www.broadcastnow.co.uk
3 May 2013
GREENLIGHT
INTERVIEW
BEHIND THE SCENES
Page 22
Page 18
Page 28
Who’s picking up the Jimmy Mulville on big commissions? Thatcher’s TV legacy
A 17-year mission to expose sex gangs
C4 in GroupM Ent co-pro deal Partnership points to growing influence of the WPP-owned content financing division BY BALIHAR KHALSA AND PETER WHITE
Channel 4 is asking producers to strike deals with content funding agency GroupM Entertainment (GME) to get their entertainment and factual entertainment formats commissioned. The move is part of a wide-ranging deal the broadcaster is poised to strike with the entertainment arm of the world’s largest advertising agency, WPP. It follows the dispute between C4 and the GroupM ad agency late last year that saw the media buyer pull its TV advertising from the channel as it attempted to negotiate better rates for 2013. The dispute was resolved and the co-pro deal with the content funding division is thought to have come about on the back of that agreement. The arrangement is thought to be similar to the way GME works with Channel 5. A large portion of the Northern & Shell-owned broadcaster’s original commissions, particularly in the factual and factual entertainment genres, are co-produced with the agency. C4 sources indicated it would work with the company on a far smaller number of projects. In both cases, GME provides deficit funding on top of the broadcaster’s fee to ensure the show can be made. In return, GME takes 50% of ancillary revenues generated by the show, including international sales, although sources there disputed that figure. C4 has reduced its 2013 budget, particularly within its entertainment department, which is thought to have a commissioning pot in line
The Magaluf Weekender: GME funded the ITV2 show and has worked on a series of projects for Channel 5
with its 2011 level. The deal with GME helps C4 deal with those cuts, although there are concerns among some producers that they will be unable to land a C4 commission without agreeing to partner with the agency. Conversely, a C4 source said some indies had come to it with GME attached. One source close to the situation said GME co-production was “another way of getting a commis-
sion through”. “The option is open across all departments, but the kind of formats that come out of entertainment and fact ent are particularly attractive,” said the source. Entertainment commissioning editor Tom Beck is understood to have several co-pro projects under way. A C4 spokesman said: “C4 spends more than £400m annually on fully funded original
GROUPM ENT CO-PRO O-PRO CONTENT ■
Mysteries Of The Deep With Monty Halls (w/t, pictured), Tigress Productions, Channel 5
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Hen Nights, True North, C5
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The Poison Tree, STV Productions, ITV
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Mad Mad World, Roughcut TV, ITV
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Celebrity Wedding Planner,, Renegade, C5
British content. Like all commercial broadcasters, we are always looking at new and innovative funding models, and we are pleased to be working with GME on a small number of additional projects.” GME has become an increasingly powerful force in the TV industry. It has worked with C5 since 2010 talent contest Don’t Stop Believing and has funded shows such as ITV2’s The Magaluf Weekender. The company also invested in its first drama commission for last year’s ITV and STV Productions thriller The Poison Tree. It is run by managing director Richard Foster in association with head of programming Tony Moulsdale and commercial director Tim Hammond. Foster said: “GME is constantly exploring partnerships and is delighted to be working with C4.”
Editor’s Choice
Broadcast, 101 Finsbury Pavement, London EC2A 1RS or email lisa.campbell@broadcastnow.co.uk
Online this week www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Lisa Campbell, Editor
Top News
Will ITV have the last laugh? Broadcaster’s bold move in comedy is a risk worth taking
F
ew would have predicted that a murdered schoolboy and a couple of old queens would help mark a return to form for ITV, but hit drama Broadchurch and new comedy Vicious are helping to demonstrate that there’s more to ITV’s rebrand than a shiny new logo. While it may be premature to suggest a new golden era is upon us, the old adage that all you need is a couple of hits to change perceptions is being upheld, judging by some recent press coverage.
‘ITV will be happy with Vicious’ 5.9m, and coupling it with The Job Lot shows the breadth of its ambitions However, while Broadchurch served to demonstrate ITV’s continuing strength in drama, Vicious is a bolder bid to get back into that most risky of games: comedy. Having made his mark in the US with Will And Grace, writer Gary Janetti’s British debut puts not one but two knighted thesps centre stage. With Rising Damp’s Frances de la Tour in tow and a ’70s-brown set, it’s easy to carp at ITV’s first big studio sitcom in seven years, dismissing it as a throwback to an era when we were told how to laugh. Many already have – for some, the form is a hurdle; for others, the humour is too tame. Increasingly, The Office is seen as a Year Zero in many sceptics’ eyes, the point at which naturalistic performances and single cameras confined studio laughter to the Stone Age. Yet the success of comedies as diverse as The IT Crowd, Miranda 2 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
and Mrs Brown’s Boys tells another story. The latter is often heralded as TV rediscovering “the audience time forgot”, and arguably encouraged ITV to greenlight Vicious. In truth, there should be room for both, and form should fit the content. Janetti told Broadcast that multicamera comedy brings the audience closer to the characters rather than the “distance” and “cynicism” of a single-camera piece. But to viewers raised on a sophisticated palette of comedy formats, studio sitcoms walk a fine line. McKellen and Jacobi’s (below) OTT performances could yet win audiences’ affection by sheer force of personality and gag rate – neither of which is going to save Ben Elton’s The Wright Way on BBC1. ITV will be happy with Vicious’ 5.9 million (though shedding 1 million within half an hour is a little worrying). Coupling it with The Job Lot, a clear descendant of The Office with no laugh track, demonstrates the breadth of ITV’s ambitions. Which can only be good news for viewers – and producers, as Hat Trick supremo Jimmy Mulville outlines in this issue (see page 18). He’s been around long enough not to let the decommission of Sky 1’s Spy and ITV’s Great Night Out get to him. What fires him up is that, finally, broadcasters are realising comedies can define your channel better than almost any other form. ITV has to play a numbers game, but it’s aware that new comedy needs time to bed in, however hard that is in an era where social media makes us all so quick to judge. Here’s hoping it doesn’t get cold feet again.
è Documentaries commissioning editor Charlotte Moore has been named acting BBC1 controller after Danny Cohen’s promotion to director of television last week.
è Channel 4 chief creative officer Jay Hunt denied she has any plans to leave the broadcaster after being linked to the NBC News president job and BBC director of TV role.
è Hilary Devey’s (right) first C4 vehicle, The Intern, has been buried in an 11pm slot. The five-part series was playing on Thursday at 9pm, but the final two episodes will be broadcast in the later slot.
Ratings Top Five 1 Doctor Who (below) teleported 4.88m to BBC1 on Saturday, its lowest overnight audience in nearly three years. 2 Elderly gay couple sitcom Vicious was watched by 5.9m to become ITV’s highest-rating new comedy in at least seven years. 3 The third series of C4’s 10 O’Clock Live got fewer than 1m viewers on its return. 4 The Politician’s Husband attracted an audience of 2.5m, well above BBC2’s slot average. 5 ITV’s Inspector Morse prequel Endeavour slumped to a series low of 5.6m on Sunday.
Team Tweets è I dread to think how many crawly, arse-licking emails Danny Cohen is getting right now @BenDowell
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News & Analysis
Hall’s red flag system for BBC DG puts strategy in place to highlight high-risk programmes and avert Savile-style mistakes BY JAKE KANTER
Tony Hall has overhauled the BBC’s top-level conversations about high-risk programmes in a bid to prevent a repeat of the Jimmy Savile scandal. Less than a month into the job, the director general has introduced a ‘red flag’ system into BBC editorial processes, giving him and the corporation’s management board greater oversight of potentially controversial content. The directors of television, radio, news and the nations will inform the BBC’s top team about programmes they have concerns about twice a week: in the weekly Monday management board meeting, and in a Friday morning management telephone call. Hall has asked for content to be flagged to highlight issues with the way productions are progressing, or if a show may pose a reputational risk to the BBC. The divisional directors must also alert the management board to shows that could have an impact on planning in other areas of output. They will issue a short briefing note to the top team ahead of the management sessions and these will be discussed in detail to determine the best way forward. The new red flag system will be in addition to the managed programmes list, which identifies sensitive shows being made anywhere in the BBC. The aim is that it will eradicate informal discussions about potentially risky BBC content. Failings in this area were criticised in the Pollard report into Newsnight’s dropped Savile investigation in 2011. The report was scathing of the way then News director Helen Boaden notified former Vision director George Entwistle about Newsnight’s Savile probe at a Women in Film & Television lunch. It said the warning was not clear enough to prevent Entwistle from agreeing to broadcast tribute programmes to the Jim’ll Fix It star after his death. “I go back to the Pollard confusion, the absence of that discussion www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Hall: told the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee that he wants to “correct” editorial processes
or the informality of those discussions, or the fact they’re done on email. That is what I want to correct,” Hall told the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee last week.
An open BBC The director general also talked about his vision for a more open and less bureaucratic BBC culture, which he hopes will empower programme-makers. Echoing some of the sentiments of his short-lived predecessor, Hall said he wants to create an environment where staff are more “confident” about admitting to their mistakes. The DG added that the BBC tends to “accrete layers, accrete regulations, accrete roles” and he wants to address this. “There is too much bureaucracy, too many processes and structures that hinder programme-makers,” he said. In the first public test of his mettle, Hall also announced his intention to cap senior management pay-offs at £150,000 after Entwistle was paid £450,000 for just 54 days in the top job. The proposed limit is likely to affect 250 senior BBC managers and was warmly welcomed by the National Union of Journalists. “These obscene payments were
being paid while other members of the BBC were being forced out of their jobs,” said general secretary Michelle Stanistreet. Hall was also grilled on the BBC’s North Korea Panorama documentary and refused to open an inquiry into how BBC journalists secured consent from LSE students to join the North Korea trip. To do so, Hall said, would strike at the heart of the BBC’s journalism. “If we have to have an inquiry
Bureaucracy and too many processes and structures hinder programme-makers Tony Hall, BBC
every time we do a contentious piece of broadcasting, the investigative work I profoundly believe in is going to become very difficult.”
CHAIRMAN’S VERDICT COULD DO BETTER John Whittingdale MP (pictured) gave a lukewarm verdict on Tony Hall’s first appearance in front of his DCMS select committee – particularly the DG’s performance on issues including Panorama’s North Korea film. The committee chairman said Hall performed “ok”, but “the jury is out” on whether he is the right man to lead the BBC. Whittingdale told a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch he was surprised the BBC was not more
“anxious” about the dispute with the LSE over the North Korea doc. He said there were “unanswered questions” and he has received a six-page document from a student involved, directly contradicting the BBC’s version of events. Whittingdale was sceptical of Hall’s decision to make Helen Boaden director of radio after she was criticised in the Pollard report. “There needed to be some clear taking of responsibility [for the Savile saga at BBC News], some clear sanction or punishment,” he said.
3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 3
News & Analysis
TV explores Google+ potential BY ALex FArBer
Google has given an insight in to the ways TV execs are taking advantage of its emerging video-calling platform, Google+ Hangouts. In recent weeks, a range of shows including Channel 4’s Bedtime Live, Telegraph Hill’s online series The Fox Problem and items on Sky News have made use of the service, which allows live video feeds from up to 10 people to appear in a single stream. Broadcasters are able to air Hangouts in which contributors ‘dial in’ via webcams on PCs or a cameraphone. Google+ head of marketing for EMEA Cristian Cussen told Broadcast that Hangouts were being widely used by global figures, friends and businesses – but that broadcasters and producers were adapting them in the most exciting ways. “We are seeing rampant experimentation from broadcasters looking at interesting uses for the platform,” he said. “The most exciting examples are when they are integrating it on air.” Cussen pointed to Twofour’s Bedtime Live on C4, in which parents placed a webcam in their child’s bedroom for one stream, before conducting an interview on a second PC in another room.
Journalists can SMS contacts and have them on international TV in minutes Cristian Cussen, Google+
Google+ Hangouts: Telegraph Hill’s online series The Fox Problem
“Hangouts can help to bring interesting digital elements to their programming and allow them to incorporate everyday audiences into their shows, beyond emails or tweets. It is an elevated, face-to-face discussion,” said Cussen. News bulletins have been among the most progressive in using the platform, with Sky News, ITN and the BBC all testing the service since November. Sky’s Tim Marshall conducted a live interview with an Israeli and a Palestinian after attacks in Gaza, while C4’s Alex Thomson conducted three online-only
Hangouts last month, covering Syria, the Kenyan elections and the UK’s ageing population. “It solves cost and time issues,” said Cussen. “News journalists can SMS their key contacts and have them on international TV via their mobile phone in minutes. The usage I would love to see most accelerated is the spontaneous, low-fi, down-and-dirty response to everyday news.” He added that it avoided the expense and time-delay of having to fly news crews around the world. A soon-to-be-unveiled update to the service will include the ability
for broadcasters to introduce graphics into the feeds, further improving the experience. As an example of the way other industries are embracing the platform, Cussen pointed to singer Ellie Goulding autographing virtual copies of her new album for fans via a Hangout, which they could then post on their Google+ profile page. He cited online players creating entire formats using the platform, such as The Fox Problem, which drew in feeds from around the world to create an entertainment series last month. Others are using the service as an innovative online marketing tool to drive viewers to a TV show, usually by setting up a Hangout featuring talent from the programme. For example, Spirit Digital Media is running a series of online spin-offs supporting E4’s Made In Chelsea.
BBC and Fremantle in battle for Lawrence legacy It’s a tale of emotional turmoil, identity crisis, and indi vidual brilliance
BY JAke kAnTer
The BBC is developing an epic mini-series on the story of Lawrence of Arabia, which will go head to head with a Fremantle Media International project on the same subject. Broadcast can reveal that the corporation has come on board with Tiger Aspect and Lookout Point’s story about Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, which is being written by Any Human Heart author William Boyd. Tiger and Lookout announced they were developing Lawrence (w/t) last year and are now in talks 4 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
David Ellender, Fremantle Media
Lawrence Of Arabia: classic tale
with the BBC to decide how best to take it forward. It started life as a one-off special, but has since developed into a mini-series and is expected to be reasonably broad
in style, like Boyd’s recent BBC1 adaptation Restless. Insiders at the corporation confirmed the BBC is on board but said no decision had been made over which channel it will play on. They also stressed that the project remains at an early stage. It will go up against Fremantle Media International’s version of
the tale, announced this week. It is a 6 x 60-minute series directed and produced by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Patriot) and penned by Commander In Chief creator Rod Lurie and Waking The Dead writer Clive Bradley. “The heritage of this story is fascinating,” said David Ellender, chief executive of Fremantle Media International. “Beyond the historical element, it’s a personal tale of emotional turmoil, identity crisis, conflicting loyalties and individual brilliance.” Lawrence’s story was previously told in David Lean’s 1962 classic Lawrence Of Arabia. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
News & Analysis
BBC cuts ent and daytime BY jAke kAnTer
The BBC is losing a commissioner from both its daytime and entertainment commissioning teams as part of cost-cutting measures across the corporation. BBC daytime executive Gillian Scothern’s post has been made redundant after the seven-strong daytime and early peak commissioning team had to reapply for their jobs. It is understood Scothern has been approached by indies but is also talking to the BBC about a new role. Her departure from daytime equates to a 14% cut to Damian Kavanagh’s commissioning team and comes just over a month after he was named as Liam Keelan’s replacement, returning to the BBC from Channel 4. The department has fewer hours to fill after daytime content was axed from BBC2 under the Delivering Quality First programme. New content has been replaced by a mix of repeats, archive material and increased news.
The department has fewer hours to fill after daytime content was axed from BBC2 under the DQF scheme
Britain’s First Photo Album: archive shows have replaced daytime content
In the entertainment commissioning team, at least one exec is poised to take voluntary redundancy. It is not clear whether more than one has offered to leave, but the identity of the individual will be revealed shortly. Mark Linsey leads a group of 10 commissioners, including the likes
of Alan Tyler, Sean Hancock and Jo Wallace. There has also been talk that entertainment executive editor Karl Warner may be considering his future and is open to the challenge of returning to production. It is understood that the knowledge and drama teams do not have to make any frontline commission-
ing cuts as they have managed to trim costs in other ways. Each genre team was tasked with devising their own plan for delivering savings, with costs being cut through reducing duplication, simplifying process or striking longer-term programming deals at reduced tariffs. The cuts are bound up in the wider change programme in the BBC television division, designed to ensure more of the corporation’s spending ends up on screen. First set out by George Entwistle last year, it is hoped that more than £6m a year can be saved through a combination of redundancies, reduced internal duplication and improved indie relations.
