www.broadcastnow.co.uk
11 July 2014
Independence day BBC plans to tear up quotas and ‘liberate’ in-house
Tony Hall’s plan will ‘break open’ the corporation
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BBC Productions free to pitch to other channels
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WoCC set to be scrapped after indie consolidation
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Editor’s Choice
Broadcast, Zetland House, 5-25 Scrutton Street, London EC2A 4HJ or email chris.curtis@broadcastnow.co.uk
Online this week www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Chris Curtis, Editor
Top News
A seismic change for British TV Scrapping BBC quotas may be a double-edged sword for indies
I
n March, Danny Cohen (below, right) described plans to make BBC3 an online-only channel as “the biggest strategic decision the BBC has made in over a decade”. Not any more. The proposal by the director of television and DG Tony Hall (below, left) to tear up the programming quotas and put BBC Productions into direct competition with the indie sector is seismic. For the indie sector, it means that £400m worth of programming could be up for grabs, but also that a powerful new competitor is likely to emerge.
‘By scrapping the WoCC, the BBC has confirmed that the UK production sector is changing irrevocably’ Just how powerful depends on who you speak to – many still wince recounting tales of inefficiency within the BBC, but others believe Natalie Humphreys and Mark Freeland are reinvigorating the organisation. The indie sector has been knocking on the WoCC door for some time, but don’t expect it to walk all over an archaic in-house division. Which broadcaster wouldn’t want Miranda or Strictly? And there are plenty of other impressive recent shows – The Call Centre and In The Flesh spring to mind. It’s also easy to imagine BBC Productions’ brand helping it to win business in the US and around the world. Either way, if Hall’s proposals are accepted, BBC Productions’ successes and failures will become 2 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
è More than half the British public are in favour of scrapping the licence fee and making the BBC self-sufficient, according to a ComRes survey.
è Case Histories producer Alison Owen more apparent. ‘Compete or compare’ is set to become the corporation’s new mantra. Hall and Cohen now have to sell their vision to the 3,000 staff and freelancers who work at BBC Productions, and convince the Trust and the government that this is the right thing for the corporation. Part of that will be getting the rest of the industry on side. Hall’s speech is intended to kick off an industry debate. The BBC is planning an event to communicate its vision next week, so make sure you let Broadcast know your views. Unlike the plan to move BBC3 online, this strategy has not been motivated by financial pressure. Instead, it has been prompted by massive market changes. Warner Bros owns Shed, ITV and Sky are snapping up indies, Discovery and Liberty Global shelled out £550m to buy All3Media, and there’s every chance that Endemol and Shine Group will end the year as bedfellows. With so much of the sector now nonqualifying, the challenge of trying to reimagine production quotas didn’t make sense. By scrapping the WoCC and all its guarantees, the BBC has confirmed what was already becoming apparent: the UK production sector is changing irrevocably. There are other implications, not least for C4. It’s getting harder for it to foster a truly independent British TV sector rather than support a handful of multinational consolidators, and it too may need to look at how it fulfils its remit. For now, this news is about the BBC and a fight to give audiences the best programmes – wherever they come from. The analogy Cohen is using is “levelling the playing field” – a better one might be “let battle commence”.
(below) has claimed that diversity in UK drama is being hampered by the growing international nature of the genre.
è Life On Mars and Hustle creator Tony Jordan has railed against the growth of data-led drama commissioning decisions amid the rise of digital players such as Netflix.
Ratings Top Five 1 BBC2’s The Honourable Woman (below) made a solid start on Thursday with 2.1 million viewers. 2 E4’s US acquisition The 100 pulled in 1.7m viewers to become the channel’s biggest-ever launch on Monday. 3 The final episode of Channel 4’s The Auction beat BBC2’s Shop Girls on Tuesday with 1.2 million viewers – as the World Cup coverage peaked with 8.6m.
Sky Atlantic gothic horror Penny Dreadful bowed out on Tuesday with an average audience of 249,000 (1.1%) across its eight-part run. 4
5 Novak Djokovic’s Wimbledon win peaked with 10m on Sunday.
Team Tweets è At Sony 4K screening of Fra v Ger. Main observation: ref ’s barnet not holding up to scrutiny of F55 and F65 cameras @bevir (George Bevir)
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News & Analysis
BBC signals end of quotas DG Tony Hall announces biggest change to BBC’s content supply model in 92-year history BY JAKE KANTER
The BBC plans to tear up production quotas and “liberate” inhouse teams to pitch to other broadcasters in the biggest “breaking open” of the corporation in its 92-year history. The proposals, outlined in a speech by director general Tony Hall on 10 July, mean that all existing BBC quotas would be scrapped, opening up £400m worth of commissioning opportunities to the independent production sector. BBC director of television Danny Cohen told Broadcast that the Window of Creative Competition (WoCC) is “bust” following a wave of indie consolidation this year. He argued that it no longer serves the industry or audiences, who may be being deprived of the best ideas on-screen. In rolling back quotas, the corporation plans to significantly remodel BBC Productions, with the ambition to free it up to compete for business with broadcasters in the UK and abroad. One idea under consideration is transforming in-house into a standalone commercial entity. Hall told an audience of industry executives at City University that the plans represent the single biggest opening up of the BBC since its inception in 1922. His aim is to create a debate about what the changes will mean for the industry before formal proposals are put to the government during charter renewal negotiations next year. The director general and Cohen have been discussing a quota overhaul for more than a year and a small team, including strategy execs and senior in-house managers, have been developing the plans in recent months. The former BBC1 controller said seismic indie consolidation in the first half of 2014 contributed to the decision to go public. The likes of All3Media and Love Productions, which is set for investment from BSkyB, will this year join a growing list of non-qualifying indies, meaning they can only win business in the increasingly www.broadcastnow.co.uk
BBC in-house productions: (clockwise from top left) Mrs Brown’s Boys, Doctor Who, Countryfile and Top Gear
The system is not working any more because of the consolidation in the industry Danny Cohen, BBC
crowded WoCC. Cohen believes this is starting to impact BBC commissioning decisions, with independent producers butting up against the 50% in-house guarantee. “The system is not working any more because of the consolidation in the industry,” Cohen said. “We should use this opportunity to look at the entire supply model and level out the playing field to ensure we get the best ideas from wherever they come from.” Cohen said a “lot more work” needs to be done on BBC Productions’ future, but the corporation is exploring the idea of hiving off its programme-making division into a BBC Worldwide-style company. Work is being done to ensure this won’t distort the market or raise
questions that BBC Productions is profiting from public subsidy. “We have a lot of detailed thinking to do about what that model will be, but a commercial model could liberate in-house and allow it to make programmes for broadcasters overseas, and potentially in the UK,” Cohen said. “In that sense, this is a huge moment for the BBC. It’s the biggest proposed change to the television supply model in more than a decade.” The director of television added that safeguards will be put in place to ensure the BBC continues to produce programming that is less commercially sustainable for indies, such as religion and natural history documentaries. The corporation’s commitments to produce content outside of London and support small indies will also remain in place, according to Cohen. “Changing our supply model doesn’t mean we will be giving up on our key public service commitments,” Cohen said, arguing that “breaking open” the BBC and increasing competition will be healthy for the indie sector. “No change is not an option,” he added.
