revenues. Secondary rights revenues grew to £435 million ($568.4 million), including £209 million ($273.2 million) from finished program sales.

Producers are navigating the downturn by diversifying; Pact found that non-TV revenues surged by 51.3 percent to £181 million ($236.5 million).

The Pact survey also demonstrated the dominance of large companies in the drama and entertainment spaces; those with a turnover of more than £25 million accounted for 91 percent of total spend on drama and 87 percent of spending on entertainment. Meanwhile, in kids, 64 percent of total spend on children’s TV was to producers with a turnover of less than £25 million.