UKTV takes on ITV3 with Drama channel launch There’s fantastic content that the audience hasn’t been able to see for a long time
BY PeTer whiTe
UKTV is set to go head to head with ITV3 with the launch of Drama, a new channel on Freeview. It is the company’s first channel launch since female-skewing Really in May 2009, and takes UKTV’s portfolio to 11. A large amount of content will come out of UKTV’s licensing agreement with the BBC, including Tipping The Velvet, Cranford and Lark Rise To Candleford, but Drama will also acquire non-BBC titles from thirdparty distributors. Drama will launch on 8 July with classic drama programming such as Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice. Former ITV shows such as Catherine Cookson’s The Cinder Path and Sean Bean-fronted Sharpe will also run. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Emma Tennant, UKTV
Tipping The Velvet: BBC archive
“There’s a great deal of fantastic content that the Freeview audience hasn’t been able to see for a long time,” said UKTV controller Emma Tennant. The channel will be run by general manager Adrian Wills, who also looks after Yesterday. “Some of the highest-rated content on Yesterday was historical drama,
so it seems an obvious chance for us to exploit more of that,” he said. “You might think that with 10 channels there’s a lot of space to showcase classic drama but, in fact, the channels we have are quite specific, so there was no real space to show the deeper archive.” Tennant said it was necessary to make new acquisitions rather than rely solely on BBC catalogue. “It doesn’t have to be old to qualify; it’s about hitting the right demographic,” she said. “We know that
drama tends to go older and slightly more female. In the Freeview space, we already have Dave, which is younger and more male; Really, which is younger and more female; and Yesterday, which is older and more male.” Wills said there was plenty of room for two classic-drama channels on Freeview, given the majority of channels are fact ent or comedy networks, or multi-genre terrestrial spin-offs. “When you look at who else is doing classic drama, it’s only ITV3, and it does fantastically well so there’s room for more than one,” he said. Drama’s channel slot is yet to be finalised. One option would be the DTT slot UKTV acquired last year, which plays +1 channel Dave Ja Vu. UKTV is a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Network Interactive. 3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 5
News & Analysis
Cutting Edge sharpens up BY Balihar khalSa
Fried-chicken shops, One Direction fans, ageing fashionistas and social workers helping the grieving families of people who have been murdered will all feature in Channel 4’s next run of Cutting Edge docs as it bids to paint a picture of modern Britain. Cutting Edge commissioner Emma Cooper told Broadcast that hers is “the foremost primetime British documentary strand” and her next batch of films are so eclectic because of the diverse range of off-screen talent making them. “We have got established filmmakers rubbing alongside people who are slightly less experienced, but no less passionate. All those voices together in one strand can say really important things about the UK and the world, but also are brilliantly entertaining”, she explained. The next Cutting Edge to air will be CTVC’s 90-minute film The Murder Workers, from Katie: My Beautiful Face director Jessie Versluys. It will delve into the job of social workers providing support to grieving families whose loved ones have been murdered.
Cutting EdgE films forthComing slatE Crocodile Tears (w/t)
REx FEATuRES
Mentorn Media’s film will examine the phenomenon of ‘crocodile tears’: where people who feign innocence or make public appeals for information – often on camera – have, in reality, committed the crime themselves. Directed by Nick London, it will re-examine high-profile crimes such as the Philpott case (pictured).
Intimate portrayal Cooper said she felt “privileged” to have been involved with it. “You watch it and know it is a Cutting Edge because it’s the first time we have got access to a new group of social workers. Jessie managed to get a level of intimacy with grieving families that I have never seen before.” Revelations, unique observations and access are very much part of Cooper’s vision for the strand, which she has been overseeing for the past 17 months. She said: “In a dream world, you spot something that is around the corner, or that nobody has noticed. I really feel that happened with Chicken Shop. I look for things that are in the air, that are going to strike a chord with people, but that maybe they haven’t realised before.” Chicken Shop, directed by Yonni Usiskin, was incredibly modern 6 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
Clockwise from top: Chicken Shop; The Murder Workers; Emma Cooper
I look for things that are in the air, that are going to strike a chord with people Emma Cooper, Channel 4
and current, Cooper said, and demonstrated to film-makers that Cutting Edge is a place to experiment with technique. A three-part follow-up to the doc has already been ordered and will sit alongside two other films in a mini-season called Britain At Night. The new films will also use a mini-rig to film in a mini-cab office and on a night bus. “It feels like we can get into these spaces in a targeted, fast way
[using a mini-rig] and deliver a film you recognise, but it is also surprising and quite fast in its storytelling,” Cooper said. Also lined up are Daisy Asquith’s doc following 14-year-old One Direction fans and Sue Bourne’s Fabulous Fashionistas, a yet-to-bedefined housing benefit film from Sean Macallister, plus Crocodile Tears from Nick London. They are part of a rolling slate of films and Cooper hopes to have 10-12 on air this year, but is not prescriptive about the exact number. Her plan is for Cutting Edge to be a strand where “you don’t know whether you are going to get a conventional film or a mad journey – that is what the UK is like. I don’t see linear narratives around me.”
Fabulous Fashionistas (w/t) Award-winning documentarymaker Sue Bourne’s film will follow six women in their 70s, 80s and 90s who continue to dress with panache, keeping up with the trends and labels, despite their advancing years.
Britain By Night Two single docs, from Mentorn Media, will follow the daily goings-on in a mini-cab office as well as filming people travelling and working on a night bus. Both will use fixed-rig filming.
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News & Analysis BBC1 commissions rape centre doc from Gold Star BBC1 has ordered Raped, a one-off documentary from Gold Star Productions about the St Mary’s sexual assault centre. The broadcaster has gained access to the clinic in Manchester for the first time and the film will document the work of the doctors, crisis workers and counsellors at the centre, which sees more than 1,200 women, men and children come through each year. Raped will tell the stories through the eyes of two women who have been raped: one who was attacked by a stranger on New Year’s Eve, and one who had known and trusted her attacker for more than 10 years. The film was ordered by Charlotte Moore and will be exec produced by the BBC’s Clare Paterson and Gold Star’s Emma Hindley. It will air later this year. Gold Star, which was founded by former BBC producers Sara Hardy and Blue Ryan, is known for producing The Bomb Squad, a two-part documentary for BBC1 about the work of British bomb-disposal teams as they tackled IEDs in Afghanistan, and Wounded, a feature-length documentary that followed the rehabilitation of two British soldiers injured in action.
C4 to re-enact D-Day events in real time BY Balihar khalSa
Channel 4 will commemorate D-Day by re-enacting its events in real time for a large-scale multiplatform event. D-Day: As It Happens is a major project including two hour-long live programmes, produced by Windfall Films. The first will air on the evening of 5 June, exactly 69 years after the start of the liberation of Europe, and introduce seven people who were there on the day, dubbed the ‘D-Day 7’. The group, which includes a paratrooper, a midget submariner, a nurse and a military cameraman, will re-enact their stories across a 24-hour period, reflecting the events that took place in 1944. A second hour-long show will air the next day, providing a recap of their exploits. To accompany the event, which is being produced with digital partner Digit, archive material including film, photography and radio reports will be released online at points that reflect the moments they were captured on D-Day. The coverage will be supported by Twitter activity and short broadcast updates on TV.
D-Day: previous BBC drama followed US troops landing on Omaha beach
British historian Colin Henderson’s 15 years of unpublished research, which has identified individual soldiers using archive material, will form the backbone of the project. Specialist factual commissioner John Hay ordered the project with factual multiplatform commissioner Kate Quilton. Hay said: “This feels like innovation with a real purpose – there’s something about experiencing an event in real time that makes you feel it, and connect with it, in a new way. We’re trying to make the first TV
programme that delivers the past in the way that many of us experience news in the present. I hope it’ll be emotional as well as illuminating.” Executive producer Ian Duncan added: “D-Day was one of the most photographed days in British history, covered by more than 50 cameramen specially trained by the military. Colin Henderson’s painstaking forensic analysis of much of the visual material has allowed us to identify and accurately track the movements of seven individuals moment by moment through the drama of the day.”
ITV2 to launch summer music festival with Done & Dusted We are thrilled to be bringing something even better this year
BY Jake kanTer
ITV2 is to launch a summer music event in Weston-super-Mare that will be the spiritual successor to Channel 4’s T4 On The Beach. The commercial broadcaster will team up with live-event specialist Done & Dusted to stage Summer Sets On The Beach on Saturday 31 August, featuring a plethora of pop acts and special guests across three stages. ITV2 will carry three hours of live coverage from 3pm to 6pm, while ITV will package together some of the best moments from the event in a 60-minute highwww.broadcastnow.co.uk
Mel Fletcher, Done & Dusted
T4 On The Beach: The Saturdays
lights show. Some of the performers will be announced when tickets go on sale on 17 May, but it is hoped that more than 30 chart-
topping artists will make the journey to Somerset. Done & Dusted had been hoping to get another Weston-super-Mare event off the ground since C4’s decision to close T4 last year. The producer made T4 On The Beach for 10 years and in 2012, the coverage averaged 477,500 (4.2%)
viewers. ITV hopes that Summer Sets On The Beach will build on its other music coverage, including the Brit Awards, which this year drew a 10-year high of 6.51 million (27.79%) viewers in February. “Summer Sets On The Beach will close our summer schedule and start our autumn season with a bang,” said ITV entertainment commissioner Kate Maddigan. Done & Dusted executive producer Mel Fletcher added: “The communities far and wide have shown great loyalty to this event, so we are thrilled to be bringing them something even bigger and better this year.” 3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 7
Commissioning News
c4 unveils raft of fact ent shows The number of returning series is testament to the creative vision and passion of the producers involved
BY BALIHAR KHALSA
Channel 4 is launching a number of factual entertainment formats to introduce new talent and has made several commissions that bring back big names. The broadcaster has ordered two series from Twenty Twenty. The first, Tom And Barney Go Back To The Future (w/t), is a 4 x 60-minute series about inventor Tom Lawton’s efforts to create a floating home in an attempt to find a solution to flooding. Barney is his six-year-old-son. Twenty Twenty’s second offering is three-part series Miracle Hunter, which will feature The King In The Car Park presenter Simon Farnaby, who goes in search of miracles in locations from Bucharest to Bali. Channel 4 has also renewed Betty TV-produced Heston’s Fantastical Food and Optomen Television’s Kevin McCloud’s Man Made Home for second seasons, and will revamp North One’s Gadget Man, with The IT Crowd’s Richard Ayoade replacing current host Stephen Fry.
BBc1 returns to Moffat’s The Village for second run BBC1’s historical drama The Village (pictured) has been commissioned for a second series before the first has ended. Peter Moffat’s tale depicts the life of an English village across the 20th century and will return for another 6 x 60-minute series next year. BBC1 controller Danny Cohen ordered the series alongside drama controller Ben Stephenson, while John Griffin is the executive producer. The Village is produced by All3Media’s Company Pictures.
BBc3 refreshes comedy slate BBC3 has ordered a comedy show about the “world’s most irresponsible uncle”. The youth channel has 8 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
Liam Humphreys, Channel 4
Ayoade and Farnaby: shows will feature established stars and fresh talent
Ayoade will investigate the latest technology, and will design and create his own innovations. Mary Portas will also return in Mary’s Jobs For Life, produced by Plum Pictures. The retail expert will open an employment agency for the over-65s, as she taps into the skills of senior citizens to
allow them to compete on the same level as the rest of the employment market. All of the shows were commissioned by head of factual entertainment Liam Humphreys, with support from factual entertainment commissioners Richard Evans and Tina Flintoff.
commissioned Baby Cow Productions to make 6 x 30-minute series Uncle. It will be written and directed by Oliver Refson, while Gregor Sharp is the exec producer for the BBC. Meanwhile, Roughcut Television’s iPlayer pilot People Just Do Nothing, about a pirate radio station, is to be transformed into a four-part series. The 30-minute mockumentary is written by Steve Stamp and Seapa Mustafa. BBC3 controller Zai Bennett and comedy controller Shane Allen have also commissioned Big Talk Pictures’ Him & Her for a fourth and final series, plus a third series of in-house/Little Comet’s Pramface and a second series of in-house army sitcom Bluestone 42. BBC3 has also ordered eight, 30-minute Comedy Feeds iPlayer pilots.
iTV news’ Bradby writes Great Fire drama for iTV ITV News political editor Tom Bradby is writing a period drama for ITV based on the events of the Great Fire of London in 1666. Ecosse Films is producing the four-part drama – ITV director of drama Steve November’s first commission since his permanent appointment to the role. It is set to be an ambitious project that will follow the lives of historical figures such as Samuel Pepys and King Charles II, as well as fictional characters. Douglas Rae and Lucy Bedford will executive produce the drama, which is set to go into production later this year.
BBc orders second david Walliams adaptation BBC1 is to adapt David Walliams book Gangsta Granny for Christmas 2013, following the success of Mr Stink last year. The broadcaster
Humphreys said the number of returning series underlined their success. “It’s testament to the creative vision and passion of the producers involved and, of course, the exceptional on-screen talent we work with,” he said. Chief creative officer Jay Hunt also hinted that factual series Drugs Live, produced by Renegade Pictures, may return with a focus on cannabis and alcohol rather than ecstasy and MDMA.
For details of all commissions, see
http://greenlight.broadcastnow.co.uk
has commissioned a 60-minute drama based on the Britain’s Got Talent judge’s book, which tells the story of schoolboy Ben, who is unaware of his grandmother’s secret plot to steal the crown jewels. Like Mr Stink, Gangsta Granny will be adapted by Walliams (below)
alongside Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley. The BBC’s in-house comedy production team and Walliams’ Bert Productions will produce the special. Shane Allen commissioned the show alongside BBC1 controller Danny Cohen. It will be produced by Jo Sargent and executive produced by Mark Freeland. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
For more projects in development and the latest commissions, visit
http://greenlight.broadcastnow.co.uk
Q&A LindsAy BrAdBury Lindsay Bradbury BBC daytime commissioning executive editor
What’s your most recent commission and why? A second, longer run of Food And Drink for BBC2, with the bonus of an hourlong Christmas special. A chance to celebrate brilliant BBC2 talent in a non-competitive food format.
How much has it changed from the initial pitch? Oliver Peyton had come up with 15 cracking ideas. One of them was to bring back Food And Drink, without that bloke with the beard. Pete Lawrence produced it in-house with style, substance and a sense of humour. What was it that grabbed you? The opportunity to bring back an iconic brand. Particularly at a time when we are obsessed by how and what we eat and drink. How quickly do you aim to respond to an idea?
I aim to immediately acknowledge it. That gives time “to mull”, to coin a Liam Keelan phrase.
What would you like more of? Ideas that answer the question: “Why are we doing this now?” What’s a definite no for you? Anything that leaves you cold once you’ve watched it. And producers who spend the first 20 minutes of a meeting giving me their CV. Who has final sign off? Damian Kavanagh for daytime ideas, Janice Hadlow for BBC2 and the next BBC1 controller for peaktime. How should producers pitch to you? With passion.
What’s the best line you’ve heard in a pitch? Anything uttered by Rick Shaw from Lion – he’s the best pitcher in the business and always comes very well prepared. And often with an intriguing prop. What’s the worst line you’ve heard in a pitch. “It’s basically MasterChef for dog food.” What’s your riskiest commission and why? Britain’s Big Wildlife Revival from Outline Productions for BBC1 teatime. What if the hedgehog doesn’t make it to TX? Tell us something that would surprise us about you. I spent time in the world’s toughest prison, the Bangkok Hilton. Filming. Which TV character would you most like to be? She’s not exactly a TV character, but would you let me say Mary Berry? She is simply the person with the biggest heart on TV. What programmes do you wish you’d commissioned? Shows that get talked about – The Great British Sewing Bee. Since it’s been on, it’s become mandatory BBC policy to sew little pockets onto our suits and embellish them. Damian Kavanagh’s done a great job of his. What are the most important lessons life as a commissioner has taught you? Always cut and shoot an episode early in the run so everyone is crystal clear what needs to be achieved. Also, fight hard the urge to give pages of subjective notes that don’t make a difference to accuracy or viewing figures – but are guaranteed to demoralise the exhausted production team. Further information and programming tariffs available at: http://greenlight.broadcastnow.co.uk
The kiLLer PiTch
GREAT BRITISH MENU
BRITAIN’S BIG WILDLIFE REVIVAL
Indie Optomen Television TX Spring 2014 What sold it to you The theme for next year’s series is the best one to date. It’s a closely guarded secret, but Britain’s gastro gods will be delivering food that celebrates the nation’s spirit. It’ll make you feel proud to be British.