BBC PRODUCTIONS BY NUMBERS
2,500 Staff and freelancers 2,000 Annual hours of production £400m Annual turnover Cohen was cagey on what this will mean for BBC Productions’ 2,500 staff and freelancers, given that the corporation is a long way off finessing the details of its proposals. The language of the BBC’s announcement was not focused on cost-cutting, but preparing inhouse for a commercial future will almost certainly result in it being significantly reshaped. Cohen will address his senior team on Thursday, while all staff in his division will have the chance to hear more details in a Friday briefing. A separate indie sector event is being planned for next week. 11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 3
News & Analysis
BBC diversity under scrutiny We recently announced a package of measures to improve diversity. We are working hard to deliver that
BY Jake Kanter
The difficulties faced by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people in securing work at the BBC have been exposed in figures released by the corporation. The data, disclosed in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, showed that just 2.4% of 88,505 BBC applicants from diverse backgrounds succeeded in landing a job at the corporation in the past four-and-a-half years. In the first six months of 2014, 1.5% of 5,691 BAME applicants were successful, while the previous year, 2.8% of 16,503 candidates secured employment at the BBC. This was broadly in line with recruitment rates in 2012 and 2011. A total of 376,751 people across all ethnicities applied for jobs at the broadcaster between January 2010 and June this year, of which 3.8% were successful. This rate increases to more than 4% with BAME recruits stripped out. The figures bear out the experience of black journalist Eno Alfred, who received the same automated rejection letter when applying for 15 jobs at the BBC. Alfred, who
BBC spokesman
EastEnders: Tony Hall met the soap’s cast ahead of diversity announcement
graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York, now works as a reporter in Nigeria. Her case was highlighted by the chair of the Campaign for Broadcasting Equality Simon Albury, who last month questioned the efforts to improve diversity the BBC has made in its recruitment processes. BBC director general Tony Hall has since set out a blueprint for boosting BBC diversity, including
plans to increase the proportion of BAME senior management across television, radio and news divisions from the current 8.3% to 10% in 2017 and 15% in 2020. The corporation is also introducing “unconscious bias” training to help improve diversity in recruitment. Director of news and current affairs James Harding admitted earlier this year that senior management “have a tendency to recruit in our own image”.
Meanwhile, other figures contained in the FOI data showed that it is not all bad news for the BBC. Some 14.8% of the total 14,309 people hired by the corporation since 2010 are from BAME backgrounds. This figure is above the number of the UK population who claimed to be from a BAME background in the 2011 census, which showed that 14% of the UK’s population were “non-white”. A BBC spokesman said: “We recently announced a significant package of measures to improve diversity on and off screen, which will make a tangible difference. We are already working hard to deliver that, and are confident that we will continue to make progress.”
Big Talk: use tax credits as diversity incentive Diversity criteria could be included in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s cultural test
BY Alex Farber
The high-end television tax credit should be used as a tool for incentivising diversity initiatives in the indie sector, according to Big Talk Productions. The idea, which could draw inspiration from the ‘three ticks’ diversity initiative unveiled by the BFI this week, was floated at a twohour Bafta event hosted by culture minister Ed Vaizey on Monday. Big Talk’s Kenton Allen and Matthew Justice said diversity criteria could be included in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s cultural test, which indies must pass in order to secure tax relief for high-end TV and animation. Broadcast understands that Vaizey is open to the idea, but 4 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
Youngers: apprenticeship scheme
it has not yet been worked up into a formal proposal. The second series of Big Talk’s E4 drama Youngers used an “oldfashioned apprenticeship scheme”, giving five aspiring producers from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds the opportunity to work on the 10-week shoot.
Plans to supercharge the Creative Diversity Network (CDN) were also unveiled at Vaizey’s diversity forum. The major broadcasters have pledged further investment, to be used to fund a full-time chief executive and a dedicated team tasked with tackling the lack of diversity in the industry. The CDN’s diversity monitoring service, Silvermouse, will be
upgraded to ensure a consistent picture can be built up of BAME representation. Leadership and grass-roots talent initiatives are also being planned. The BFI’s plan, which was announced at Monday’s event, asks film producers wanting to tap into the organisation’s lottery funding to demonstrate their commitment to increase diversity by meeting two of three measures, spanning on-screen diversity, off-screen diversity and employment opportunities. Among those who attended the session were ITV director of tele vision Peter Fincham, Channel 4 deputy chief creative officer Ralph Lee, BBC entertainment controller Mark Linsey and Sky director of entertainment Stuart Murphy. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
News & Analysis
Studio Lambert rewards team The indie’s UK revenues have increased by more than 65% over the past year
BY Peter White
Studio Lambert is eyeing its next chapter of growth after giving new roles to the creators of Gogglebox and hiring a new head of development. The All3Media indie has promoted Tania Alexander, executive producer of the Channel 4 series, to director of factual entertainment. Head of development Tim Harcourt has been handed the role of creative director, with Jack Burgess joining from NBC Universal International as his replacement. Burgess held the same role at the US company, collaborating with indies including Monkey Kingdom and Chocolate Media. He had previously worked with Harcourt at Fever Media. Studio Lambert chief executive Stephen Lambert told Broadcast the promotions were a reward for both the success of sofa-surfing format Gogglebox and the com pany’s overall domestic growth. The indie’s UK revenues have increased by more than 65% over the past year, according to the Wife Swap and Undercover Boss creator. Its turnover was £47m in
Gogglebox: Studio Lambert has promoted the creators of the show
2013, making it the 12th largest indie in the UK, according to Broadcast’s Indie Survey. Only 27% of its income came through domestic commissions that year. The gains have largely been driven by three shows: Gogglebox, BBC2’s The Great Interior Design Challenge, which has been renewed for a second series, and C4’s How To Get A Council House. “Tim has been a brilliant head of development and he’s playing an increasingly active role in
selling shows to UK broadcasters. Given that I spend a lot of time in America, I don’t want the selling process to depend on me being here,” Lambert said. He added that Alexander has been an “important part of the success of Studio Lambert”, and highlighted her production sensibilities as one of the keys to Gogglebox’s success. “She has a fantastic ability to manage a big team and handle fast-turnaround [shows]. Goggle-
box is a show that is made every week in the cutting room and if you don’t have the right lightness of touch, you don’t have a great episode,” Lambert explained. Lambert is looking to build on the growth and highlighted new commissions including C4’s domestic servant doc Can’t Get The Staff, which he described as “Downton Abbey in the 21st Century”. He added that he was specifically looking at real-time formats following the success of reality series True Tori for Lifetime, which follows Beverly Hills 90201 star Tori Spelling as she tries to fix her marriage. The twist is that the show is filmed and aired quickly to keep up with the tabloid coverage of her life. Lambert is now searching for other celebrities who could fit this model.
BBC to make Watership Down animated series BY Peter White
The BBC is developing an animated television series based on classic children’s novel Watership Down. Tom Bidwell, who adapted hit E4 comedy drama My Mad Fat Diary and has penned episodes of EastEnders and Casualty, is writing scripts for the series. It is being produced by management company 42, which recently struck a first-look distribution and development deal with ITV Studios Global Entertainment. The company has a background in feature film production, with credits such as 2008 urban drama Shifty, and looks after several well-known actors including Michael Caine, Christopher Lee and Emily Mortimer. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Watership Down: the 1978 movie featured the voice of John Hurt
Although development of the Watership Down series is at an early stage, it is thought that the project is being lined up for a family friendly slot, potentially on BBC1. The move is the latest
example of a nostalgic commissioning boom in children’s tele vision and follows the revival of Teletubbies, Danger Mouse, Thunderbirds, Bob The Builder and The Wombles.