Indie Outline Productions TX Summer 2013 What sold it to you? A feelgood campaign fronted by Ellie Harrison [pictured] that celebrates our fantastic wildlife. An opportunity to connect with the outdoors and a strong call to action. Feels very BBC1.
www.broadcastnow.co.uk
3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 9
International
OR Media strikes deal with BBCW OR Media has one of the most exciting development slates around
BY peter whIte
Indie producer OR Media, the company behind BBC2 doc Michael Portillo’s Great Euro Crisis, has struck a development and distribution deal with BBC Worldwide. The agreement comes after the indie secured a new commission to make India’s Supersize Kids, a one-off doc for BBC2’s This World strand. The producer struck the twoyear deal with BBCW to increase its international exposure, and the distributor beat off competition from several rivals to secure the arrangement. OR managing director Chris Mitchell said: “We had four or five deals on the table but BBC Worldwide showed a real appetite for our content.” The first title to be distributed internationally will be India’s Supersize Kids, which investigates the country’s growing obesity crisis and is directed by Andy Well and exec produced by Mitchell and Narinder Minhas.
Jill Kellie, BBCW
India’s Supersize Kids: one-off doc for BBC2’s This World strand
Also included will be Ellie’s World, which follows the life of a 10-year-old girl whose family is openly polygamous, and Teen Amnesia, which tells the story of four teenagers with severe amnesia who attend a summer camp in Yorkshire. Both docs were commissioned by Channel 5
and are co-productions with GroupM Entertainment. OR Media has previously collaborated with BBC Worldwide on films including Massacre At Virginia Tech, which was produced for BBC2 and Discovery, and Haji: The Journey Of A Lifetime. Mitchell said the company is looking to
Netflix prison drama set for launch in the summer
Chancellor: producers should bang drum for UK
Netflix will launch its fourth original series in July. The online video service will make all 13 episodes of Lionsgate-produced drama Orange Is The New Black available across its platforms in the UK, Ireland, Latin America, Scandinavia, Canada and the US on 11 July. The women’s prison drama was created by Weeds creator Jenji Kohan and is based on the memoir of Piper Kerman. The series stars Argo’s Taylor Schilling. It follows the David Fincherdirected political drama House Of Cards, Eli Roth horror Hemlock Grove and the fourth season of Arrested Development in the VoD service’s growing portfolio of original commissions.
Chancellor George Osborne (below) has called on producers to bang the drum internationally for UK creative industries tax credits, at the official launch of the tax credits at Bafta this week. Osborne said: “In the last couple of months, I have personally met people from Disney, Warner Bros and HBO, and have been passionately selling what the UK now has to offer. I would ask you to join with me in that effort, through all your contacts, with all the people around the world. Go and tell them the good news that the UK now has one of the most competitive tax regimes for the creative industries – this is
Hulu content push takes in Wild West and animation US online video platform Hulu is continuing to aggressively expand its portfolio of original program10 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
ming with the launch of new shows including its first animated series and a Western. It has ordered The Awesomes, a comic book-style series from Saturday Night Live star Seth Myers; Quick Draw, set in 1895 and featuring a Harvard-educated sheriff; and Occupant Entertainmentproduced high-school sports series Behind The Mask. Separately, it has acquired Chris O’Dowd’s BBC Worldwide-distributed comedy Moone Boy (above) and Eva Longoria-voiced animation series Mother Up! from Canada’s Rogers Media and Breakthrough Entertainment.
ramp up the number of factual titles it produces this year. “When you’re developing ideas, it’s not enough to have paper, you need sizzle tapes and trailers. I don’t think you can do that without a significant pot of development money. With this, we can up our game,” he said. BBC Worldwide commercial manager for science, history and documentaries Jill Kellie added: “OR Media has one of the most exciting development slates around, and we are delighted to be working with it on this firstlook deal. “It reinforces BBC Worldwide’s commitment to showcasing significant and often unheard stories to mainstream audiences.”
the place to do your new hit TV show; this is the place to do your new animation.”
Animal Planet reels in reality series Top Hooker US cable network Animal Planet has ordered competition reality series Top Hooker from The Ultimate Fighter producer Pilgrim Studios. The Discovery-owned broadcaster has commissioned the series in which 10 of the world’s top anglers compete in wild fishing challenges to win $30,000 and a new fishing truck. The series, which will be hosted by comedian Reno Collier, was ordered by Animal Planet’s Charlie Foley and exec produced by Pilgrim Studios’ Craig Piligian, Ralph Wikke, Mitch Rosa and Keith Hoffman. It will launch in June. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
For all the latest breaking news, updated daily, visit www.broadcastnow.co.uk
INTERVIEW RIO CARAEFF
US music network aiming to tune in to UK Vevo chief executive explains that a focus on original content will be key to success
V
evo started life in 2009 as an online music network that aired promo videos from record labels including owners Universal Music and Sony Music Entertainment. However, the service, which is part owned by Abu Dhabi Media, has launched a linear station in the US and Canada, and plans to extend this to the UK later this year. It aims to compete with the likes of Viacom’s MTV and its sister channels, and is set to push aggressively into original content. “We spend more than $10m a year on making original programming – by which I mean anything that isn’t a music video,” chief executive Rio Caraeff said at the FT Digital Media conference. The company airs series including Lyric Lines, Balcony TV, Music Is My Sport and Rising Icons, and was expected to announce more original series at its digital upfronts event in New York as Broadcast went to press. “The bar will raise for everybody as far as expectations for quality [increase], and people who are making original programming for the first time, like us, are seeing how hard it is to make great quality programming,” Caraeff
Far Moor sets up US division TV financier and indie producer Far Moor has opened an office in LA and hired industry veteran Louisa Spring (pictured) as part of its expansion into the US. The company is looking to take advantage of the new TV tax credit for high-end drama and comedy, and will use the new base to advise international producers and US broadcasters on the mechanics of the change. Spring was previously a talent agent and has also exec produced films including Guy Pearce-fronted Woundings. She has been an adviser to the British Film Commission and a board member at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in LA. Far Moor recently got its first project away, with BBC America, Canada’s Space and www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Left to right: Vevo; rio Caraeff
admitted. “It’s very hard to make House Of Cards or Game Of Thrones. A lot of money and blood, sweat and tears go into that.” Caraeff and Nic Jones, the former News Corp exec who is now Vevo’s international senior vice-president, hope this drive will help the company’s “fully multi-cast, programmed, linear [channel]” succeed in the UK when it launches later this year. “We crave shared experiences, we crave to be programmed to, and while we live in a world where you can watch everything on-demand,
Endemol Worldwide Distribution coming on board for BBC1 drama Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.
ABC orders remake of Endemol singing format US network ABC has ordered talent competition Sing Your Face Off, a remake of Endemol format Your Face Sounds Familiar. The Disney-owned broadcaster has commissioned six episodes of the series, which will feature five celebrities who will be transformed into, and trained to perform as, a famous pop star. The series is produced by Endemol USA and exec produced by Georgie Hurford-Jones. The format was originally created by Endemol Spain and has been sold to 20 territories across Europe, Latin America and Asia, as well as in China.
there is still a time, and a place, where you want to not have to think about it,” he added. Vevo is currently in the middle of a new funding round that is thought to include YouTube and investment firm Guggenheim Partners. But it is also in talks with pay-TV platforms and is betting that its combination of cutting-edge technology – with access to internet-connected TVs and platforms, such as Roku and Microsoft Xbox Live, and traditional TV – will help it perform in the UK and abroad.
Endemol confirms Kuperman acquisition
Banijay names Endemol’s Bassetti as chief exec
Endemol is to launch an Israeli division after acquiring a majority stake in Kuperman Productions, in a deal revealed by broadcastnow. co.uk. Under the deal, the producer and distributor will launch an operational base in Israel to produce Endemol’s library of international formats in the region. Endemol Israel will be run by chief executive Elad Kuperman, who founded the production company. Ynon Kreiz, who acquired a 50% stake in Kuperman in 2009, has sold his stake as part of the agreement, and will exit the company. Kuperman is known for producing the local version of Endemol’s Big Brother format and Uri Geller’s talent search The Successor.
International producer and distributor Banijay has appointed former Endemol president Marco Bassetti as chief executive. His appointment comes as the company acquires a 50% stake in Bassetti’s Italian production company Ambra Multimedia, its first moves in the country. Banijay, the 71 Degrees North (pictured) format owner, has previously stated its intention to move into the UK market and is searching for UK indies to acquire. Bassetti’s appointment is expected to ramp up this process. Bassetti founded Endemol Italy in 1997. He rejoined the company in 2007 and was appointed president in 2009, before stepping down in 2012. 3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 11
Multiplatform News iN brief Shazam hires chief exec Media recognition service Shazam has appointed Yahoo!’s Rich Riley as its chief executive. Riley, who was executive vicepresident of Americas for Yahoo!, replaces Andrew Fisher, who will move into the newly created role of executive chairman. The hire follows Shazam’s appointment of the BBC’s Daniel Danker as chief product officer in March.
ITV web chief joins Yahoo! Yahoo! has hired former director of multiplatform programmes for ITV Richard Williams to head its UK media team. Williams, who joined last month, will look to boost the online giant’s rich-media offering across all devices. He left ITV in September, having run the in-house teams responsible for developing websites and apps for shows including The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent (pictured), Emmerdale and The Only Way Is Essex.
Coolabi takes Dare Entertainment producer and rights-management business Coolabi has hired Naomi Dare as head of digital. Dare, who previously worked for content, strategy and marketing expert Hangar Seven, will drive awareness and sales of digital products for brands including Bagpuss, Poppy Cat and Purple Ronnie.
Viewster lures fight fans A range of TNA Wrestling and UCMMA (Ultimate Challenge Mixed Martial Arts) bouts are to be offered free to visitors to Viewster’s VoD service after the online business struck a deal with rights holders. The ad-funded footage, which was previously available exclusively on pay channels, will be distributed internationally, with fans able to subscribe for an ad-free stream.
For the latest breaking news www.broadcastnow.co.uk 12 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
The Apprentice looks to create a buzz on Twitter BY Alex FArBer
Fremantle Media UK Interactive is overhauling the online presence of BBC1’s The Apprentice for its forthcoming ninth series. The indie’s digital division is to ramp up the amount of online video content and Twitter activity that supports the show after securing multiplatform funding from the BBC. FMUKI has hired professional tweeter David Levin, who will prepare a series of messages containing funny facts about the candidates, witty comments and shareable graphics, which will be posted from the show’s account at timely moments to drive interaction. Producer Jonathan Almond said it was becoming more important for shows to develop an original tone of voice on Twitter if they are to stand out on the increasingly crowded social media network. “As more and more shows launch profiles on Twitter, it becomes more important to do something different. There is no point having a bland feed,” he said. Almond added that along with the pre-scripted messages, Levin will also be interacting ad hoc with Apprentice stars Lord Sugar, Nick
The Apprentice: FMUKI has hired professional tweeter David levin
Hewer and Karren Brady, plus celebrity fans and viewers. “It will be like a return to the days of VH1 show Pop Up Video,” said Almond. “We want to extend the reach of the show so people who are not fans or have stopped watching it will return. We will be trying to build a buzz of activity, which will make people want to tune in.” The Apprentice account currently has just under 125,000 followers, which Almond hopes to grow significantly.
The digital activity also includes a range of videos, Matt Edmondson’s Awkward Conversations. Each week, the eponymous host will force the fired candidate to take part in an uncomfortable scenario. The initiative is part of a drive to involve the show’s talent in its multiplatform activity more than occurred in previous online series. YouTube talent has also been included in the strategy, with a promotional music video commissioned from Brett Domino and involving Radio 1 DJs Dan and Phil.
Web WATch bbc NeWs iNTerAcTive doc piloT
B
BC News has partnered with interactive video provider Wirewax to create an online doc that features a range of clickable tags. The three-minute pilot marks the third anniversary of the US Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and features eight clickable tags that pop up at relevant moments to offer users additional footage, graphics and interviews. The main video pauses when the tags are activated before viewers jump back to pick up where they left off. The short film has been developed as part of a trial between the start-up and BBC Worldwide Labs. Wirewax chief executive officer Steve Callanan said: “Video is the last digital element of the web to be fully connected and exploited. Making videos interactive is the most exciting development for the future of the medium.” Director of BBC Global News James Montgomery added: “Innovation in video-based storytelling, creating immersive experiences for our audiences and increasing the impact of our journalism, are priorities for BBC News online.”
Developer Wirewax URL bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22185262
www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Technology & Facilities CrEatIvE rEvIEW
Dara O Briain: SchOOl Of harD SumS Post Prime Focus Client Fujisankei Productions/Wild Rover Brief Picture and audio post for the second series of the show that aims to demystify maths and explain laws, theories and hidden mechanics via problem-solving. How it was done The online edit and grade was finished by senior editor Katie Kemp and online editor Ronnie Newman using Avid Symphony. The grade was used to balance out the different studio cameras, while keeping the lighting levels to a night-time feel. A distinctive treatment was given to each VT insert according to its content. To increase audience understanding of the complex mathematics, additional graphics and overlays were used. The excitement of the studio environment was enhanced by head of audio Ben Hooper and dubbing mixer Enzo Canatella. Watch it Wednesdays, 9pm, Dave
PlayhOuSe PreSentS: the call Out
the JOB lOt
Post Clear Cut Pictures Client Sprout Pictures Brief Picture and audio post for the Playhouse Presents comedy drama. How it was done Colourist Enge Gray set out to deliver a grade that was sympathetic to the acting. Using Nucoda Film Master and a colour palette of subtle shades, the grade juxtaposed the powerful performances to deliver a heartwarming and thought-provoking play. Working to a tight deadline, senior dubbing mixer Ben Newth and audio assistants Sonny Lota and James Evans edited, tracklayed, recorded Foley and ADR and mixed the 30-minute drama in Clear Cut’s Theatre 3. Newth said extra care was taken in editing and mixing the dialogues to retain as much of the location sound as possible. These were supported with the layering of sympathetic atmospheres. Watch it Thursday 2 May, 9pm, Sky Arts 1
Post The Farm Client Big Talk Productions Brief Picture and audio post-production on the 6 x 30-minute comedy set in a West Midlands Jobcentre, which focuses on the relationships between the employees and the unemployed. How it was done Colourist Colin Peters graded the series using Nucoda Film Master. With a variety of plug-ins, he gave the Birmingham Jobcentre a bright and natural guise. By utilising Nucoda’s auto tracker, as well as its shape and layer effects, Peters was able to shade and highlight different aspects of the frame, which helped to build atmosphere within each episode. Senior dubbing mixer Nick Fry mixed the audio with Avid Pro Tools 10, recreating the sound of a busy Jobcentre using a combination of sound effects and ADR. Tam Osman onlined using Avid Symphony. Watch it Mondays, 9.30pm, ITV
You can view clips at broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils/creative-review To include your work email george.bevir@broadcastnow.co.uk
Prime Focus hires dubbing mixer from Evolutions Prime Focus has recruited SophieAlice Davies (pictured) to the role of dubbing mixer. Davies joins the Old Compton Street facility from Evolutions, where she was also a dubbing mixer. Prior to that, she was a dubbing mixer at Bubble TV for six years. Head of audio Ben Hooper said: “Alice comes highly recommended from her peers and clients alike, with a wealth of experience in a wide range of mixing styles.” Davies’ credits include Mike The Knight, Dispatches and The Only Way Is Essex.
Sumners bolsters editing Post firm Sumners is boosting its editing capacity at The Pie Factory 14 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
with the addition of eight more suites. Its MediaCityUK presence will now consist of 10 Avid V6.5 offline stations and three V6.5 online stations, in addition to a Baselight grading suite and a Euphonix 5.1 dubbing theatre. Sumners said the additional suites would be up and running by the beginning of June. Coowner Janet Sumner said the expansion “puts us right back in the centre of the action”. Sumners exited its Manchester city-centre base at the start of the year.
Sony links with Fifa for 4K Confederations Cup trial Sony is partnering with Fifa to trial a live 4K production workflow at the Confederations Cup football
tournament in Brazil this year, with the aim of testing the processes involved in capturing and delivering live 4K content. Sony said the trials will focus on the technical and creative aspects of using 4K in a live sports environment, and the footage would not be delivered to an external audience. Sony head of business development for 3D, 4K and sports Mark Grinyer said the trial “would be a first in terms of the scope of production for live sports”.
IMG moves and rebrands sports production division IMG Sports Media will move its sports production business to Stockley Park, near Heathrow, in July. As a result, Mediahouse, the studios and post-production arm of IMG Sports Media, is to be rebranded IMG Studios, which will also be the name of the 107,000 sq ft building (above). It will house two
2,000 sq ft studios and two 1,000 sq ft studios, as well as 13 production galleries, 72 edit suites, four sound dubbing suites, five radio studios, five transmission suites and a master control room. There will also be dedicated areas for graphics, streaming and encoding. IMG has commissioned TSL to handle the technical installation.
Warner Bros invests in training for new talent Warner Bros has launched a programme of investment in skills and training, including apprenticeships, scholarships, training www.broadcastnow.co.uk
For the latest technology and facilities news, updated daily, visit www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils
DMt changes path as parent Deluxe parts with founders BY george Bevir
The founders of Deluxe’s fledgling metadata firm Deluxe Media Technologies (DMT) have parted company with the business. The wholly owned subsidiary of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group was set up by Joe Trainor and David Patton in May last year, with the aim of developing a set of algorithm-based metadata tools to help find and manage assets. The first indexing and discovery products were due to be released this year, but Broadcast understands there is growing frustration at Deluxe around a lack of progress. It has emerged that Trainor, Patton and sales and marketing director Wayne Barker left in April. Director of business development Stephen Stewart, who joined DMT from Red Bee Media, is now working for Deluxe’s Media Cloud division. Chief technology officer Ricky Crafford has been tasked with leading DMT, which Deluxe said would now be more closely integrated with its parent company.
courses and work-experience placements. The Warner Bros Creative Talent scheme, which launches in September, will encompass 12 scholarships at highereducation institutions. It will also offer six apprenticeships with roles ranging from set lighting to postproduction, along with two trainee positions on every Warner Bros film production in the UK.
Crafford: tasked with leading DMT after Trainor and Patton’s exit
At the time of its launch, Trainor said DMT would focus on four areas: access services, quality control and compliance, deep video indexing and library systems, and targeted ad optimisation for VoD. Deluxe said that following a review of the business, it had decided to focus on products for archives. Crafford said: “Our research has led us to believe that our solutions are more relevant and ready for the
large content owners who rely on Deluxe to develop ways for them to work smarter, and DMT will focus on satisfying this demand.” Crafford added that DMT’s sales team would work with the other Deluxe teams “to ensure our tools are optimised to help content owners identify the materials they have and work with them to develop new sales opportunities for their existing catalogue”.
and that River’s Rock was a “wellresourced partner that is committed to building a first-class studio facility”. Construction on the facility will start immediately.
amount of replacement work – most of it was captured on location,” Fraser said. The key, he added, was collaborating with wardrobe so that radio mics could be well positioned, plus the use of two booms. Rhodes added: “There was also a fantastic score and the sound design team at Goldcrest (Anthony Bayman, Julien Pirrie and Sue Harding) did a great job.” See broadcastnow.co.uk for the full list of winners.
Pinewood begins work on studio facility in the US Pinewood Shepperton will build a new facility in the US, having agreed a joint venture with investment firm River’s Rock. A total of 288 acres of land in Georgia will be developed into studio facilities for the production of film, television, music and video games at Pinewood Atlanta. Pinewood chief executive Ivan Dunleavy said Georgia had “excellent fiscal incentives and a great crew base”, www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Sound Bafta for trio behind richard II Tim Fraser, Adrian Rhodes (right, above) and Keith Marriner (left, above) picked up the Sound: Fiction Award for their work on Richard II (The Hollow Crown) at the Bafta Television Craft Awards this week. “We would usually re-record lots of scenes, but for Richard II we did only a small
Dock10 adds Sony kit Dock10 has taken delivery of a batch of new Sony cameras and Canon lenses. The MediaCityUKbased facility firm has added seven Sony HDC-2500 camera channels and 10 Canon lenses – a mixture of XJ27s, HJ22s and HJ14s. Dock10 head of technology operations John O’Shaughnessy said: “We chose the Sony cameras first because they are industry stand-
DPP shifts focus from creatives to manufacturers The Digital Production Partnership (DPP) is preparing to shift its focus from the production community and broadcasters to kit manufacturers, as part of its push for fully digital production and distribution. BBC North controller of production and the BBC’s DPP lead Mark Harrison said the move was one of the outcomes of the workshops that fed into the group’s ‘Creative Revolution’ report, released this week. “A director who’s had a great idea about a show won’t worry about awkward workflows, they just work it out further down the track. But the most helpful innovation in digital production is that which doesn’t create difficulty for the creative,” he said. Harrison said manufacturers had “gladly” adopted the DPP’s common standard for file-based delivery. “We now need to look where else in the chain we can apply a similar principle – such as acquisition formats or editing – because that might help creatives.” ➤ See broadcastnow.co.uk for more on the DPP’s latest report
ard, and also because we already have 13 Sony cameras. We have a huge turnover of studio use, often on a daily basis, so it is beneficial to be able to interchange the cameras easily between studios and productions.”
tyrell hires UK regional development manager Tyrell has appointed Tim Cunningham to the role of UK regional development manager. Prior to joining Tyrell, Cunningham was regional account manager for the UK and North and South America at Presteigne Charter. He has also held regional sales and accountmanagement positions at Altered Images and Solid State Logic. Tyrell commercial director Martin Bennett said: “Tim’s appointment will ensure Tyrell is ahead of the curve, providing the right services and solutions to allow us to continue to prosper.” 3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 15
Comment
Perhaps Tony Hall should do the undoable, think the unthinkable and shake it all up Jimmy Mulville on the BBC, Interview, page 20
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16 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
Reality is today’s Shakespeare Success of shows depends on a defined act structure, says John Yorke
A
ddressing the Royal Television Society in 1997, the legendary journalist Alistair Cooke uttered a single truth (and, if you listen to Letter From America, disclosed much of the secret of its success). “Broadcasting,” he said, “is the control of suspense. No matter what you’re talking about. Gardening, economics, murder – you’re telling a story. Every sentence should lead to the next sentence. If you say a dull sentence, people have the right to turn off.” In the early years of the new millennium, TV executives finally learned this brilliant lesson: all narrative demands a dramatic arc, and television in particular lends itself exceptionally well to its shape. They realised that by following the rules of dramatic structure but applying it to real people, they could provide, on a weekly basis, the visceral thrill that traditional TV drama could only deliver sporadically. In discovering that drama could be manufactured at a quarter of the old price (actors for free!), and that dramatic peaks could occur not just at the end of the series but every week, they found themselves a whole new grail. Supernanny, Faking It, Wife Swap, The Apprentice, Secret Millionaire and Grand Designs – all have very clear first and last acts: a call to action and a final judgement, but between them too, within the constraints of reality they’re derived from, the same structure as Shakespeare, Terence and Horace. In all of them you can see the pattern: initial enthusiasm, goals achieved, things falling apart, catastrophe faced and victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. The king of them all, The X Factor, works by following a very clear – if elongated – act structure. In fact, all reality television is built on a classic Shakespearean shape, so
much so that when it breaks the rules of the archetype – as Simon Cowell’s Red Or Black? did by featuring almost entirely passive protagonists – it suffers the fate of any drama that does the same. Wife Swap tells an instructive tale too. Its eventual failure can be laid at the same shark-jumping door as series television. Audiences initially tuned in to enjoy the brutality of the conflict, but the programme was at its most effective and rewarding when the protagonists changed. Perhaps because it’s harder to manufacture real change from reality, but perhaps, too, because the programme-makers prioritised argument and sensation over growth and maturity, viewers eventually tired of the carnage and the show was cancelled. What it forgot was the old staple: drama demands transformation. In recent years, there have been few more powerful and moving stories than in a 2004 episode of Faking It. A working-class punk from Leeds (pictured) was challenged to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He changed, the middle-class family who took him in changed, and against all odds he produced a performance of Rossini’s The Italian Girl In Algiers that blew the roof off the Albert Hall. Change and emotional growth fitted perfectly into the archetype, making for an extraordinary dramatic experience. It was as if it had been written by Richard Curtis, with a force and power most TV drama can only dream of. ➤ This is the second and final edited extract from Into The Woods: A Five Act Journey Into Story (Particular Books) by John Yorke, managing director of Company Pictures
‘TV execs finally learned the lesson: all narrative demands a dramatic arc’
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Your SaY
In mY VIew longer sets the agenda and never shocks or surprises. Most unforgivably, though, it has lost touch with its audience by copying more mainstream media. The exception (obviously) being that lovely quiz game with Davina and the giant egg-timer. Anonymous I would much prefer a controller who backs good content over simply chasing ratings. So Jay has my vote! Don’t be pushed out by the likes of Charlie Parsons.
Tony Hall: ending cover-ups?
Response to broadcastnow.co.uk news round-up ‘BBC committee hearing: at a glance’ Tony Hall said he wants to create an environment where more staff are “confident” about admitting to their mistakes. This makes perfect sense. The first stage in correcting a mistake is to admit it. Staff cover up their mistakes because they are insecure and feel that being open about errors will end their careers. That’s often because so many of them are on casualised, temporary contracts that enable managers to end careers with the flimsiest of justification and no explanation. Who wants to admit a mistake in that environment? The secure jobs are at the top where mistakes are rewarded with better-paid jobs – for example, Helen Boaden. I’m a freelance with no hope of a BBC staff job. It’s not in my interest to roll back casualisation. But it is in the interests of the industry. Producer/director, name withheld
Industry executive, name withheld Even with the Paralympics (an inherited piece) C4’s core channel share was down last year, with the digital channels, and success of acquisitions on E4 in particular, the only positive in a grand sense. Lots of talk of risk, but there’s been consistent failure outside of one-off docs, and not even a hint of a big-rated series, outside of those that were commissioned by the previous C4 team. If C4 is her ‘religion’, it’s not surprising there have been no proselytes to the C4 schedule in two years or so. Anonymous
The Village: outstanding drama
Five Minutes To A Fortune: Davina
Responses to broadcastnow.co.uk story ‘Jay Hunt quashes departure rumours’ At what point do the board and CEO look at Ms Hunt’s creative decimation of C4 and call time on her miserable tenure? C4 no www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Comment
Broadcast, Media Business Insight, 101 Finsbury Pavement, London EC2A 1RS or email bcletters@emap.com
Response to broadcastnow.co.uk story ‘BBC1 to return to The Village’ The Village is quite outstanding. At last something real, that reflects what really mattered to our ancestors. It doesn’t have the pomp of Downton or comedy like Lark Rise but confronts the real issues and experiences of believable, ordinary people living and working in rural England at the beginning of this century. Yes, it hurts and is almost unbearably realistic, but it does make you think and wonder. Congratulations to all who have created it. Lesley Gittings, drama writer/lecturer
Should broadcasters view social TV as friend or foe? Understanding the potential of the second screen is all in the mind, writes James Hier
B
roadcasters watch social TV with a mixture of fascination and apprehension; conventional wisdom says it’s a detrimental distraction to the first screen. We hypothesised that interaction with the second screen was beneficial to the first, and would drive up engagement – but the only way to measure this empirically was neurologically. Neuroscience studies are almost never conducted on live TV viewing – an important hurdle to overcome in measuring social TV. We invited four different groups of social TV viewers into a custombuilt neuroscience facility to watch a live broadcast of Australia’s version of The X Factor as it went to air on Channel Seven. Secondscreen activity was unsolicited, and any interaction with social media occurred naturally. Each participant tweeted on average four times during the 30-minute show – the lowest being two, the highest 14. In total, there were 153 social TV interactions. The study shows a neurological pattern to social TV viewing. Just prior to the second-screen switch there was a ‘trigger’, a jump in neurological engagement; this engagement steady declined as the moment passed before they switched. For the change of platforms to the second screen, there was a large spike in neurological engagement, holding until they reverted back to the first screen. Returning to the first screen brought on a recalibration of sorts for about 15 seconds, during which time engagement dropped from its previous first-screen level. This neurological engagement actually increased, on average 9% higher than their previous firstscreen state. Our participants returned to the first screen more engaged than when they left.
After each subsequent secondscreen interaction, the engagement levels grew, with an average cumulative increase of 23%. As they became more engaged, their neurological state also changed. Switching platforms switches the participants’ memory bias – from a global processing bias (imagery and branding) to a detailed processing bias (product specifics and execution). As a media agency, we were bound to ask the question: is this interaction confined to
‘Our participants returned to the first screen more engaged than when they left’ the ad break? While there was an over-representation in ad breaks, 76% of all interactions took place during programming. The results draw a clear path for broadcasters. Counter to the prevailing wisdom of letting the programme ‘settle’ first, executive producers should be involving two-screen viewers up front. This is the audience to compete for. They also alert us to more effective message management. Sponsors that are fully integrated into a TV show can optimise the type and timing of messages. The great news for advertisers is the link between increased neurological engagement and advertising effectiveness. We tested an entertainment show; the pattern could differ for scripted programmes. And, while right now social TV is a friend of the first screen, overwhelming programming with second-screen interactions will become selfdefeating. Our research showed a positive effect for an average four interactions over the 30 minutes, but we don’t know at what number this tips the other way. ➤ James Hier is chief strategy officer at media agency MEC Australia 3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 17
The Broadcast Interview jimmy mulville
‘it feels like a good time to be a comedy producer’ Hat Trick’s co-founder talks to Lisa Campbell about Thatcher’s TV legacy, how he’d revolutionise the BBC – and the benefits of a good cup of coffee
O
utspoken Liverpudlian Jimmy Mulville is perhaps the last person you’d expect to be championing the late Margaret Thatcher. Her death prompted much debate among “many of us wet liberals at Hat Trick, moaning about the cost of her funeral”, he says, “but I had to point out that there wouldn’t be an office standing here without Thatcher doing that brilliant thing of loosening the stranglehold on production in this country. She dismantled the duopoly of ITV and the BBC, which was – let’s make no bones about this – a feudal, stagnant, sclerotic system, and instituted Channel 4 and an industry now worth some £2bn. It brought with it one of the most important cultural changes, fantastic independent companies that have to produce really good work to stay alive, and which forced the BBC and ITV to up their game.” And with that, almost at the end of what’s been an uncharacteristically uncontroversial interview, Mulville begins his tirade against in-house production and reveals how he’d revolutionise the BBC. But first, Mulville wants to talk about things closer to home. Hat Trick has reached the ripe old age of 27, and sounding every bit the TV producer, its boss and co-founder describes the years as something of a “journey”. “The worst moment was when we found ourselves with a huge debt because we’d signed a deal with an investment bank,” he recalls. “We had more than £20m debt; it was a perilous
18 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
time. We were experiencing toxic debt 18 months before the rest of the world found out what that tastes like. “At that point, I could have walked away and Hat Trick would have collapsed into a financial abyss. But we’d just made Outnumbered, and it reminded me that what the company is about is trying to make good shows.” Enter runner-turned-format king David Young, who came to the rescue of his former boss when the pair sold their 50/50 joint venture 12 Yard to ITV in 2007 for £35m. It allowed Hat Trick to extricate itself from the bank, and in 2009, Mulville bought out the 45% stake held by finance group August Equity. It’s been a dramatic reversal of fortune. Broadcast’s recent Indie Survey shows a £35m turnover, up 14% year on year, making Hat Trick the third largest ‘true’ indie.
Entertainment ambitions Not surprisingly, Mulville has had plenty of offers from buyers in the UK, Europe and the US now that there’s an upturn and a full order book. He has turned them all down, for now at least, joining forces instead with his old compadre. As revealed in Broadcast last week, Mulville is thinking about the next phase of growth for the company and has signed a talent deal with David Young “to crack pure entertainment, in the same way we have with comedy and comedy/ent”. He explains: “David will have the ideas and we will set up a production
‘Thatcher dismantled the duopoly of ITV and the BBC, which was a feudal, stagnant, sclerotic system’
unit to develop and produce those shows. He wants to be the Lionel Messi, to have all the creative ideas, so we need to free him up by having brilliant people to execute them.” The plan is to produce global formats; one is currently in development. So Hat Trick will begin recruiting and Mulville is confident of being able to attract the best talent, thanks in part to Young himself and the “creative, collegiate community” engendered by the company culture and the likes of its famous café. “I had a real struggle with the architects who said: ‘Why do you want to put a café in there with booths and a Gaggia machine?’ Because that will be the most creative part of the company – a forum for the exchange of ideas. More relationships have been formed www.broadcastnow.co.uk
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‘The café is the most creative part of the company – more relationships have been formed around that Gaggia machine than anywhere else in this business’
around that Gaggia machine than anywhere else in this business.” That staff enjoy working at Hat Trick is one of the most rewarding things about the job, he says, and he always looks forward to Broadcast’s Peer Poll. “It’s my favourite award of the year. You can keep your Baftas.” He might not be saying that in two weeks’ time. Hat Trick has three Bafta nominations this year: for Matt Le Blanc comedy Episodes, BBC3’s The Revolution Will Be Televised and the 23-year-old Have I Got News For You – “which has pretty much been nominated every year but always gets beaten by something with Ant & Dec in it,” he muses. Hat Trick is having a successful run, partly because of the emergence of new buyers, especially in the US. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
PeTer seArle
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jimmy mulville on... His warning to ITV bosses at 2010 Edinburgh TV Festival “My Cassandra-like rantings were all about ‘don’t over-manage creative people’. I’ve been really impressed with the way Adam Crozier has conducted himself at ITV; he’s a fantastically top-class creative manager who’s made some great appointments and turned it around. Clearly he must have listened to my speech…”
BBC in-house production “My view is that you get rid of all quotas, indies, the WOCC and the absolutely unacceptable 50% in-
house protectionism. Put BBC inhouse producers into Worldwide, turn them into a creative powerhouse studio who can make programmes not just for the BBC but for anyone. Imagine how miserable it is there now. You pitch to BBC2 and they say no, and that’s it, your idea goes in the drawer. What you should be doing is trying to flog it elsewhere and making money for the licence-fee payer. “If the alternative is the government top-slicing the licence fee and debilitating you further from making great programmes, perhaps Tony Hall should do the
undoable, think the unthinkable and shake it all up.”