The Watership Down novel was written by Richard Adams in 1972. It is set in the south of England and follows a group of rabbits as they are forced to flee their warren and find a new home. Watership Down was turned into an animated feature film in 1978, featuring the voices of John Hurt and Richard Briers. It became famous for its evocative use of Art Garfunkel’s song Bright Eyes. The book has also been made into a children’s television series, which was produced by UK indie Alltime Entertainment and Canada’s Decode Entertainment, for CITV. The series ran for 39 episodes from 1999 to 2001 and was executive produced by Martin Rosen, who also directed the original feature film. 11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 5
News & Analysis
Drama backs Writersroom There are a lot of writers, great stories and talented people – it’s about finding them before they get disillusioned
BY Alexandra Chapman
Drama executives have heralded the BBC Writersroom’s role in fostering new talent amid fears that it could be sidelined as the corporation bids to cut costs. Broadcast spoke to a number of prominent industry figures following the TV Drama Writers’ Festival in London last week, with many highlighting the critical role the unit plays in developing writers for the future. BBC drama controller Ben Stephenson is a strong advocate for the Writersroom, but admitted: “Everything at the BBC will be under question if we get a bad [licence fee] deal next year – that includes the Writersroom.” Former EastEnders writer Tony Jordan said there is “only a limited amount of money for people out there”, but argued it was “the BBC’s duty to help emerging talent”. He added that the TV industry “should be very careful with how we preserve creative people,” and said the Writersroom, which provided a launch pad for In The Flesh creator Dominic Mitchell, guarantees “a point of access to the BBC”.
Tony Jordan, writer
Wolfblood: successful CBBC series is the result of a Writersroom script
“These initiatives really do work,” explained Jordan, who himself was a product of the now defunct BBC Script Unit. “There are a lot of writers, great stories and talented people out there – it’s about finding them before they get disillusioned and go off and do something else.” Writersroom founder Kate Rowland said what “lies at the heart of all great innovating com-
panies is research and development – and the BBC is no different”. She added that the corporation knows her unit “is integral to the lifeblood of talent development”, nurturing writers of drama, comedy and children’s programming across all platforms. But Rowland stressed that the Writersroom must “remain relevant to the changing landscape and serve the creative industry as a
whole, as writers do not work in isolation and constantly move from one platform to another”. The unit was founded in 1999 and deals with 10,000 unsolicited scripts a year. As well as In the Flesh, its success stories include Bafta-winning comedy The Smoking Room and CBBC series MI High and Wolfblood. Elsewhere at the TV Drama Writers’ Festival, Jordan railed against the growth of data-led drama commissioning decisions amid the rise of digital players such as Netflix. “The only chance for a future we have is by starting the process in the creative sector, with no thought of platform, no thought of network, no thought of anything else,” he argued.
Lime set to reveal Hollyoaks killer on SnapChat BY Alex Farber
Lime Pictures is to reveal the climax of a crucial Hollyoaks storyline on SnapChat after building up an audience of 100,000 followers on the photo-messaging app. The HelloHollyoaks profile launched in February and generates more than 1.5 million monthly views, with followers receiving images of the cast, Gifs and humorous memes. The creative team behind the Channel 4 soap now plan to reveal the killer of character Fraser Black via the app hours before the TV show airs. A series of images and messages, along with several spoiler alerts, will be posted on the app from 4pm on 18 July – in line with 6 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
HelloHollyoaks: profile of the soap on SnapChat has 100,000 followers
the standard daily teasers, which are usually distributed ahead of the E4 TX. Lime senior content producer Victoria Lutas said offering
exclusive content was a good way to reward loyal fans. “We wanted to build a buzz ahead of the episode and, among the younger demographic who
follow us on Snapchat, it is really important to be the first to know,” she said. Lutas added that it is vital to use each social media platform in a unique way to ensure you are engaging with fans effectively. “You must have a reason to launch on these platforms and then talk to the audience in an appropriate voice,” she said. “There is so much choice for people that it is important to instil loyalty in fans of the show and make them feel valued.” Hollyoaks, which was shortlisted for two Broadcast Digital Awards this year, has garnered 1.9 million Facebook likes, 325,000 Twitter followers and 100,000 Instagram fans. It has also built a presence on Spotify and Tumblr. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
News & Analysis
CBBC and CBeebies team up One of my ambitions is to do a show that can rival Doctor Who
BY robin Parker
The BBC plans to launch at least two dramas that will air on both CBBC and CBeebies over the next 18 months, and has its eye on a breakout hit that could get a Saturday teatime repeat on BBC1. The channels have dipped their toes in the water of co-commissioning with the series Katie Morag and online game Fly High and Huggy, for which the CBBC site offered more complex levels. Speaking at the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield last week, CBBC controller Cheryl Taylor also revealed that there is evidence of audience overlap between the channels, with CBeebies drama Topsy And Tim occasionally scoring a bigger share of six to 12 year-olds than CBBC in the same slot. “Over the next 18 months, we’re looking at doing two or three drama co-commissions that we hope will give us a sense of whether or not that’s an appropriate way to work, and to encourage people to make that migration,” she said. Drama is a new genre for CBeebies, and controller Kay Benbow
Cheryl Taylor, BBC
Topsy And Tim: pre-school drama is also popular with 6 to 12 year-olds
acknowledged that it has taken time to find the right projects. “Drama is very challenging on our budgets but people are very creative and they partner up,” she said. “Topsy And Tim has been our most successful show of the year. And I felt our audience deserved the sort of Sunday teatime serial I enjoyed as a child and Katie Morag was commissioned to deliver that.” BBC children’s controller Joe Godwin, who has held an ambition
to bring the channels closer together since 2012, said barriers were breaking down between the age groups and that the introduction of more personalisation on iPlayer, through elements such as playlists, would encourage more “fluidity” in viewing. With 11 live-action comedies and dramas in production, scripted commissioning opportunities are scarce at CBBC, but Taylor said there was a gap for “boisterous boy
drama” to counter-balance several female-led pieces. She also revealed her bigger hopes for drama. “One of my ambitions is to do a show that can equal Doctor Who, where the BBC1 controller’s fighting to have it on a Saturday evening,” she said. Elsewhere, CBBC is looking for female comedy duos to front shows and for formats that could sit alongside Marrying Mum And Dad. Benbow wants child-centred factual ideas for CBeebies. Taylor is also in advanced talks with Lion Television about a sixth series of Horrible Histories. “We’re looking at how it might evolve, possibly with additions to the cast,” she said. “It’s got life in it yet.” ➤ Drama tax breaks dominate CMC, page 23
Disney: indies to make all long-form shows BY Robin Parker
Disney is to end in-house prod uction of long-form shows in Europe and has called on indies to pitch live-action, sport and factual entertainment formats. Disney XD football comedy show Goalmouth, its flagship inhouse production, is one brand that will end in its current form after its fourth series. Disney Channels UK & Ireland director of programming Louise Bucknole told the Children’s Media Conference that the show could continue as an indie production, but no decision on its future had been made. Producers including IMG have previously provided items within the magazine-style show. “We want to get the best ideas from independent companies and www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Goalmouth: in-house show set to end in current form after fourth series
making short-form and inter stitials is something we can do inhouse,” Bucknole said last week. “We’re looking at what we want going forwards with sport and fact ent formats for XD, and live-action
sitcom and drama acquisitions for the Disney Channel.” Disney Channel and Disney XD EMEA vice-president of original programming Orion Ross admitted that Goalmouth had
been “really the exception to the rule”, and said he continued to invite pitches for commissions and co-productions. Elsewhere, pre-school brand Disney Junior acquired Wildlife Jack earlier this month. The animated series was created by Baftanominated director Ed Kellie and part-financed through crowdfunding site Kickstarter. The channel struck a deal for the 5 x 7-minute Chris Packhamnarrated series with Kellie’s indie Moon Studio. He and his wife Abi started production on the series last September after securing more than £15,000 through crowd-funding. Wildlife Jack is aimed at preschoolers and features an animated boy who encounters and talks to a series of real animals. 11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 7
Commissioning News
ITV adds to daytime quiz roster The format gives couples the chance to win their wedding present list
BY Matthew Campelli
ITV director of daytime Helen Warner is aiming to boost the broadcaster’s afternoon schedule with the addition of two quizzes, including a format from the indie behind Eggheads. 12 Yard Productions is preparing to launch The Gift List as a 10 x 60-minute series in August, hosted by This Morning’s Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford. The format gives three engaged couples the chance to win their own personalised wedding present list and a dream holiday. To do so, they must work together to beat rival teams through a series of quiz rounds. 12 Yard managing director Andy Culpin will executive produce the series with Michael Mannes and Matt Walton. The Gift List, which has a similar title to 12 Yard’s Rob Brydon-fronted BBC1 panel show The Guess List, was developed by Liz Gaskell and Stefan Iriarte. Culpin said Holmes and Langsford were a “perfect fit for the format”, which will add to the company’s growing slate of
Derbyshire to front current affairs show for BBC News Outgoing BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Victoria Derbyshire (pictured) will join the BBC News channel to front a daily news and current affairs programme. Derbyshire will host the as-yet-untitled show, which will feature interviews, ‘agenda-setting’ discussion and audience debate, as well as news. There are rumours the show could be scheduled against Adam Boulton’s lunchtime Sky News programme Boulton & Co.