Channel 4 “C4 is still searching for its identity and its place but I don’t need Charlie Parsons speaking up for me. All I’ll say is that if you have someone like [head of comedy] Phil Clarke in your building, you tell him to pick great programmes and you get behind him. I’d like to see a few more people like Peter FIncham rising through the ranks. If you get your ent/comedy/ drama right, people will watch your other shows.” ➤ 3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 19
The Broadcast Interview
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JIMMY MULVILLE Showtime is on board for a third season of Episodes and Mulville is waiting to hear if ABC will pick up a pilot remake of Sky 1 sitcom Spy. Whose Line Is It Anyway, meanwhile, ran for eight seasons on ABC from 1998 and is now being produced for The CW Network. Mulville is talking to a major US network about launching Have I Got News You in the autumn; fourth time lucky for the show – the only programme to win a Lifetime Achievement Award (British Comedy Awards, 2011) – which, like many successful British panel shows, has failed to find a permanent US home. Back home, Hat Trick has drama success with ITV’s upcoming The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher as well as Nixon’s The One and Critical for Sky, but it has been one of the key beneficiaries of broadcasters’ increased appetite for comedy. As well as its BBC1 staples such as HIGNFY and Room 101, there’s series two of Some Girls and The Revolution… for BBC3, and a potential reworking of Great Night Out for ITV. The 6 x 60-minute Ricky Tomlinson comedy-drama bowed out in February with 3.6 million viewers, around 1 million down on slot average. It has not been recommissioned, but ITV has asked the writers to look at situating the characters within a half-hour comedy for next year.
The power of comedy It also has two pilots in development with C4, with Marcus Brigstocke and Kayvan Novak, and recently sold the first original commission to UKTV’s Gold: 6 x 30-minute Us And Them by new writer Steve Turner. “It feels like a good time to be a comedy producer,” says Mulville. “For years, we had people running networks who were frightened of comedy, which was expensive and hard to launch, so they’d rather have a cheap reality format that got them 5 million. Now they realise that if you get a great comedy, it becomes a branding instrument for your channel.” Then, of course, there’s the Sky effect, which Mulville credits with “accelerating” the trend. “We’ve made four or five shows for Sky and we’ve got two coming down the road so it has become a very important venue for us.” Sky has commissioned The Kumars At No. 42, while Stage Door Johnnies, a comedy drama for Sky Arts’ Playhouse Presents..., airs later this month. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Clockwise from top left: Spy is set for a US remake; Sky is reviving The Kumars At No. 42; drama The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher; YouTube channel Bad Teeth; below: Bafta-nominated BBC2/Showtime comedy Episodes, starring Matt Le Blanc
However, Sky chose not to commission a third series of MI5 comedy Spy, despite its Bafta wins. Mulville is philosophical, believing Sky simply learned more about its audience and what works and what doesn’t. “Spy was a brilliant show, but for some reason, the second series didn’t attract the same audience. Sky is a commercial organisation. I’ve got no complaints. There’s still an appetite to work together. My whole thing about doing shows is they just give you an opportunity to do more shows.” Some suggest the honeymoon period is over at Sky – one comic talent, who noted the disappointing ratings for some of Sky’s best output, including the award-winning Hunderby, described the experience to Broadcast as “like shouting with a very loud voice inside a very small box”. Says Mulville: “I talk to writers. What they want is to be treated well, with quick decisions and sensitive development. Sky offers you that and has smart people developing with you. The truth is, I don’t care whether 500,000 or 5 million people watch our show, as long as people are enjoying it intensely. I’m in the business of ‘I love that show,’ not ‘that was quite good’.” He points to The Office, which started with low viewing figures but became, he says, the most talkedabout show in Britain. “With Hunderby, everyone in the business knows about it, it will probably pick up loads of awards, and I’m sure Julia Davis had a very nice time making it.”
Ensuring his own writing, acting and production talent have an equally nice time is an important part of Mulville’s job. Plum Pictures is housed within the Hat Trick stable and Mulville credits founders Stuart Cabb and Will Daws for “throwing off company dividends” and creating a strong range of shows, from James May’s Man Lab and Rachel Khoo’s Little Paris Kitchen to the “brilliant” Inside Death Row With Trevor McDonald. Hugh Laurie’s Perspectives piece for ITV, Coppor Bottom Blues, airs this weekend and C4’s Mary’s Jobs For Life, with Mary Portas, is coming up later this year. Having a mix of talent, from veterans such as Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin to new faces such as Jolyon Rubinstein and Heydon Prowse (The Revolution…) is paramount, says Mulville. It’s one reason why he was keen to launch Bad Teeth, a YouTube channel featuring Daniel Radcliffe’s popular spoof on how to be an actor, as well as online star Cassetteboy and new faces and characters such as young politician Ewan Jeffries. “I started in this business at 26, 27,” he reflects. “I repeatedly came up against people who patronised the hell out of me. I did a talk at a school recently and I said to them: ‘Beware of old men in powerful positions. They won’t tell you this because they probably don’t know it themselves, but they are jealous of your youth and they will subconsciously try to crush your dreams. Tell them to get the hell out of your way.’” 3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 21
Analysis BroadCaSt GreenliGht 8 deC 2012 - 8 Mar 2013
S4C top as commissions fall The latest data from the Broadcast Greenlight index shows the Welsh PSB ordering the most shows, but which indies and commissioners have been the busiest? Robin Parker reports
O
ur second quarterly focus on new commissions included in Broadcast’s Greenlight database reveals a quieter period than the last one, with 199 commissions compared with 234. Partly, this is due to things dying down a little over Christmas, but there were nevertheless several incidents of infodump, where commissioners and controllers saved up a series of announcements. S4C emerged as the busiest channel after revealing 16 new shows in one go on 11 December last year and a steady trickle thereafter. The broadcaster doesn’t provide the sort of weekly or semi-regular updates we’re used to seeing from the main PSBs, but its volume of originations is encouraging, not least in the work it is giving to Welsh indies Number of orders including Telesgop and from BBC3, the Boom Pictures’ subsidiarbusiest channel ies such as Apollo TV and announced 23 commisoutside core PSBs Bulb Film. ITV Studios also sions in the quarter. picked up two specialist BBC3 was the busiest factual shows and a current individual channel outside affairs series. of the core PSBs, however, with 14 Meanwhile, Sky confirmed a orders, 11 of which were new shows. number of dramas across its channels Confidence in panel show Sweat The at a Broadcasting Press Guild event, Small Stuff looks strong, with an including several of the Playhouse upfront order for two series. Sitcom Presents series, Sally Wainwright’s Bluestone 42 has since aired to some The Last Witch and an Ian Fleming acclaim and secured a second series. drama (see box overleaf ). In all, Sky In factual, BBC3 was quick off the
14
Bluestone 42: secured second series following acclaimed debut
‘The volume of S4C originations is encouraging, not least in the work it is giving to Welsh indies’
CommiSSionS by genre 1.5% 1.5%
1%
2.5%
2.5%
5%
18.3%
7% 12.9% 15%
32.8%
n Pop Factual/Factual Entertainment n Comedy n Fact/Spec Fact n Drama n Entertainment n Children’s n Daytime n Arts n AFP n Current Affairs n Multiplatform
Jonathan Creek: one-off success prompted reorder 22 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
mark with the doc Oscar Pistorious: What Really Happened?, while indies Platform, Blast! and Firecracker were among those picking up commissions for a mental-health season. A couple of indies spilled the beans on US commissions in the quarter: Baby Cow is having another crack at a Gavin And Stacey adaptation, with BBC Worldwide and Sony Television on board for the pilot of Friends And www.broadcastnow.co.uk
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CoMMiSSionS by ChAnnEl
indieS rdF paSSeS the tippinG point
S4C
14.5% (29)
bbC1
11.5% (23)
Channel 4
11% (22)
iTV
10% (20)
bbC3
7% (14)
bbC2
6.5% (13)
Sky living
4.5% (9)
Discovery
4% (8)
Sky 1
4% (8)
Channel 5
4% (8)
Sky Arts
3% (6)
bbC 4
2% (4)
Cbeebies
2% (4)
bbC.com
1% (2)
Gold
1% (2)
horse & Country
1% (2)
nat Geo
1% (2)
history Channel
1% (2)
yahoo!
1% (2)
youTube
1% (2)
other
9%
Family for Fox. More substantial is the series order for Penny Dreadful, Neal Street Productions’ drama for Showtime, which is set to be one of the first series to benefit from UK tax breaks. It wasn’t a bad period for multiplatform commissions either, with bbc.com, Yahoo! And YouTube all commissioning UK indies and digital specialists. Most intriguing is Syco TV utilising Maverick’s digital skills for online talent show The You Generation. New commissions again represented around two-thirds of orders. Notable returners include a full series of Jonathan Creek off the back of last quarter’s one-off (which went on to trounce even Broadchurch in Easter’s overnight ratings). BBC1 also granted swift reorders to drama hits Last Tango In Halifax, Ripper Street and Father Brown, while Call The Midwife and Death In Paradise march on to series three. ITV, meanwhile, recommissioned Splash! and Mr Selfridge.
For a full list of shows and credits, visit
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1 RDF Television Commissions 3 Hours 76 ITV daytime quiz Tipping Point passed, well, a tipping point in this period: series three’s 70 x 60-minute order was more than series one (20 episodes) and two (40) combined. Initially filmed at ITV, then at the BBC, production has now transferred to Wimbledon Studios to accommodate the lengthier run, with three shows filmed per day around in-demand host Ben Shephard’s schedule. Seventeen shows are in the can and filming continues until the end of June. Since this reporting period, RDF TV has also secured 12 celebrity versions to be screened as Tipping Point: Lucky Stars. These will be filmed in front of a studio audience for the first time, with three celebrities per show competing. Names signed up so far include Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford, Louis Spence and Ricky Tomlinson. As executive producer Peter Usher recalls, the development process was quite drawn out. Initial run-throughs were too small in scale for broadcasters to commit, leaving the indie to appeal internally within the Zodiak group for investment towards a showpiece bit of kit: the penny-falls machine that has become its trademark. ITV took an interest, but had an added request: could it bring the demo to Peter Fincham? “Presented with the challenge of bringing a 15ft x 10ft machine, ITV invited us into the Scene Dock,” says Usher. “It caused quite a stir and quite a big crowd had gathered around, which I think helped sell the atmosphere of the show. Peter took part, and I worried for a moment when our managing director Jim Allen knocked him out of the game – but Peter commissioned it on the spot. “That kind of hands-on approach is rare nowadays, but it showed me that if you believe in an idea, it’s worth taking it to the next level.”
CommiSSionS Tipping Point (series three) Length 70 x 60 minutes Commissioner Diana Howie A bumper third series of the daytime ITV quiz show hosted by Ben Shephard.
The Secret millions Length 5 x 60 minutes Commissioner Emma Cooper Already transmitted, this C4 series brought together the likes of Gok Wan and Katie Piper to work with charities on developing new frontline projects addressing social issues.
Untitled ginger hair doc Length 1 x 60 minutes (tbc) Commissioner Tina Flintoff Documentary in the early stages of development
Tipping point: big order for series three
that will send men with ginger hair around the UK to test stereotypes and examine the history and science behind the hair colour. 2 SupeRHeRo TV Commissions 1 Hours 60 Lucas Green’s indie, backed by Sebastian Scott’s Predictable, picked up its first C4 commission. With 60 x 70-minute episodes, What’s Cooking? From The Sainsbury’s Kitchen is comfortably Superhero’s biggest order to date and a vote of confidence in AFP. 3 TigeR ASpeCT Commissions 4 Hours 27 A nine-part third series of sitcom Mount Pleasant – now for Sky Living – was the Endemol-owned indie’s biggest order of the period. E4 comedy-drama My Mad Fat Diary picked up an instant recommission, while ITV commissioned new 6 x 60-minute family drama Love And Marriage. In factual, BBC2 screened Howard Goodall’s History Of Music. 4 MAVeRiCk TeLeViSion Commissions 4 Hours 23 This All3Media-owned indie has found favour with Discovery, which has picked up former BBC3 show Bizarre ER for a 10-part series and greenlit a second series of Last Chance Salon. Embarrassing Bodies spin-off Live From The Clinic continues to deliver for C4, with a third series ordered. Maverick also teamed up with Syco TV to deliver YouTube talent hunt The You Generation. 5 DRAgonFLy Commissions: 4 Hours: 15 BBC2, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery all ordered shows from Shine-owned Dragonfly. BBC2’s The Burrowers is perhaps the most intriguing of these, taking the indie’s fixed-rig format underground to capture footage of burrowing animals. ➤ 3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 23
Analysis
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BroadCaSt GreenliGht 8 deC 2012 - 8 Mar 2013 CoMMiSSioner FoCUS anne MenSah Anne Mensah
Head of drama, Sky Commissions 12 hours 23
ToP 12 CoMMiSSionERS 1 llion iwan (pictured) Factual content commissioner, S4C Commissions: 20
2 ben Stephenson Drama commissioning controller, BBC Commissions: 14 (5 with Danny Cohen)
3 Anne Mensah Head of drama, Sky Commissions: 12
4 Julian bellamy Director, head of production and development, Discovery EMEA Commissions: 8 (1 with Sarah Davies)
5 Antonia hurford-Jones Director, Sky Living Commissions: 6
6 Elaine bedell Director of entertainment and comedy, ITV Commissions: 5
6 Gaynor Davies Entertainment commissioner, S4C Commissions: 5
6 Katy Thorogood Commissioner for factual, daytime, ITV Commissions: 5 (4 with Alison Sharman)
9 Alison Sharman Director of factual and daytime, ITV (left in February) Commissions: 5 (1 with Diana howie; 4 with Katy Thorogood)
9 lina Prestwood
After comedy, drama has emerged as the next weapon in Sky’s arsenal as it continues its mission to invest in UK content. One of its most ambitious projects finally got the greenlight this quarter: The Tunnel, Kudos’s 10 x 60-minute English-language adaptation of Scandi drama The Bridge, set within the Channel Tunnel on the England-France border. Meanwhile, the channel is to complement Sky’s ownership of the Bond catalogue with Ecosse Films’ four-part drama Fleming. Both are statements of intent for Sky Atlantic, and for Anne Mensah, who has headed Sky’s drama slate since May 2011. She publicly set out her stall early in 2013 with a flurry of announcements at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch. Of these, just one is a returner – and it’s to round off a series. Sky 1’s popular Mad Dogs will wrap up with a two-part special. It will be interesting to see how Mensah’s strategy for Sky Living pays off. Nestled in among the glossy US shows will be three pieces from leading female British dramatists: Gwyneth Hughes, Sally Wainwright – aka the busiest writer in TV – and Annie Griffin. The dramas are to be bracketed as The Reckless Season – Sky will be hoping its name becomes a fitting description of the risks involved. Meanwhile, Sprout Pictures continues to be a go-to indie for Sky Arts, picking up four slots in the latest Playhouse Presents... run, including directorial debuts for Doctor Who’s Matt Smith and Hustle actor Marc Warren. The others went to Eleven Film and Company Pictures/Cajun Pictures. So what does this slate tell us about Sky’s drama strategy? Well, Sky Arts is the place for actors to experiment a little in a semi-theatrical space; with The Reckless Season (and its comedydrama strand Love Matters) Sky Living is evolving into a strong place for female-driven contemporary pieces; Sky Atlantic is the home of the bold and ambitious; and Sky 1, which recently commissioned fire-station precinct drama The Smoke, is in the heart of the mainstream.