BBC2 pilots Bake Off companion series BBC2 is piloting an Apprentice: You’re Fired-style format for 8 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes: couple lined up to host The Gift List
daytime brands. 12 Yard also makes Channel 4’s Coach Trip and BBC1’s Perfection. Earlier this week, ITV announced the Vernon Kayfronted daytime quiz 1,000 Heartbeats from Dan Baldwin’s Hungry Bear Media. The Splash! and All Star Family Fortunes presenter will oversee the 30 x 60-minute series, in which players’ heartbeats are monitored as they compete to win
a cash prize. Contestants start the show with a total of 1,000 ‘heartbeats’ and every beat of their heart reduces their total and pushes them closer to the exit. 1,000 Heartbeats is the second commission for Hungry Bear, which is backed by Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones. It is also co-producing E4 comedy panel show Virtually Famous with Talkback. Both quizzes were ordered by ITV daytime chief Warner, who
The Great British Bake Off. Love Productions recorded a test of the format this week at ITV’s London Studios, with the aim of establishing it as a weekly show. The series will feature a panel of celebrities who look back on the latest Bake Off episode, along with the most recently ejected competitor.
also executive produce alongside BriteSpark’s Nick Godwin.
ITV to shine light on Hatton Garden jewellers Argonon-backed producer Brite Spark Films will lift the lid on the secretive Hatton Garden jewellery trade in an ITV documentary. The 1 x 60-minute Diamond Geezers And Gold Dealers will air later this summer and was ordered by ITV commissioner for factual and daytime Katy Thorogood. She will
C5 brings back doc strands Channel 5 has recommissioned five documentary series in a bid to grow its returning brands. Nine Lives’ Age Gap Love; Touch Productions’ Can’t Pay? We’ll Take It Away!; Flame TV’s The Nightmare Neighbour Next Door; Crackit Productions’ Countdown To Murder and Potato’s Autopsy: The Last Hours Of… are all set to return.
joined the commercial broadcaster in summer 2013. The two commissions add to a growing list of ITV quizzes, including Ejector Seat, The 21st Question and Show Me The Telly, as well as established brands The Chase and Tipping Point. Warner told Broadcast in April she had been tasked with “addressing daytime performance” by director of television Peter Fincham, while chief executive Adam Crozier said previously it was “no secret” that ITV was looking to make changes to its daytime schedule.
For details of all commissions, see
http://greenlight.broadcastnow.co.uk
Made In Chelsea star to front Style Stars for PopGirl UK kids’ channel PopGirl has ordered a makeover show starring Made In Chelsea’s Ashley James (below). In the 12 x 10-minute series Style Stars, James will set teenage girls a series of fashion
Nick Jr orders second run of Lily’s Driftwood Bay Nickelodeon has commissioned a second series of pre-school series Lily’s Driftwood Bay from Belfast indie Sixteen South. The Nick Jr series, which focuses on the magical adventures of Lily, will return for a 52 x 7-minute run. The show features the voices of Stephen Fry, Ardal O’Hanlon and Jane Horrocks, among others.
challenges. It will TX later this summer. The series will be produced by Midnight Oil Productions and executive produced by Gillane Seaborne. Stephanie Wahlstrom commissioned the show for the Sony-owned channel provider CSC Media. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
International News
UKTV snares Del Toro drama Vampire series The Strain will air on Watch as broadcaster eyes further US cable network shows It’s got vampires and everyone likes vampires – it has lots of appeal
BY Peter White
UKTV has captured Guillermo del Toro’s dark drama The Strain after fending off competition from several rivals. The multichannel broadcaster has acquired the series for its general entertainment channel Watch after striking a deal with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. The 13 x 60-minute drama is based on the novel trilogy written by Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy director Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. The latter has also penned novels including Prince Of Thieves, on which Ben Affleck feature film The Town is based. The Strain stars House Of Cards’ Corey Stoll as Dr Ephraim Goodweather, head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York. He is tasked with investigating a mysterious viral outbreak that shares the hallmarks of an evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, Goodweather, his team
Catherine Mackin, UKTV
The Strain: the Guillermo del Toro-penned vampire drama is set in New York
and a group of New Yorkers step in to save humanity from the deadly disease. The Strain also stars Harry Potter’s David Bradley, Twilight actress Mia Maestro and The Goonies and The Lord Of The Rings actor Sean Astin. The series launches in the US later this month on cable network FX and will air in the UK in the
autumn. It is produced by FX Productions, with Lost and Bates Motel showrunner Carlton Cuse executive producing. UKTV director of acquisitions Catherine Mackin said she initially saw the pilot at Fox’s London screenings event in February. “It’s a good, old-fashioned, biological thriller, horror sci-fi. It’s got vam-
pires, and everyone likes vampires – it has lots of broad appeal,” she told Broadcast. Mackin said UKTV is increasingly looking at series from US cable networks, which commission year-round, rather than every May. “All-year-round studio commissioning is good for us. It helps a network like UKTV so we’re not just waiting for May,” she added. This comes after Watch also acquired Brad Pitt-produced fantasy drama Resurrection earlier this week. It struck the deal for the 8 x 60-minute series, which follows a group of people who return to their local community 30 years after their death, with Hollywood studio Disney.
Pioneer to launch global UFO hunt for Nat Geo The stories it’s centred on have all been subject to official investigation
BY Peter White
Pioneer Productions is back on the hunt for UFOs in its latest extra-terrestrial commission from Nat Geo. National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) ordered 8 x 60-minute Invasion Earth from the Tinopolis Group-owned indie behind Secrets Of Britain and Britain’s Most Extreme Weather. The specialist factual documentary series investigates some of the world’s most intriguing UFO sightings, featuring mysterious events in countries from Peru to Australia. The commission comes on the back of UFO Europe: The Untold Stories, which Pioneer produced for Nat Geo last year, garnering audiences of more than 60,000. 10 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
Ed Sayer, NGCI
Invasion Earth: the series investigates UFO sightings from around the world
Pioneer Productions managing director Kirstie McLure said: “That show hit their demo and they came back and said they wanted stories from all over the world.” She added that to create the series, Pioneer has used its background as a science producer and skills developed on forensic films.
The series was commissioned by executive vice-president and head of international content at NGCI Hamish Mykura and commissioning editor Ed Sayer. It will be executive produced by McLure and Pioneer’s Robert Strange. Sayer said it was important to approach the series in a serious
way and ensure it didn’t feature “ludicrous” sightings. “UFOs have been around for time immemorial but what makes this different is that the stories that it’s centred on have all been subject to official investigation, which means there’s some plausibility to these sightings,” he added. The show will launch in the autumn across 171 territories, but Sayer said the channels in each country will have some flexibility over which episodes they prioritise. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
International News
UK indies can ‘learn from US’ Docu-soap space is tough to crack for producers, but US counterparts can show the way We have tried the character-led space and it has proved difficult for lots of reasons
BY ALEX FARBER
British producers could learn valuable lessons about the docu-soap genre from their US counterparts as UK broadcasters struggle to find their own Duck Dynasty, according to an A+E Networks commissioner. Speaking on a factual panel at Broadcast’s Commissioning & Funding Forum last week, Rachel Job, channel editor at A+E Networksowned History and H2, said she had found the space tough to crack. “We have tried the character-led space and it has proved difficult for lots of reasons – partly due to reticence from UK ob-doc producers,” she said. “The British way is to stand back, let the action happen, film the lot and then cut your show. The American way is to semi-script a lot more.” Job added that cultural differences among talent has also hobbled the growth of the genre in the UK. “Delivering semi-scripted lines is really difficult for the
Rachel Job, A+E Networks
Duck Dynasty: character-led shows have proved difficult for UK producers
British because we aren’t used to it, whereas Americans are much more up for it and are schooled to speak clearly,” she said. Jobs has ordered a local remake of hit US reality series Pawn Stars, produced by ITV Studios-owned
Leftfield Pictures, but isn’t sure whether the genre will take off further in the UK. “We have an amazing cast in Pawn Stars UK, but they still struggle with their pieces to camera because they just aren’t used to it,” she added.
Audiences also approach British and US shows in different ways, according to Job. “Viewers are less likely to suspend their disbelief when it comes to British characters,” she said. “When it’s a US show featuring ‘crazy Americans’, people are happier to accept a more heavily produced vibe with more set-ups.” BBC Worldwide genre director of factual entertainment and entertainment Tracy Forsyth agreed that big British characters are tough to find. But she revealed that she is in development on a UK series in the style of The Osbournes for its forthcoming male-skewing BBC Brit channel.
Opinion Brits have upper hand with access docs BY PETER WHITE
If UK indies can learn lessons about the docu-soap genre from their US counterparts, the reverse is true for access documentaries. US cable networks have relied on character-led docu-soaps over the past few years, but there has been saturation in the market and newer series have struggled to replicate the success of Duck Dynasty and Deadliest Catch. Now, broadcasters such as Discovery, Lifetime and A+E Networks are looking for new twists on the genre and British producers are hoping they can replicate the success of UK access docs such as Inside Claridge’s, A Very British Airline and Iceland: Life In The Freezer Cabinet in the US. Imagine if producers – from either the US or UK – could get access to companies like Apple, McDonald’s or Wal-Mart. It’s a tantalising prospect, even if film-makers find it more difficult to gain access to US high-street brands. British indies have started working with UK divisions of major US businesses, such as KFC, the
www.broadcastnow.co.uk
subject of Wild Pictures’ forthcoming three-part BBC1 series. This could help grease the wheels Stateside. One UK producer, which has scored access to another of the world’s biggest fast-food firms for a UK series, told Broadcast they are hopeful that if it’s successful locally, it could be made in the US. “Getting access is the major issue, so if we do a good job, I’m confident we can get it away in the States.” However, there are other issues for US broadcasters, namely advertisers wary of spending money against shows featuring rivals. Studio Lambert boss Stephen Lambert, who convinced major US companies including Hooters and Subway to feature in CBS’s Undercover Boss (pictured), said commissioning access docs is more complicated for US networks. “Great characters tend to be people doing something that isn’t part of a big corporation,” he added. But Lambert argued that if producers can find a way to make these shows long-running, this might change. Given the reputation of British indies in the US and the success of shows such as Wife Swap and Supernanny, the networks are likely to be receptive to ideas.
11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 11
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Multiplatform News
Clients benefit as Base79 and Rightster join forces
IN BRIEF Daniel Heaf exits BBCW BBC Worldwide chief digital officer Daniel Heaf has left the broadcaster’s commercial arm after four years to join fashion label Burberry. Heaf will not be directly replaced and his responsibilities will be spread across his remaining team, each of whom will now report to relevant BBCW executives as the division is merged with the wider organisation.
Barcroft in deal with AOL
Base79: chief content officer Patrick Walker will join Rightster’s executive team as chief commercial officer BY ALEX FARBER
Base79 and Rightster clients including IMG, ITN, Hat Trick Productions and Syco Entertainment are set to benefit from the combined expertise of the two businesses following their £50m tie-up earlier this week. Content producers that work with Base79 to develop their presence on YouTube will be able to tap into Rightster’s online distribution network, which spans publishers Bauer Media, The Guardian and Press Association. Meanwhile, existing Rightster clients will benefit from Base79’s ad sales strength, presence in the US and Spain, and YouTube channel management expertise. “They benefit from the £10m investment we have made in our technology and Base79’s YouTube expertise, so they don’t have to pick between us any more. Instead of compromise in one area, they can get the best of both worlds,” said Rightster chief executive Charlie Muirhead. Rightster announced this week that it is to acquire Base79 for £25m in cash now and a further £25m in 12 months, depending on earn-outs. It also revealed that it www.broadcastnow.co.uk
RIGHTSTER & BASE79 AUDIENCE REACH
1.1bn
Total monthly video views
7,500
Rightster publisher network
2,000
Base79 YouTube channels has snapped up the remainder of ViralSpiral for £4.1m after it bought an initial stake in the online talent management business in 2012. Base79 founder Ashley MacKenzie will step down from his role as chief executive once the sale has been finalised. He will sit on an advisory board, which will also include YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, until the end of the year. Base79’s Patrick Walker, also a former YouTube exec, will join Rightster’s executive team as chief commercial officer. The 250 UK-based staff of the three businesses will move into Rightster’s new offices in Covent Garden, with the Base79 and ViralSpiral brand names being phased out over time. Muirhead said the
deal made the business the “de facto market leader [in the online VoD space] outside of the US”. He added: “People talk a lot about convergence and online video, but the world really has changed – driven by consumption on tablets and connected TVs. “But it’s still quite fragmented, there are a lot of players and there will be a consolidation play as people join forces. We are putting our hands up and playing the role of consolidator because scale is key to success. Volume allows us to deliver a better service to our clients, build a bigger audience and grow our customers’ revenues streams.” Branded content will become an important part of the company’s strategy following the acquisition, with Muirhead expecting to focus on creating original content as advertisers look beyond pre-roll video formats. Rightster’s video traffic grew by almost 50% in the first half of 2014 to 371 million views a month, while Base79 claims to be the largest multichannel network operator outside of the US. Rightster raised £20m after floating on Aim in November last year and announced its intentions to expand aggressively.
Barcroft Media has inked a short-form content distribution deal with AOL On as it bids to break the 1 billion views barrier in the next year. The factual producer’s content will be available via the online platform, which offers around 900,000 videos. Barcroft TV has more than 500,000 YouTube subscribers, and clips like SkyVets, The Man Who Swims With A Polar Bear (pictured) and Flying Lion have generated more than 100 million views between them.