Anne mensah’s commissions Sky Atlantic The Tunnel Kudos Film & TV 10 x 60 minutes Sky 1 Fleming Ecosse Films 4 x 60 minutes Mad Dogs finale Left Bank Pictures 2 x 60 minutes Sky Living Rubenesque Kudos Film & TV/Pirate Films 1 x 60 minutes Talking To The Dead 2 x 60 minutes Bonafide Films/Warp Films The Last Witch Red Production Company 1 x 60 minutes Sky Arts playhouse presents... Cargese; pavement psychologist; Hey Diddly Dee; union Square Sprout Pictures 4 x 30 minutes Mr understood Eleven Film 1 x 30 minutes nightshift Cajun Pictures/Company Pictures 1 x 30 minutes
Factual commissioning editor, Channel 4 Commissions: 5
9 Kay benbow Controller, CBeebies Commissions: 5
12 Sioned Roberts Children and digital commissioner, S4C Commissions: 4
Mad Dogs: two-part finale
Hey Diddly Dee: made by indie Sprout pictures
➤ 24 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
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Masterclass HOW TO CREATE A pERSONAl BRAND
An exercise in self-branding I
n the modern media industry, where introductions are casual and networking is the name of the game, how you are perceived by others can have a tangible effect on your career. This is equally true whether you are a freelancer, a newcomer to the industry or simply someone with an eye on your next
career move. How can you stand out from those around you? In your day-to-day life, you choose products based on their reputation. Various brands have automatic associations with different attributes: perhaps you see one brand as more trustworthy than another, higher quality or more edgy. These
associations may seem natural but are, of course, the result of careful planning. In the same way, managing your own personal ‘brand’ affects how those around you see you. Crucially, it is something you have the power to create and control. Here, experts share their top tips on creating your own personal brand.
1 WHAT IS A BRAND? Claire Lowson Managing director, brand and communications agency Tileywoodman Creative
Business is about structure, profit and turnover. Branding is about emotion, passion and a back-story that has meaning to an audience. A person’s successful branding is about a meaningful relationship with the client where their services appeal because of a congruence of aesthetics, emotions and values. Personal branding is the public portrayal of your character, what you believe in and your purpose; it must be authentic, honest and true. Your brand should not be a contrived concept but rather about living your values openly and demonstrating those ethics and values in your professional approach. Once you have worked those out, it is easy to decide how much you charge, where you market yourself and what your website or LinkedIn profile looks like. Inevitably, this means you become less appealing to some sectors of the market, but you will at least know who you do appeal to. When people are starting out, they are often tempted to copycat a brand from their peer group, but if you know who you are, and why you are offering what you are, you can match the peer group quality while still being true to your own character and personality. Branding yourself individually is much more straightforward than branding a company as it is just about you. It only gets complicated when you get intimidated by the concept of 26 Broadcast | 3 May 2013
branding and feel you must pretend to be something that you are not. Never ‘wrap’ a brand around you – be sure that you are the ‘brand’.
2 CREATING YOUR BRAND Reuben Milne Creative director, Spark Creativity
When I run training workshops on personal brand development, the question I pose is: how do you make the most of your talents? Personal branding should not be a revelatory experience. Self-awareness is key, so it is as much about providing an opportunity to reflect as it is to discover.
‘Branding yourself is much more straightforward than branding a company. Never wrap a “brand” around you – be sure that you are the “brand”’ Claire Lowson, Tileywoodman Creative
The first stage focuses on strengths and passions. A nice way of thinking about it is this: if you had a superpower, what would it be? Empathising with people? Coming up with creative solutions? Connecting people and ideas? The benefit of understanding your personal brand is that it increases your confidence in your own abilities. Think about what archetypes you believe you are. This has two purposes: it evokes words and phrases associated with archetypes, which can help with creating your brand; it is also an interesting exercise in self-perception and perception of others. The eureka moment can often come when people realise that their perception of themselves is different from others’. Then you can start to articulate your brand by way of a succinct phrase or pair of sentences, providing a conscious articulation of yourself. Ask if it aligns with the values of the www.broadcastnow.co.uk
For all the latest breaking news, updated daily, visit www.broadcastnow.co.uk
organisation you work for and the kind of work you do. Finally, ask yourself: what is my fiveyear plan? Does your brand help you fulfil this? How can you promote your brand to embark on this plan?
3 YOUR ONlINE BRAND Sue Llewellyn Social media strategist and trainer, Ultra Social
You need to ask: “What is my USP? What is my authentic voice and how does my business reflect who I am?” Great personal branding is about knowing your skills, highlighting your passion and letting your enthusiasm shine in the social media space. Start by Googling yourself. If you don’t like what you see, or it’s not working for you, take steps to sort it out. Ensure your online profiles are consistent. Familiarise yourself with several social media platforms. Observe how they are used, by whom and what works and what doesn’t. Different platforms suit different business needs – it’s all about fishing where the fish are. Think about where your audience and potential clients are in the social media space. LinkedIn is great for showcasing your professional profile and is effectively a shop window for you and your business. A well-constructed profile, using the right keywords, ranks highly on Google, so it’s not only useful for finding people and building relationships, but it’s also really useful when it comes to getting found. Twitter is a brilliant way to raise your profile – showcase your area of expertise and build a strong network of friends and business contacts. Think of it as an essential information network rather than a purely social one. I have successfully commissioned at least three people from Twitter without meeting them in person because in this space, you can tell who is smart and who to trust. The BBC Academy’s College of Production can offer advice on creating a personal brand. Visit www.bbc.co.uk/collegeofproduction www.broadcastnow.co.uk
‘I have successfully commissioned at least three people from Twitter without meeting them in person’
pERSONAl BRANDING BUIlDING A STRONG pROFIlE
Sue Llewellyn, Ultra Social
Jude Winstanley Production manager and director of The Unit List
The first thing employers do is search for you on the web. They may Google the shows on which you have worked, the course from which you graduated, or the skills you claim to have. To maximise your chances of successful invitations to interview and repeat work, here’s how to build your brand: SETTING UP ■ Purchase your domain name. My recommendation would be www.firstnamesurname.com. If you keep it simple, you won’t need to buy another domain if you change your career in the future. ■ Set up a webpage and assign your domain name to it. Wordpress has great, free, simple templates to which you can add your content. ■ Set up accounts in your professional name on social media platforms. Initially, you just need to open the account in your name in case you want to use it in the future. Consider Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo, YouTube and Vine for starters. STRATEGY ■ The important thing about strategy for your personal brand is to
present a professional version of you across all of your publicly accessible channels. They should all tally up and display your best professional persona. If the ‘private you’ is different to the ‘work you’, keep your content locked and viewable only by friends. ■ Think about the skills and experience you have and what you want to do in the future. Write it into a statement. Put this on the front page of your website. Explain where you have come from and what you do now. ■ Now start to build public content for your website, Twitter, Instagram etc. You can do as much or as little as you want, but use the same language and images across everything. Make it uniform. CONTENT: ■ Essential content is your name, job title, photo and current downloadable CV. Make sure the CV does not have your address on it (for security reasons) but does have an email address and phone number. ■ Don’t put a photo on your CV but browsers will want to see if you are the person they thought. ■ Keep your CV and profile updated. ■ List your next availability date on your account profiles and send status updates mentioning the date. Let everyone in your social network know you are looking for work too.
3 May 2013 | Broadcast 27
Behind the Scenes the hunt for britain’s sex gangs
Lifting the lid on sex crimes Documenting the grooming and exploitation of girls in Bradford for 17 years has had many obstacles, not least officials in denial and fears of race-related violence, says Anna Hall Anna Hall Producer/director
CREDITS
Production company True Vision Commissioning editor Siobhan Sinnerton Length 1 x 60 minutes TX 13 May, 9pm (tbc), Channel 4 Producer/director Anna Hall Executive producer Brian Woods Editor Paddy Garrick
Anna Hall My tricks of the trade n Have patience: I was
told that we could have robocam footage of the arrests of the main perpetrators, their police interrogations and the victims’ interviews during my first phone call. I got my hands on the material two-and-a-half years later. n When things don’t go to plan, never over-promise to your exec or the commissioning editor. n Don’t lie to your subjects about what you want to do. Again, it took me two-and-a-half years to meet the victims in this case – and that was through slowly building up what I needed with the police officers involved. n I always show my contributors sensitive material concerning them. It reassures people, but I never give away editorial control in the process. n Don’t panic: our film went totally pear-shaped when the trial collapsed. Our schedule went out the window. We made a totally different film and promised not to show a frame of the Telford material until the case was all over. This won us a lot of brownie points in the end because we kept to our word. n Rejoice in M&S outlets in service stations: at last you can buy something healthy on the road.
28 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
I
n October 1996, my life changed. In Yorkshire Television’s smoky coffee bar, I met Sara Swann, who ran Bradford’s Barnado’s Streets and Lanes project. Barnado’s was interested in making a film to warn teenagers and educate parents about a pattern of child sexual exploitation that Sara had been following for a year. The story was one that has now become sadly too familiar: men were targeting girls aged 11 and up, giving them phones, taking them out and showering them with attention and affection. After they had sex, the men would introduce their friends to the girls, who would be asked to sleep with the new group of men. Police seemed powerless to stop it because the girls thought these men were their boyfriends. However controlled and degraded they felt, they were also very frightened. The explosive thing: the girls were white and living in multi-cultural Bradford and the perpetrators were Asian. I told Sara recently that she lit a flame of anger inside me that day that still hasn’t gone away. I tried to get a film off the ground at Channel 4, but other commitments left it on the back burner. In 2002, Peter Dale, then C4’s head of documentaries, commissioned me to make three films about Bradford Social Services. The stage was set: I knew about the grooming issue but wanted to remain open-minded about what the series should cover. Yet the exploitation issue kept raising its head. The fire inside me was relit when a senior children’s services manager said: “The men are Asian, Anna, but you’ll never get anyone on the record to say that.” The words ‘red’ ‘rag’ and ‘bull’ spring to mind. It wasn’t whether the guys were Asian that bugged me. What was unbelievable was that men were gang-raping young girls and
everybody wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening. All anyone seemed concerned about was the risk of a race riot if we mentioned it. After nearly two years, I made a 90minute doc, Edge Of The City. We dared to describe the Bradford perpetrators as “overwhelmingly Asian”. The film was scheduled to go out in May 2004, three weeks before the local elections in Bradford, where 10 BNP candidates were standing three years after Asian ‘youths’ were indicted in a ‘race riot’. After the council viewed it, West Yorkshire’s chief constable asked for the film to be postponed amid fears of more riots. All hell broke loose. The BNP got hold of the story and used the film as propaganda. Police and social services said nothing. Several small
‘What was unbelievable was that men were gang-raping young girls and everyone wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening’ voices in the Asian press said that if the story were true, it shouldn’t be swept under the carpet. It was postponed to August, attracting huge media coverage. Extra police were drafted in that night but no riots occurred. Few had come to my defence. My ‘non-white’ friends assured me I wasn’t racist and I was right to dare to mention the rather large elephant lurking in the room. But nothing seemed to change. No proactive policing, no voices from Social Services admitting what they had on their hands. Years passed but I remained disappointed that the film had changed so little. I was asked: “Why didn’t you go and follow the perpetrators?” I knew that to do this safely and ethically, I’d have to follow the police. In 2009, some cases started to come to court. I found out about a large police investigation in which they were trying to use trafficking legislation to convict the men, as children were being moved all over the country.
But the legislation also helped with the problem of consent – always an issue when cases filter through to court, where the defence painted the girls as complicit because they didn’t say no, casting doubt among the jury. When I got access to this investigation in June 2010, True Vision was commissioned for a one-hour Dispatches. The film we started making way back then, following Operation Chalice, is only just about to see the light of day, because the original trial collapsed in 2011.
Overturning controversy Unable to use any of the material around the investigation (it was still sub judice as the CPS decided whether to go for a retrial), C4 decided we should nevertheless make a film about British Pakistani men grooming white girls and sexually exploiting them. C4 was brave to commission the film after the earlier controversy. Britain’s Sex Gangs was the first film to directly address the issue, and the first to get the men involved to admit to it on camera. It was shortlisted for a Grierson and nominated for the Prix Europa and the Monte Carlo TV Best Documentary award. The most important thing for me was not to alienate British Pakistanis – and to give them a voice to express their horror and outrage that the authorities had not acted for fear of being branded racist. Now, 18 months on, the defendants in the trial that collapsed have all been taken back to court, and the cases completed. Now that reporting restrictions have been lifted, The Hunt For Britain’s Sex Gangs can tell the story of the police investigation and show how hard it is to get convictions for historic abuse cases with extensive grooming, and how gruelling it is for victims to face endless cross-examination by multiple barristers. Today, 17 years on from that first meeting, I have two daughters aged 11 and 12 – two beautiful, gullible, innocent girls who think they know all there is to know about how to keep themselves safe. How wrong they are. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
For all the latest breaking news, updated daily, visit www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Clockwise from top: Operation Chalice in progress; reconstruction of a scene with a victim; police arrest ringleader Ahdel Ali; chief investigating officer DCI Neil Jamieson; reporter Tazeen Ahmad
www.broadcastnow.co.uk
3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 29
TV SET COMPLEX
Ratings Mon 22 Apr – Sun 28 Apr
The sun shines on ITV Warm weather takes its toll but BGT maintains lead over The Voice as Sundays shape up nicely BY Stephen price
In this ‘shorts or balaclava?’ spring we’re having, it’s hard to know where you stand. Too much and you arrive at the Post Office to buy a stamp sweating like you’ve escaped from somewhere; too little and you’re shivering like you’ve escaped from somewhere else. In telly terms, the generally brighter weather is affecting viewing, as it always does. So if a show drops in volume, as long as the share doesn’t waver too much, there’s no need to send off that job application form just yet. This week, cooking ended, a murderer or two was unmasked and separation continued to serve Saturday’s entertainment beasts well. By the end, viewers of ITV’s whopper Broadchurch were wrung out. Unsurprisingly, the finale scored by some distance the series’ highest live rating; its 8.4 million/32% (352,000 +1) made a mess of BBC1’s The Prisoners (2.8 million/11%, inheriting Panorama’s audience of 2.7 million). This huge discrepancy at 9pm doesn’t translate to the news: BBC1’s 10 O’Clock News achieved 4.3 million/21%, 1 million more than ITV’s News At 10 (2.8 million/15%; 71,000 +1). On Tuesday, the first-leg semifinal of the Champions League, was witnessed by a commercially very handy 4.2 million/19% (70,000 +1). But BBC1 still held sway with Holby City’s 4.7 million/21% at 8pm and The Syndicate’s 5.5 million/24%. After nine long weeks, ITV’s Food Glorious Food (Wednesday at 8pm) limped into the top 10 with 2.2 32 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
BroadcasT/BarB Top 100 neTwork programmes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 29 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 40 42 43 44 45 46 47 47 49 50
Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Broadcaster/ Producer*
Britain’s Got Talent Coronation Street Broadchurch Coronation Street Coronation Street Coronation Street EastEnders The Voice UK Coronation Street Emmerdale EastEnders Emmerdale EastEnders Countryfile Emmerdale Emmerdale Emmerdale EastEnders Endeavour Antiques Roadshow The Syndicate MasterChef Scott & Bailey BBC News At Ten BBC News At Six Off Their Rockers Doctor Who BBC News MasterChef The Village Casualty Have I Got News For You MasterChef BBC News BBC News At Ten Catchphrase Holby City BBC News At Six BBC News At Ten BBC News At Six BBC News At Six BBC News At Six BBC News At Ten The Ice Cream Girls Uefa Champs Lge: B Munich V Barcelona BBC News The One Show BBC News BBC News At Ten The One Show
Sat Mon Mon Wed Mon Fri Mon Sat Fri Mon Fri Wed Tue Sun Fri Tue Thu Thu Sun Sun Tue Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Sun Fri Sun Sat Fri Wed Sun Thu Sun Tue Tue Wed Wed Fri Thu Mon Fri Tue Sat Mon Sat Fri Tue
19.00 19.30 21.00 19.30 20.30 19.30 20.00 20.05 20.30 19.00 20.00 19.00 19.30 19.00 19.00 19.00 18.45 19.30 20.00 20.00 21.00 20.00 21.00 22.00 18.00 19.30 18.30 22.00 20.30 21.00 21.25 21.30 20.00 18.35 22.00 18.45 20.00 18.00 22.00 18.00 18.00 18.00 22.00 21.00 19.30 18.10 19.00 22.15 22.00 19.00
9.58 8.67 8.60 8.37 8.35 7.86 7.79 7.71 7.31 7.06 6.92 6.84 6.82 6.71 6.40 6.21 5.99 5.73 5.68 5.53 5.47 5.21 5.17 5.15 5.03 5.01 4.89 4.83 4.82 4.82 4.79 4.77 4.76 4.75 4.70 4.68 4.67 4.37 4.34 4.31 4.31 4.27 4.25 4.21 4.15 4.13 4.10 4.10 4.05 3.94
44.97 38.06 33.35 40.10 33.65 39.33 31.97 34.24 31.89 34.17 32.56 35.75 33.16 30.38 34.48 33.27 31.47 27.80 23.61 22.91 23.61 23.96 22.98 28.36 27.82 22.01 25.21 24.80 21.18 20.08 23.60 21.89 21.70 24.48 25.44 22.32 20.61 28.08 24.42 26.63 27.10 27.18 21.18 18.98 18.52 26.48 19.87 22.09 21.90 21.12
ITV/Syco/Thames ITV ITV/Kudos Film & TV ITV ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1/Wall to Wall ITV ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV ITV BBC1 ITV/Mammoth Screen BBC1 BBC1/Rollem Productions BBC1/Shine TV ITV/Red Production Company BBC1 BBC1 ITV/CPL Productions BBC1 BBC1 BBC1/Shine TV BBC1/Company Pictures BBC1 BBC1/Hat Trick Productions BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV/STV Productions BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV/Left Bank Pictures ITV BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Broadchurch
Great Bear Stakeout www.broadcastnow.co.uk
All BARB ratings supplied by: Attentional
Source: BARB
51 52 53 54 55 55 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 64 66 67 67 69 70 71 72 72 74 75 76 77 77 79 80 81 82 82 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 93 95 95 97 98 99 100
Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Broadcaster/ Producer*
Uefa Europa Lge: FC Basel V Chelsea ITV News & Weather The One Show The One Show Party Election Broadcast: Lib Dem Great Bear Stakeout The Cube Match Of The Day Pointless ITV News & Weather The Martin Lewis Money Show Party Election Broadcast: Green Party Great Bear Stakeout ITV News & Weather The One Show The Chase The Graham Norton Show James Nesbitt’s Ireland ITV News & Weather Bang Goes The Theory New You’ve Been Framed! Favourites The Chase ITV News & Weather The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins Pointless Pointless The Chase ITV News & Weather Pointless The Jonathan Ross Show The Chase The Chase Pointless Pointless Celebrities Party Election Broadcast: Lib Dem A Question Of Sport The Prisoners ITV News At Ten & Weather University Challenge The Great British Sewing Bee The Diamond Queen Question Time Panorama: Secrets Of Britain’s Sharia… 24 Hours In A&E Party Election Broadcast: UKIP BBC News At One The Politician’s Husband Food Glorious Food BBC News At One ITV News At Ten & Weather
Thu Mon Fri Thu Mon Wed Sat Sat Mon Wed Fri Wed Thu Fri Wed Mon Fri Mon Tue Mon Sat Wed Thu Sat Wed Fri Thu Sun Tue Sat Fri Tue Thu Sat Thu Fri Mon Mon Mon Tue Sun Thu Mon Wed Tue Mon Thu Wed Wed Wed
19.45 18.30 19.00 19.00 18.25 21.00 20.20 22.30 17.15 18.30 20.00 18.25 21.00 18.30 19.00 17.00 22.35 20.00 18.30 19.30 18.00 17.00 18.15 19.15 17.15 17.15 17.00 18.30 17.15 21.20 17.00 17.00 17.15 17.20 18.10 19.30 21.00 22.05 20.00 20.00 17.35 22.35 20.30 21.00 18.25 13.00 21.00 20.00 13.00 22.00
3.82 3.75 3.61 3.60 3.59 3.59 3.54 3.49 3.47 3.44 3.41 3.38 3.37 3.36 3.36 3.33 3.25 3.25 3.22 3.17 3.12 3.02 3.02 3.01 3.00 2.98 2.97 2.97 2.96 2.95 2.94 2.93 2.93 2.88 2.86 2.82 2.80 2.79 2.73 2.72 2.71 2.68 2.65 2.65 2.64 2.64 2.49 2.44 2.40 2.36
17.64 19.57 19.48 19.30 19.18 15.98 15.82 26.42 23.21 19.58 16.06 20.08 15.13 19.77 16.77 23.32 23.60 13.32 19.27 13.94 18.24 23.04 18.29 14.50 21.83 21.71 23.48 15.54 22.92 14.51 22.36 23.72 22.20 20.61 18.33 14.12 10.74 15.57 11.20 12.01 15.64 22.08 10.69 11.77 16.38 37.94 11.17 11.10 37.80 13.65
ITV ITV/ITN BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV/Objective Productions BBC1 BBC1/Remarkable Productions ITV/ITN ITV ITV BBC1 ITV/ITN BBC1 ITV BBC1/So Television ITV/Twofour ITV/ITN BBC1 ITV ITV ITV/ITN BBC1 BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1/Remarkable Television ITV ITV/ITN BBC1/Remarkable Television ITV/Hot Sauce ITV ITV BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1/Remarkable Television ITV BBC1 BBC1/Genie Productions ITV/ITN BBC2 BBC2/Love Productions BBC1 BBC1/Mentorn BBC1 C4/The Garden ITV BBC1 BBC2/Daybreak Pictures ITV/Optomen/Syco BBC1 ITV/ITN
*To include producer credits email robin.parker@emap.com by noon on Tuesday. Tables exclude programmes timed under 5 minutes long and omnibus editions, eg soaps.