Wall to Wall in web tie-in Wall to Wall Television has partnered with genealogy service Findmypast to launch a Who Do You Think You Are? website. The commercial service, launched as the BBC1 series celebrates its 10th anniversary, will allow users to chart their own family history. The service, dubbed Who Do You Think You Are? Story, is due to launch in the next few weeks.
STV Player adds live feed STV has launched a livestreaming service on its STV Player that supports real-time, dynamic adverts. The STV Watch Live service is available online and via mobile and tablet devices. The ad-insertion technology has been developed by Yospace and Videoplaza, and enables the commercial broadcaster to target its viewers more effectively.
For the latest breaking news www.broadcastnow.co.uk 11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 13
Technology & Facilities Creative review
24: Live Another Day
The Million Pound Drop
Boj
VFX Milk Client TCFTV Productions Brief Provide VFX, including the explosion and sinking of an aircraft carrier, for the 10th episode of the new series. How it was done As well as creating CG drones that chase Jack Bauer through London and blood enhancement for action scenes, Milk built and lit a CG aircraft carrier and created CG water for the ocean and the explosion in the sequence. One of the main challenges was creating ambitious effects within an extremely tight timeframe. Sara Bennett was VFX supervisor, Nicolas Hernandez was CG supervisor, Dom Alderson lead technical director and Srikalyan Tallapragada technical director. Joe Tarrant was animator and Neil Alford 2D lead. Nick Drew was VFX executive producer and Natalie Reid VFX producer. Equipment included Maya, Arnold, Houdini and Nuke. Watch it Wednesdays, 9pm, Sky 1
Post Evolutions Client Remarkable Television Brief Provide location recording services and postproduction for the seventh series of the quiz show. How it was done To maintain the energy and charge of previous live shows, it was essential that the record be as near to a straight run as possible, but for speed and to maintain flexibility in post, comprehensive recording of all cameras and audio was required. Evolutions’ studio record system Luther offered the means to record eight camera feeds, a stereo mix and 36 ISO audio feeds for the three-hour record of eight shows across three days. The instant access to multi-tracks, including all ISO audio feeds and mixes, provided flexibility and saved time in the edit. Adrian Bell was ingest supervisor, Alex Everitt lead location engineer, David Frisby online editor and Nerys Richards dubbing mixer. Watch it Friday, 8pm, C4
Animation Bait Studio/Cloth Cat Animation Client Pesky Productions for CBeebies/S4C Brief Pre-production, editing and online for the 52-episode, 2D animation project. How it was done Head of animation development Adam Bailey was responsible for the layout and ensured that the transition from storyboard to animation was as smooth as possible. 2D software CelAction was used for the project, which allowed the animators to concentrate on character animation without worrying about the process, and helped the team turn the project around quickly and to a high quality. The programme was edited in Final Cut. The production was based over three sites: Bait/Clothcat in Cardiff, Pesky in Lewes, and animator Kavaleer in Dublin. Director of animation Ben Cawthorne co-ordinated the sites to make the co-pro work “seamlessly”. Watch it Fridays, 3.55pm, CBeebies
You can view clips at broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils/creative-review To include your work email george.bevir@broadcastnow.co.uk
Dominic Moore joins Clear Cut graphics team Dominic Moore (below) has joined Clear Cut Pictures’ graphics team as senior designer and 3D artist. Previously head of animation at Elastic Pictures, Moore has overseen the creation of graphics packages for broadcast clients including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Food Network and the Military Channel. He will join the former Station Post team as Clear Cut aims to expand its broadcast graphics capacity. Clear Cut acquired Station Post in March.
Silverglade Post boosts Avid Isis storage by 128TB Silverglade Post has installed another 128TB of Avid Isis storage, 14 | Broadcast |11 July 2014
taking its total storage capacity to 256TB for 15 HD offline editing suites. The kit was sourced and installed by Root6. Silverglade has also upgraded its grading suite to Baselight version 4.4.
Prime Focus in MediaWorks deal Prime Focus has taken on the facilities and studios business of India-based Reliance MediaWorks, which in turn has paid around £12m for a 30.2% stake in the group. The deal, which follows Prime Focus’ acquisition of Soho VFX firm Double Negative, gives the combined entity a presence in 20 locations, including the UK, India, the US, Canada, Singapore and Beijing, plus a workforce of 5,500.
EditShare updates Storage system to version seven EditShare has released version seven of its EditShare Storage platform, which is built on the latest Linux kernel. The company has also released v3.1 of media asset management system Flow. It includes Advanced Authoring Format support, which allows for the management of metadata created in Avid and individual file restoration, and offers the ability to create an instant proxy version of a sequence.
Atlantic and Zoo launch virtual reality offshoot Atlantic Productions and its VFX studio Zoo have launched virtual reality content firm Alchemy VR. Alchemy will create educational, non-fiction content for virtual reality platforms through liveaction 3D, 360-degree videos and “fully immersive” CGI worlds. It has already begun developing a David
Attenborough-fronted project (pictured) for platforms such as Oculus Rift and Sony Morpheus.
Mirada to raise £3.5m to bolster OTT positioning AIM-listed Mirada is to raise approximately £3.5m through the placement of 28 million shares. The London-based firm, whose products include TVanywhere proposition Iris and synchronisation tool XPlayer, said the funds would be used to strengthen the company’s position within the “rapidly growing” overthe-top market. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
For the latest technology and facilities news, updated daily, visit www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils
Quantel takes on EVS in live replay market BY George bevir
Quantel is preparing to launch a live studio highlights system by the end of the year. Quantel and recent acquisition Snell are working on combining their product sets, but chief executive Ray Cross said the company was also keen to develop more tools to service live productions, with the outside broadcast market one of the areas that could be addressed by the as-yet-unnamed highlights system. Quantel expects to demonstrate a control panel for the system at IBC in September, ahead of a wider launch later this year. The move will put Quantel into direct competition with EVS and its LSM software and remote controller, which dominates the live replay market. Cross described the panel as “the start of a wider product set”. He said: “It’s down to customer demand. They feel a bit captive and they want us to address their needs.” Customer feedback from the various iterations of Quantel’s LiveTouch system will be incorpo-
Quantel: company is keen to develop more tools to service live productions
rated into the highlights system. LiveTouch, which allows users to cut highlights and play out from a single workstation, was first touted at IBC in 2011 as part of the company’s Filespeed software for its Enterprise SQ news and sport production system. It has been developed with US sport broadcaster Fox Sports Media, which uses the software in conjunction with Quantel’s sQ View and sQ Edit systems. “Customers want to be able to control any port across any
number of servers,” said Cross. “So the ability to use a highlights system across a business and not just in one location is important. Also, once a clip has been produced, it is useful if it is available instantly anywhere on an organisation’s network. That will provide a lot of the advantages that Quantel’s SQ brings, but on a wider basis.” “Quite a few [broadcasters] want to take a beta version of the panel, which will be ready around September time,” Cross added.
BBC to assess case for centralising regional TV kit The BBC is to consider centralising some of the equipment and infrastructure used by its regional TV stations following a similar move in radio. Last week, the broadcaster announced that BBC Radio Northampton will be the first of four stations to shift equipment for storing, streaming, mixing and processing audio files to remote data centres in London and Birmingham as part of its Virtual Local Radio (ViLoR) initiative. Project director Geoff Woolf suggested that “ViLoR for TV” could be the next step. He said: “It is something we will look at later this year, but you have to bear in mind that it took four years to get radio to this point, so it is likely to be a similar time for proof of concept for regional TV. “Radio is always years ahead of the rest of the industry; network capacity, technology and products [for TV] are just not there yet,” he added. It is hoped that ViLoR will substantially reduce the cost and time needed to upgrade the BBC’s 39 local radio stations, which are scattered around the country. Woolf estimates that for the cost of upgrading two conventional radio stations, four ViLoR stations could be built.