panorama: Secrets Of Britain’s Sharia councils www.broadcastnow.co.uk
the politician’s husband
million/10% (158,000 +1). Opposite, BBC1’s MasterChef hauled in 4.8 million/22%. At 9pm, Scott & Bailey reversed fortunes with 4.9 million/22% (276,000 +1) over part one of BBC1’s Great Bear Stakeout (3.6 million/16%). On Thursday, with FC Basel taking on Chelsea in the Europa League, ITV averaged 3.8 million/17% (63,000 +1) from 7.45pm until 10.15pm, but was beaten at 8pm by BBC1’s penultimate MasterChef, the best of the week on 5.2 million/24%. But the match outperformed 9pm’s Great Bear Stakeout part two (3.4 million/15%) and the nonetheless
‘Catchphrase and Off Their Rockers are giving ITV a valuable platform from 6.45pm’ solid debut of BBC2’s The Politician’s Husband (2.5 million/ 11.2%). Friday’s MasterChef finale averaged 4.8 million/21% for a special hour-long edition from 8.30pm. Have I Got News For You achieved its usual 4.8 million/22% at 9.30pm. Opposite, ITV’s The Ice Cream Girls at 9pm averaged 3.9 million/18% (293,000 +1) – a total of 4.2 million, 1 million short of last week’s opener. On ITV at 7pm on Saturday, Britain’s Got Talent’s 9.6 million/45% (incl +1) – 700,000 short of the previous week but stable – reflected the sunnier weather, which also hit Doctor Who at 6.30pm: 4.9 million/25% is low for the sci-fi show, but it’s a PVR favourite. From 8.20pm, BBC1’s The Voice UK achieved 7.7 million/34%, 200,000 short of last week but the same share. Opposite, ITV’s The Cube managed 3.2 million/14% (328,000 +1). ITV’s Sunday duo of Catchphrase (4.5 million/22%; 226,000 +1) and Off Their Rockers (4.7 million/21%; 341,000 +1) is giving it a valuable platform from 6.45pm. From 7pm, however, BBC1’s Countryfile (6.7 million/30%) was the best performer. At 8pm, ITV’s Endeavour held last week’s share with 5.3 million/22% (369,000 +1); behind BBC1’s Antiques Roadshow (5.5 million/23%) but ahead of The Village finale at 9pm (4.8 million/20%).
See over for digital focus, plus channel and genre overviews 3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 33
Ratings Mon 22 Apr – Sun 28 Apr Channel Overview
C5 viewers go wild for Ben BY Stephen price
Channel 5 launched Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild on Monday at 9pm. With 1.1 million/4% (110,000 +1), it was ahead of the slot’s previous incumbent, Robson Green’s Extreme Fishing, but behind BBC2’s Fit To Rule: How Royal Illness Changed History (1.8 million/7%) and Channel 4’s The Hoarder Next Door (1.3 million/5%; 284,000 +1). C4’s 10 O’Clock Live returned for a third series on Wednesday at 10pm in front of 800,000/5% (155,000 +1); close to last season’s average. Whenever an apparent London street features in a drama, like The Politician’s Husband, the risk is that viewers try to identify it, ignoring that pesky dialogue and plot. Perhaps they’ll have to watch again on catch-up. BBC2’s drama launched on Thursday at 9pm with 2.5 million/11%, against C4’s 999: What’s Your Emergency? repeat, in place of the shunted The Intern (999’s 1.2 million/5%; 248,000 +1 was better than The Intern’s 700,000/3% incl +1 last week) and C5’s Trauma Doctors (1.1 million/5%; 119,000 +1). On Friday at 9pm, BBC2’s The Genius Of Turner: Painting The Industrial Revolution averaged 1.2 million/5%, beating C5’s The Mentalist (1 million/4%; 168,000 +1) and C4’s new Ben Earl: Trick Artist (900,000/4%; 300,000 +1).
Source: BARB
WEEk 17 Average hours per viewer Daytime share (%) Peaktime share (%) w/c 22.04.13 Peaktime share (%) w/c 23.04.12 YEAR TO DATE Average hours per viewer Audience share (%) Audience share (%) 2012
BBC1 5.40 18.31 22.78 23.23 BBC1 6.20 21.40 20.45
BBC2 1.45 5.79 6.47 7.48 BBC2 1.62 5.58 6.40
ITV1 4.33 14.15 22.25 20.59 ITV1 4.74 16.36 16.34
C4 1.33 5.01 5.53 6.44 C4 1.74 6.02 6.81
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
34 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
Total 25.51 100.00 100.00 100.00 Total 28.97 100.00 100.00
TOP 30 BBC2, CHANNEL 4 AND CHANNEL 5 Title
Day
1
University Challenge
Mon
20.00
2.73
11.20
BBC2
2
The Great British Sewing Bee
Tue
20.00
2.72
12.01
BBC2 C4
Broadcaster
3
24 Hours In A&E
Wed
21.00
2.65
11.77
4
The Politician's Husband
Thu
21.00
2.49
11.17
BBC2
5
Coast
Wed
20.00
2.09
9.53
BBC2
6
Paul Hollywood’s Bread
Mon
20.30
2.05
8.25
BBC2
7
Gardeners’ World
Fri
20.30
1.96
8.58
BBC2
8
Keeping Britain Alive: The NHS In A Day
Tue
21.00
1.89
8.16
BBC2
9
Edward Viii's Murderous Mistress
Tue
21.00
1.86
8.03
C4
10
Fit To Rule: How Royal Illness Changed History
Mon
21.00
1.76
6.76
BBC2 BBC2
11
Bill Bailey’s Jungle Hero
Sun
20.00
1.64
6.80
12
The Hoarder Next Door
Mon
21.00
1.63
6.25
C4
12
Hairy Bikers’ Best Of British
Tue
19.00
1.63
8.30
BBC2 BBC2
14
Hairy Bikers’ Best Of British
Thu
19.00
1.61
8.17
15
Secret Eaters
Thu
20.00
1.58
7.24
C4
16
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Tue
21.00
1.55
6.69
C5 C4
17
Embarrassing Bodies: Live From The Clinic
Tue
20.00
1.54
6.79
18
QI
Fri
22.00
1.51
8.19
BBC2
19
Phil Spencer: Secret Agent
Wed
20.00
1.50
6.86
C4
20
Alan Carr: Chatty Man
Fri
22.00
1.49
8.91
C4
21
Hairy Bikers’ Best Of British
Mon
19.00
1.48
6.82
BBC2
22
Season Of The Witch
Sat
21.00
1.46
7.29
C4
23
Dad’s Army
Sat
20.00
1.45
6.43
BBC2
23
Nature’s Microworlds
Fri
20.00
1.45
6.84
BBC2
25
The Truth About Travellers
Sun
21.00
1.43
5.98
C5
26
999: What’s Your Emergency?
Thu
21.00
1.40
6.28
C4
27
The Simpsons
Mon
18.00
1.38
7.63
C4
28
Hairy Bikers’ Best Of British
Wed
19.00
1.37
6.87
BBC2
29
Emergency Bikers
Wed
20.00
1.34
6.11
C5
30
Hairy Bikers’ Best Of British
Fri
19.00
1.29
6.70
BBC2
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Multichannel 39.14
BBC2’s Thatcher doc Young Margaret: Life, Love And Letters fell short of the 1.2 million slot average
Others 11.94 51.93 39.14 38.33 Others 13.51 46.63 45.51
Daytime is 09.30-18.00. Peaktime is 18.00-22.30. Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
DAYTIME sHARE (%) w/c 22.04.13
PEAkTIME sHARE (%) w/c 22.04.13
920k
C5 1.06 4.80 3.84 3.92 C5 1.16 4.01 4.49
BBC1 22.78
ITV1 22.25
C5 3.84 C4 5.53
BBC2 6.47
Multichannel 51.93
280k Shifted to Wednesday at 11pm, C4’s The Intern was more than 1 million down on its launch
BBC1 18.31
ITV1 14.15
C5 4.80
BBC2 5.79
C4 5.01
www.broadcastnow.co.uk
All BARB ratings supplied by: Attentional
Genre Overview
Source: BARB
toP 10 cHiLdren’s ProGrammes Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fit The Scooby-Doo Show The Story Of Tracy Beaker Fit Fit 3rd And Bird Fit Horrible Histories Fit The Scooby-Doo Show
toP 10 FactuaL ProGrammes
Day
Start
Viewers (Age 4-15)
Share (%)
Channel
Thu Tue Mon Wed Tue Mon Fri Sun Mon Thu
07.45 16.00 07.25 07.45 07.45 17.00 07.45 08.55 07.45 16.00
252,600 241,200 239,000 231,300 218,900 213,400 213,000 203,300 200,400 199,200
18.93 29.35 22.93 17.23 17.31 13.87 16.16 15.96 14.42 22.17
CBBC CBBC CBBC CBBC CBBC CBeebies CBBC CBBC CBBC CBBC
Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Countryfile Antiques Roadshow MasterChef MasterChef MasterChef The One Show The One Show The One Show The One Show Great Bear Stakeout
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sun Sun Thu Fri Wed Mon Tue Fri Thu Wed
19.00 20.00 20.00 20.30 20.00 19.00 19.00 19.00 19.00 21.00
6.71 5.53 5.21 4.82 4.76 4.10 3.94 3.61 3.60 3.59
30.38 22.91 23.96 21.18 21.70 19.87 21.12 19.48 19.30 15.98
BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1
➤ CBBC sports comedy sketch show Fit dominated children’s programming, helping CBBC take nine of the top 10 positions. the scooby-doo show and the story of tracey Beaker also contributed to its performance. 3rd and Bird was the only CBeebies programme to feature.
➤ BBC1 again dominated factual programmes, occupying all of the top 10 slots. countryfile retained top spot after increasing its audience, while the antiques road show, masterchef and the one show all performed well. Great Bear stakeout debuted in 10th place.
toP 10 drama ProGrammes
toP 10 entertainment ProGrammes
Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Broadchurch Endeavour The Syndicate Scott & Bailey Doctor Who The Village Casualty Holby City The Ice Cream Girls The Politician’s Husband
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Mon Sun Tue Wed Sat Sun Sat Tue Fri Thu
21.00 20.00 21.00 21.00 18.30 21.00 21.25 20.00 21.00 21.00
8.60 5.68 5.47 5.17 4.89 4.82 4.79 4.67 4.21 2.49
33.35 23.61 23.61 22.98 25.21 20.08 23.60 20.61 18.98 11.17
ITV ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
➤ Broadchurch again topped the drama list with even more viewers than the week before. ITV drama the ice cream Girls dropped from fifth to ninth place, while new BBC2 series the Politician’s Husband came in one slot below. Meanwhile, the Village rose to sixth place.
uP Broadchurch gains 1.3 million
down Britain’s Got Talent loses 710,000
UP The Syndicate grows 240,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Champions Lge: B Munich V Barca Europa Lge: FC Basel V Chelsea Match Of The Day Match Of The Day 2 Live Ford Super Sunday Final Score Football Focus Live Ford Monday Night Football Match Of The Day World Championship Snooker
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sat Sat Sun Fri Sun Sat Mon Mon Fri Sat
19.00 20.05 19.30 21.30 18.45 20.20 17.15 17.00 22.35 18.00
9.58 7.71 5.01 4.77 4.68 3.54 3.47 3.33 3.25 3.12
44.97 34.24 22.01 21.89 22.32 15.82 23.21 23.32 23.60 18.24
ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV
➤ Britain’s Got talent continued in the top position, but lost nearly 1 million viewers compared with last week, as the Voice uk closes the gap. Meanwhile, ITV’s catchphrase fell from third place to fifth and off their rockers clinched third place.
uP The Village adds 20,000
down Tuesday’s The One Show falls by 180,000
uP Scott & Bailey swells by 40,000
toP 10 current aFFairs ProGrammes Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Tue Thu Sat Sun Sun Sat Sat Mon Sun Sat
19.30 19.45 22.30 22.25 15.30 16.30 12.15 19.00 07.35 14.00
4.15 3.82 3.49 2.35 1.93 1.85 1.35 1.30 1.25 1.20
18.52 17.64 26.42 19.12 13.10 15.79 17.22 5.79 25.36 12.96
ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1 Sky Sp 1 BBC1 BBC1 Sky Sp 1 BBC1 BBC1
➤ The game between Bayern Munich and Barcelona in the champions League topped the table, followed by europa League match Basel v Chelsea. Meanwhile, world championship snooker inched its way onto the table, helping BBC1 take six of the 10 spots. next week comedy and music & arts www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Britain’s Got Talent The Voice UK Off Their Rockers Have I Got News For You Catchphrase The Cube Pointless The Chase The Graham Norton Show New YBF! Favourites
down Catchphrase declines by 610,000
toP 10 sPort ProGrammes Title
Title
Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Party Election Broadcast: Lib Dem The Martin Lewis Money Show Party Election Broadcast: Green Party Election Broadcast: Lib Dem Question Time Panorama: Secrets Of Britain’s… Party Election Broadcast: UKIP The Andrew Marr Show Seven Days In Boston Dispatches: Britain’s Millionaire…
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Mon Fri Wed Thu Thu Mon Tue Sun Mon Mon
18.25 20.00 18.25 18.10 22.35 20.30 18.25 09.00 22.45 20.00
3.59 3.41 3.38 2.86 2.68 2.65 2.64 1.34 1.11 1.03
19.18 16.06 20.08 18.33 22.08 10.69 16.38 18.42 9.51 4.24
ITV ITV ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV C4
➤ Party Election broadcasts hooked audiences in the run-up to the local elections, with the Liberal Democrats taking top position. Meanwhile, the tin Lewis money show continued to hold steady in second place, while ITV special seven days in Boston made an appearance. .
See over for demographic and digital focus 3 May 2013 | Broadcast | 35
Ratings Mon 15 Apr – Sun 21 Apr
All BARB ratings supplied by: Attentional
Consolidated Ratings
Fox cracks the Da Vinci code BY Stephen price
If Leonardo Da Vinci even knew where or what South Wales was, I bet that, equipped as he was with something of a wild imagination, he would never have thought that one day a fictionalised account of his life would be filmed in Port Talbot. Maybe Mona Lisa did, hence the smirk. Either way, Fox’s new drama has landed a decent result. Tidy. Syfy, meanwhile, made defiance pay almost as well as its last big-hitter. And on Saturday night, after the opening week’s clash, the big entertainment formats dominated.
BBC1: The Voice UK On 20 April, BBC1’s The Voice UK moved from its early evening slot to mid-evening and benefited
Source: BARB
nicely. ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, which remained in its 7pm slot, stayed as strong as ever (11.9 million/49%) and was the top show of the week. After last year’s precipitous fall in The Voice’s performance once the chairs stopped spinning, BBC1 will be pleased with this week’s uplift but hoping the format can sustain it throughout. At 8.20pm, its live rating was 7.9 million/34%, more than 1.1 million up on the previous week’s 6.45pm start, when all but 15 minutes of its 90 minutes were against Britain’s Got Talent. After 1.6 million recorded this week – impressive for an of-themoment Saturday night show – and with only a 10-minute overlap, the consolidated rating for The Voice was 9.5 million/36%; 1.7 million more than last week’s final figure.
Syfy: Defiance At 9pm on 16 April, Syfy launched its new series Defiance with a feature-length episode. It averaged 273,000/1.3% live and after
210,000 recorded and watched, it ended on 482,000/2% – the channel’s best launch since V’s 558,000/3% in April 2010. With four repeats, Defiance totalled more than 1 million.
Fox: Da Vinci’s Demons On 19 April at 10pm, Fox launched Renaissance romp Da Vinci’s Demons, the result of a partnership between BBC Worldwide and US cable network Starz, and filmed in Wales. It launched to 255,000/ 1.5%, but after almost 320,000 recorded and watched, it grew to a very decent 575,000/3%. With one repeat consolidated so far (Sunday 22 April) it totalled more than 700,000 for the week.
Sky 1’s Spartacus: War Of The Damned gained 149.5% in PVR and catch-up
ITV: The Ice Cream Girls
UP HIGNFY rises 390,000
ITV drama The Ice Cream Girls, in the never-easy Friday 9pm slot, launched well with 5.3 million/ 23%. After recording, that whipped up nicely to 6.3 million/ 24%, only a fraction behind ITV’s Scott & Bailey (6.4 million/24%) on Wednesday.
TOP 30 CONSOlIDaTeD RaTINGS: RaNKeD By GaIN
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 11 13 14 15 15 17 18 18 20 20 20 23 24 25 26 26 26 26 30
1.0m DOWN Scott & Bailey drops by 430,000
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Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Gain (m)
Gain %
Broadchurch The Voice UK Doctor Who Scott & Bailey The Village The Syndicate Endeavour The Ice Cream Girls EastEnders Casualty EastEnders Britain’s Got Talent Celebrity Juice Not Going Out Coronation Street Dallas The Following MasterChef EastEnders Have I Got News For You Revolution Coronation Street Person Of Interest EastEnders Coronation Street 24 Hours In A&E Spartacus: War Of The Damned CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Elementary Once Upon A Time
Mon Sat Sat Wed Sun Tue Sun Fri Thu Sat Fri Sat Thu Fri Fri Tue Tue Fri Tue Fri Fri Fri Sun Mon Mon Wed Mon Tue Tue Sun
21.00 20.20 18.45 21.00 21.00 21.00 20.00 21.00 19.30 21.25 20.00 19.00 22.00 21.30 20.30 23.00 22.00 20.30 19.30 21.00 21.00 19.30 22.00 20.00 20.30 21.00 22.00 21.00 21.00 21.00
9.56 9.50 6.61 6.42 6.19 6.37 7.00 6.33 6.29 5.90 7.94 11.86 2.28 4.40 8.88 1.16 1.00 4.52 8.21 5.53 1.23 9.24 1.59 8.72 9.98 3.78 0.96 2.33 1.05 1.45
31.98 36.45 29.24 24.40 21.50 23.63 24.75 23.64 27.12 26.15 33.43 48.66 11.43 16.63 34.02 10.75 5.02 17.54 38.29 20.84 4.60 42.39 8.04 34.54 37.24 14.55 5.08 8.55 3.86 5.00
1.98 1.64 1.60 1.50 1.39 1.15 1.04 1.03 0.86 0.84 0.82 0.82 0.81 0.77 0.75 0.75 0.73 0.72 0.72 0.70 0.70 0.70 0.66 0.65 0.59 0.57 0.57 0.57 0.57 0.54
26.20 20.80 31.90 30.40 29.00 22.00 17.40 19.40 15.80 16.70 11.60 7.40 54.70 21.20 9.20 183.30 264.40 19.10 9.60 14.50 131.30 8.10 71.70 8.00 6.30 17.90 149.50 32.50 117.70 59.10
Broadcaster ITV BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV2 BBC1 ITV C5 Sky Atlantic BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 SKY 1 ITV C5 BBC1 ITV C4 Sky 1 C5 Sky Living C5
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
36 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Ratings Mon 22 Apr – Sun 28 Apr
All BARB ratings supplied by: Attentional
Demographic focus Channels
Individuals Share (%)
Adults ABC1 Share (%)1
Source: BARB
Adults ABC1 Profile (%)2
Adults 16-34 Share (%)1
Adults 16-34 Profile (%)2
Male Share (%)1
Male Profile (%)2
Female Share (%)1
Female Profile (%)2
54.83
BBC1
21.30
25.83
47.31
13.22
11.05
20.92
45.18
21.62
ITV1
17.23
16.27
36.84
13.65
14.11
14.61
39.00
19.46
61.01
BBC2
5.72
7.00
47.74
3.59
11.19
6.69
53.75
4.90
46.25
C4
5.14
5.27
39.95
6.50
22.52
4.73
42.27
5.50
57.72
C5
4.43
3.76
33.12
3.71
14.94
3.89
40.39
4.89
59.62
ITV2
3.07
2.46
31.24
5.08
29.44
2.58
38.63
3.49
61.37
ITV3
2.46
2.13
33.72
0.64
4.63
2.04
38.13
2.82
61.88
E4
1.81
2.01
43.37
5.08
49.98
1.63
41.50
1.96
58.51
ITV4
1.40
1.37
38.31
1.16
14.76
2.11
69.35
0.79
30.63
Sky Spts 1
1.30
1.62
48.81
1.96
26.99
2.03
72.24
0.67
27.77
BBC3
1.29
1.18
35.84
3.20
44.23
1.44
51.49
1.16
48.53
Film 4
1.28
1.09
33.36
1.23
17.19
1.58
56.97
1.02
42.99
Dave
1.27
1.25
38.61
2.09
29.34
1.71
61.95
0.89
38.03
More 4
1.25
1.40
43.57
1.10
15.67
1.15
42.10
1.34
57.88
5 USA
1.00
0.81
31.63
0.71
12.62
0.93
42.82
1.06
57.18
Sky 1
0.84
0.82
38.04
1.35
28.77
0.91
50.15
0.77
49.87
BBC4
0.81
1.07
51.50
0.29
6.30
0.89
50.55
0.74
49.43
Yesterday
0.78
0.66
32.72
0.16
3.55
0.87
50.89
0.71
49.15
Sky Living
0.60
0.64
41.17
0.76
22.41
0.49
37.24
0.70
62.76
1.2m
C4’s new magic show Ben Earl: Trick Artist fell short of the 1.5 million 9pm Friday slot average. It was also in line with the overnights for series two of Watch’s Dynamo: Magician Impossible.
Share covers all hours. Figures include HD and +1 where applicable 1: Each channel’s share of total demographic. 2: Demographic as a percentage of the channel’s total viewers.
Digital focus
Swedish crime hits new low BY Stephen price
Not The Nine O’Clock news once famously suggested that Roald Dahl’s mother couldn’t spell Ronald; it seems she couldn’t spell Arnie either, as BBC4’s latest member of its Scandinavian Saturday Night Club continued. Elsewhere, ITV2’s Plebs bowed out, while BBC3 met two sisters who need to get on really well. Part two of Bad Blood, the latest in BBC4’s adaptation of Swedish crime writer Arne Dahl’s thrillers, achieved 428,000/2% at 9pm on Saturday; 140,000 short of last week and the lowest live rating for the series so far. ITV2’s Roman comedy Plebs ended on Monday at 10pm. Its 505,000/3% was up on last week but short of the 920,000/5% launch. However, after three repeats, it still totalled 1.3 million. The first part of BBC3’s doc about conjoined twins, Abby & Brittany: Joined For Life, averaged 497,000/2% on Thursday 25 April at 9pm. The 1am repeat added another 220,000. 38 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
Source: BARB
DigiTAL homes
ToP 30 muLTichAnneL ProgrAmmes Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 6 8 9 10 11 12 12 14 14 14 17 18 18 18 21 21 23 23 23 26 27 27 27 30
Live Ford Super Sunday The Big Bang Theory Celebrity Juice Live Ford M’day Football Lewis The Voice UK How I Met Your Mother Live Uefa Champs League Hot Fuzz Peter Andre: My Life Toy Story 2 Live Ford Super Sunday Britain’s Got More Talent The Big Bang Theory Benidorm Britain’s Got More Talent Hollyoaks Hollyoaks R Howard’s Good News Doc Martin Midsomer Murders Britain’s Got Talent New Girl The Big Bang Theory Hollyoaks Hollyoaks R Howard’s Good News Extra The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang Theory EastEnders
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Day
Sun Thu Thu Mon Sat Sun Thu Wed Sun Thu Sat Sun Sun Mon Wed Sat Mon Tue Thu Sat Tue Sun Tue Fri Wed Thu Sun Wed Thu Thu
Start
15.30 20.00 22.00 19.00 21.00 19.40 20.30 19.00 21.00 21.00 16.10 13.00 17.40 18.30 21.00 20.20 19.00 19.00 22.00 20.00 20.00 16.20 21.00 18.30 19.00 19.00 21.00 18.30 18.30 22.30
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
1.93 1.68 1.43 1.30 0.97 0.96 0.96 0.92 0.89 0.88 0.87 0.85 0.85 0.83 0.83 0.83 0.80 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.77 0.77 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.74 0.72 0.72 0.72 0.71
13.10 7.88 8.35 5.79 4.95 4.03 4.32 4.34 4.68 3.95 7.10 8.55 4.81 4.34 3.69 3.69 3.88 4.18 4.27 3.46 3.37 5.27 3.15 4.43 3.91 3.95 2.99 4.11 4.13 4.79
Channel
Sky Spts 1 E4 ITV2 Sky Spts 1 ITV3 BBC3 E4 Sky Spts 2 ITV2 ITV2 ITV2 Sky Spts 1 ITV2 E4 ITV2 ITV2 E4 E4 BBC3 ITV3 ITV3 ITV2 E4 E4 E4 E4 BBC3 E4 E4 BBC3
Channels
Share (%)
BBC1 ITV BBC2 C4 C5 Total multichannel ITV2 ITV3 E4 ITV4 Sky Sports 1 BBC3 Film 4 Dave CBeebies More 4 BBC News 5 USA
21.30 17.23 5.72 5.14 4.43 46.18 3.07 2.46 1.81 1.40 1.30 1.29 1.28 1.27 1.27 1.25 1.12 1.00
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
61k
David Quantick’s John Lennon tale Snodgrass delivered an above average rating for Sky Arts’ Playhouse Presents www.broadcastnow.co.uk
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Netball returns for 2013
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Black tie not black belt
ALL A TWITTER Am watching The United States Of Television: America In Primetime. Everyone looks like a waxwork of themselves. @orianemessina (Oriane Messina) Writer, Me & Mrs Jones Snowdon: piggy party pal
TLC brings home the bacon
Missing: Laughs on ITV1. Last seen just before 9pm. #vicious #thejoblot @moviegoblin (Steve Hughes) Director, Casualty
Police vans. Axes. Screaming. All as usual outside my office in Sweden. Wallander IV should be pretty easy to write. @mrpeterharness (Peter Harness) Writer, Wallander
Apparently, the decision to close BBC TV Centre was made after Michael Grade watched The Wright Way. @chuckthomasuk (Chuck Thomas) Entertainment producer
40 | Broadcast | 3 May 2013
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Trendy nightclub Sketch was home to TLC’s glitzy launch party last week. Your Style In His Hands star Lisa Snowdon hosted the party alongside TLC talent including Jodie Marsh and Holly Valance, together with a handful of industry execs including Sophie Turner Laing and Endemol’s Mark Lawrence. However, the real stars of the night were the pair of micropigs, which hogged the limelight.
Broadcast pigged out on Gregg’s this week after a Sky delivery to promote More Than Meets The Pie. But real brain food arrived too. Zombie brains, to be precise, which turned out to be an ideal topping for these cupcakes, dispatched from Sony to nudge us towards the Zombieland TV pilot streaming on Amazon. Perhaps best not to speculate what they put inside.
The great and the good lined up to praise Olympics multi-camera director Hamish Hamilton by video at the Bafta Television Craft Awards, among them Bono, Robbie Williams, Beyoncé, Usher, Peter Gabriel and Danny Boyle. Host Stephen Mangan was also a fan of the Games: “I did apply for tickets but I only got women’s judo. Fuck that. So I watched it on telly like everyone else.”
C4 fails to score with Becks Channel 4 almost scored a hat trick this week when entertaining hacks at Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental. On the night the restaurant was crowned seventh best in the world, Gordon Ramsay – another C4 talent – popped up with guests Victoria and David Beckham. Alas, despite their best efforts, none of the commissioners managed to score the pair for their next format.
AND FINALLY ... Andrew Lamberty Presenter, Auction Hero, BBC2
What’s the cruellest thing you’ve ever done? Unpegging the women’s tent loo at a race meeting on a windy day. Who would you be on Stars In Their Eyes? Eminem singing Stan. If you could perpetuate a myth about yourself, what would it be? That I’m a cat whisperer, and I can tell them what to do. What would you do with a million quid? Put it on black. What’s the worst rejection you’ve ever had? My headmaster refusing to cane me and instead banning me from end-of-year prizegiving. Who or what would you put into Room 101? Tarantulas [pictured]. What’s the most embarrassing item in your wardrobe? I have quite a few dodgy titfers. What TV shows would be in your fantasy schedule? The Sopranos, River Monsters, Match Of The Day, Top Gear, The Grand Prix, BBC4 arts programmes, Test Match cricket, Breaking Bad. What are the best and worst things about working in TV? Best: you can share your passion with people; worst: repetition. Where’s the best place to do some ‘meeja’ networking? Roar Global breakfast parties at the Ivy.
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