Gorilla gears up to expand with Cardiff Bay facility BY George Bevir
Gorilla Group is expanding with the addition of a 40-edit suite facility at Cardiff Bay. The Cardiff-based post-production company has started equipping the premises at the GloWorks creative industries centre, which it hopes to open by September. ITV’s recent exit from Culverhouse Cross provided the impetus for the move and Gorilla intends to vacate its premises at the facility by the end of July. It will retain its Cathedral Road and Penarth Road facilities, along with its presence in Soho via The Joint, which it acquired last year. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
We need to service more of the kind of productions that often need eight or nine suites Rich Moss, Gorilla
GT Academy: series will be first project for Gorilla at new GloWorks base
“[GloWorks] started off as an attempt at consolidation but has ended up being an expansion,” said Gorilla managing director Rich Moss. “We need to service more of
the kind of productions that often need eight or nine suites. We also need a 24/7 working environment.” As well as an eight-bay server room, a Baselight grading suite
and 5.1 dubbing suites, the facility will be Gorilla’s centre for AS-11 file delivery, with dedicated space and kit for QC reviews. The first project to be based at Gorilla’s GloWorks base will be reality series GT Academy, from early September. 11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 15
NOW OPEN FOR ENTRIES Broadcast TECH is on the hunt for the most talented under 30s working with technology.
We’re looking for nominations for the brightest stars, with a proven track record of ambition and success. The winners will be invited to a prize-giving ceremony on 5 November and celebrated in the
7 November issue of Broadcast TECH. If your peers, staff or freelancers have been producing outstanding work over the past 12 months, now is your chance to show your appreciation.
2014 categories ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
VFX ENGINEER RUNNER SOUND - POST EDITOR CAMERA OPERATOR/GRIP SOUND - PRODUCTION COLOURIST PRODUCER WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY
Entry deadline 7 August 2014 Email Jane.Maguire@mb-insight.com or visit bit.ly/BTYTAform now to request your entry form NB: nominees must be under 30 on 5 November 2014
AWARDS NIGHT, 5 NOVEMBER 2014, LONDON
AS PART OF THE BROADCAST PRODUCTION & POST FORUM
Last year’s winners WITH THANKS TO 2013 SPONSORS
PRODUCER
RUNNER
Production Base Supported by
James Emtage Telegraph Hill
EDITOR
Geraint ‘Geggs’ Abbott Telegraph Hill
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT
Sarah Thornley BSkyB
COLOURIST
Robert Bates Sequence Post
VFX
Jason Brown Milk
CAMERA OPERATOR
Robbie Pettigrew Atlantic Productions
SOUND PRODUCTION
James ‘JJ’ Benson Freelance
*Accepted on behalf of Duncan by David Dowling, Ross Video (pictured)
Jack Whitney 5A Studios
WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY
Helen Strous LipSync
ENGINEER
Duncan Parker *
BBC Natural History Unit
SOUND POST
Nicholas Ashe Molinare
Comment
Vast newsrooms with fancy sofas feel empty if there’s not enough journalism to fill them Ben De Pear, News Editor Interview, page 20
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News for the news avoiders It’s vital that TV news reaches all, says Cristina Nicolotti Squires
W
hen I was appointed editor of 5 News in November last year, one of my first tasks was to create a mission statement for the team. What was 5 News about? What made it different from the other TV news shows? Over pizza and beer in the top-floor boardroom, each member of the team wrote down in one sentence what they thought 5 News stood for. A memorable one read: “We make the news for people who just aren’t that into news.” Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards was not there that night, but his comments to MPs last week demonstrate that he totally understands what 5 News is about. He told the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee: “Their news is absolutely well worth having. It helps with the plurality of news and it typically reaches a demographic of people who other news programmes do not reach – you will find people watching the news on Channel 5 who may not know what time Newsnight is on.” His words were music to my ears, partly because my second task as editor is to get more attention for what 5 News is achieving every day. We are the first TV news show of the evening. Our audience share is up there with, and often beyond, those of some of our competitors. Our viewers are more female, and more bluecollar, than those of any other news show. And they are more likely to live outside London. They are voters, they are supermarket shoppers. They have bank accounts. Our audience are consumers – and they listen to us.
This is something spin doctors, campaigners and PRs are starting to recognise. On the day he announced measures to tackle the housing bubble, for example, the governor of the Bank of England chose to give two interviews: one to the BBC’s Robert Peston and one to 5 News presenter Emma Crosby (pictured). So as the news service that gets to the audiences others don’t reach, what exactly is 5 News about? We’re a small team of friendly faces that our viewers trust to tell them all they need to know about what’s happening in the world. We focus on domestic stories about the things that affect our viewers: consumer issues, health news, the cost of living, childcare and showbusiness. But when a story abroad is important to them, we cover that too – whether it’s the plight of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Harem, or Prince George on his first royal tour. We work hard to make our reports distinctive and different. We lead our programmes with the stories that are the best telly – not the ones that lead everyone else’s running orders. We may not be the brand of choice for the chattering classes, but we’re proud of who we are, and of who our audience is too. We ask the questions they want answers to – rather than the ones that make us look clever – and we don’t take no for an answer. We’re 5 News. Give us a try. You might be surprised. And you won’t have to stay up late. ➤ Cristina Nicolotti Squires is editor of Channel 5 News
‘Our viewers are more female, and more blue-collar, than those of any other news show’
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British TV has much to gain Bringing the news archives from closer ties with Israel to high streets everywhere Israeli TV is a rich source of personal and political subject matter, says Ruth Lev Ari
A new initiative could become a revenue source for broadcasters, says Kay Hutchison
L
I
srael is far more multicultural than it is usually perceived to be, and all those cultures are embraced as mainstream. We enjoy our cultural contradictions, and our film and television makers explore them honestly in their work. In the past few years, the international market seems to have found us intriguing, and we are tailoring our approach accordingly, considering other points of view, other screens and other perspectives. Our political heritage crosses paths with Britain, and our contemporary social and political state often triggers espionage and action opportunities such as Homeland. We recently held our annual Seret Industry Day in London to get closer to the UK film and TV industry in a casual yet professional environment. It was intimate, warm and friendly, yet very professional. The UK film-makers showed their interest in the Israeli artists who told their stories and presented their ideas. Advice was offered and the discussion was empowering and practical. The British producers who came along were actively looking to find opportunities for future collaborations with film and television makers from Israel. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
‘We are tailoring our approach to the various markets, considering other points of view’ Joe Oppenheimer of BBC Films is talking to Hunting Elephants director Reshef Levy, who has built a reputation as one of the sharpest comedy talents in Israel. Meanwhile, Katrina Wood and Sylvie Page of MediaExchange are talking with director Tom Shovaling about future collaborations. Amos Gitai, an Israeli film-maker with more than 80 films and documentaries to his credit, was one of our presenters. He described how the landscape for TV and film production in Israel has changed, allowing the possibility to cooperate with partners in the UK, Holland and France. Hostages producer Chaim Sharir said that Israel is a “greenhouse for creativity”, with more film schools per capita than any other country in the world. For me personally, this was a day that will hopefully deepen and widen our UK liaisons. ➤ Ruth Lev Ari is an Israeli writer/ producer and organised the SERET Industry Day For a longer version of this article, visit www.broadcastnow.co.uk
about what to do on a wet Sunday in Greenock and the Queen Mary’s first voyage down the Clyde. This unique film collection has been brought together from the libraries of STV, the BBC, ITN Source, Scottish Screen Archive, National Library of Scotland, Getty Images, the British Council and a number of film distributors. To encourage more active participation in the community, access to these services is ‘paid for’ with special ‘Poppins coins’ – free plastic tokens fitted with technol-
‘The shop is over coming the intimi dation many feel when faced with new technology’ ogy that gathers anonymous data to give an insight into how and where they are ‘spent’. The shop is overcoming the intimidation many can feel when faced with new technology and it also offers broadcasters an entirely new way of allowing public access to their massive libraries of footage and, for some, a potential new revenue source. ➤ Kay Hutchison is managing director of Belle Media For a longer version of this article, visit www.broadcastnow.co.uk ITN Source
Homeland: US remake of the Israeli drama was a big hit for C4 in the UK
ast month in a Scottish town, a new scheme was launched that could help bring broadcasters’ vast libraries to the high street. In a shopping centre in Greenock, a town 25 miles west of Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde, a new store has opened. From the outside, Poppins looks much like any other shop, but upon entering, customers find themselves somewhere that’s part hi-tech hub, part centre for local living history. Poppins is a three-month pilot project created by Belle Media on behalf of the Technology Strategy Board, the UK’s innovation agency. It is part of the board’s wider initiative The Long-Term Care Revolution, which is exploring innovative approaches to tackle the challenges created by an ageing UK population. Poppins’ role is threefold: to get the ‘digitally-excluded’ more engaged with new technology (more than 5 million pensioners have never been online); to promote more interaction between generations; and to combat isolation. The ‘Inverclyde Player’ is a library of more than 300 handpicked video clips, many about the surrounding area and the era in which the older generation grew up. Clips include a 1960s film
From the archive: Poppins’ Inverclyde Player offers more than 300 clips 11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 19
News Editor Interview Ben de pear managing editor, Channel 4 news
standard-bearer for diversity The managing editor of Channel 4 News speaks to Lis Howell about increasing the number of women experts on the flagship news show – and leading the way on BAME representation How do Channel 4 News’ style and values distinguish it from other flagship news programmes? We try to give the best, most intelligent and revelatory take on the day’s news, as well as providing stories, guests and angles that no one else has. In addition to reporting the news of the day, original and exclusive journalism is a key part of our programme. You often lead on stories that are not on the standard news agenda of the day – on 19 May, for example, you led with an in-depth report on children living in abandoned ventilation shafts in Bucharest. How successful is this in rating terms? A story like that built the audience during a crucially challenging time for us – 7pm – when we are up against the soaps and The One Show. In the UK and abroad, the film was watched by more than 1 million people in three days, as well as attracting widespread media coverage from the Daily Mail to the Washington Post. The ratio of male to female experts on Channel 4 News is the same as the other flagship programmes. But you have a format that would lend itself to more female interviewees because it is studio based – and therefore more easily controlled. Could you do better? The Broadcast campaign has been an amazing success – we were one of the programmes that always tried to have balance but probably weren’t trying hard enough. We have significantly improved our ratio, and it is something of which we are very aware. We’ve now got regular women experts we are returning to and the numbers can only go in one direction.
‘We’ve now got regular women experts we are returning to and the numbers can only go in one direction’ Ben De Pear
Below: C4 News presenter Cathy Newman; correspondent Jamal Osman reports from Somalia
You have twice as many male as female reporters – a good ratio compared with many of your rivals. But in the weeks we monitored, your ratio of male to female presenters was 4:1. Do you plan to use your female presenters more? We now have five presenters – two of whom are women. Because of the nature of the programme – strong, original journalism – all of our presenters do an enormous amount of reporting as well. It’s what gives them such authenticity. Ratio of male to Jon Snow was the female presenters only British journalist on C4 News in the week monitored accredited for the Iranian elections last year – he went as a reporter/anchor. a huge effort to represent Krishnan Guru-Murthy has the various minorities in the just made a remarkably moving UK and we have led the way in Unreported World on the lack of pain getting native voices heard around relief for children with cancer in the world. For two years now, we Senegal. Matt Frei is also our Europe have had British Somali journalist editor – his reporting from Ukraine Jamal Osman reporting on Africa; has been outstanding this year. and Peruvian Guillermo Galdos Last year, Cathy Newman broke reports on Latin America. There is the Lord Rennard scandal, one of no beating their access or authenticity the biggest domestic stories of the on either continent.
4:1
Do you believe Channel 4 News does a fair job of representing British BAME contributors and journalists? We probably have the most diverse representation of any national news programme in the UK. We make 20 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
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EXPERT WOMEN
CAMPAIGN TAX BREAK
CAMPAIGN we’re the only programme that has done a series on being gay in Russia, a studio debate about skin-lightening creams, infiltrated an Al-Shabaab training camp, and covered the death of the English countryside. Have you retained your audience in the light of falling ratings for Channel 4? Our share increased year-on-year in the first quarter, although the numbers have since gone down slightly. Like other news and current affairs programmes, we are thinking hard about the opportunities the digital revolution brings. Our online growth, especially of standout pieces, is exponential.
C4 News: Jackie Long (centre) hosts a debate with UKIP’s Sanya-Jeet Thandi (left) and musician Awate
year, as well as a plethora of others (there will be more this year too). And Jackie Long, our newest presenter, is also our social affairs editor. She’s done a range of outside broadcasts, from Stoke during the Davos conference, to an East End mosque for a debate on the niqab. When she presents, she brings an encyclopaedic knowledge of British society – not of the Debretts variety but the one all around us.
‘Jackie Long brings an encyclo paedic knowledge of British society’ Ben De Pear
It’s been said that your target audience is upper-middle-class men who live in the Home Counties and work in the City. Is that fair? If that was the case, Channel 4 News would have a very different agenda. Our split is pretty much 50/50 men and women, but BAMEs make up 23% of our audience, and 20% are aged between 16 and 34. We have perhaps the most diverse audience in Britain, which is why
The programme has had the same feel for some time now, following a revamp a few years ago. What are your plans for the future? Channel 4 News should feel like it is holding the powerful to account, revealing exclusive, passionate stories that enthral and appal, informing its audience about things that no one else is – in essence, setting the agenda. If that’s how the programme still feels 30 years after its inception, then we’re all comfortable with that. Fancy sofas, mountainous, panoramic video walls or huge billion-pound buildings with vast and spacious newsrooms feel empty if there’s not enough journalism to fill them.
how they fared Expert Women ratios, May 2014 In a week when the key stories were the abduction of 100 girls in Nigeria and alleged discrimination against girls in Birmingham schools, we had a big difference in the number of women experts used on UK flagship programmes. This time (12 to 16 May), we measured Sky’s Sunrise programme (pictured, right) instead of one of the evening shows. The ratio was pretty good: 3:1 male to female experts. Even so, there were big discrepancies between the days, for no obvious reason: on Friday 16 May it was 9:1, yet on Monday 12 May it was 4:3. Channel 4 News also came out at 3:1 but was very uneven. On Monday 12 May, it had a staggering 17 male experts and two females. The stories of the day included a
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Sunrise 3:1 Channel 4 News 3:1 Today 4:1 BBC News At 10 4:1 ITV News At 10 6:1
piece on the Labour pledge to GPs (no women) and the issue of the coalition friction over education (again, no women). These are hardly male-dominated subjects, but it is often politics that lets the side down. Later in the week, C4 News did better with interviews with treasury
secretary Nicky Morgan; former UKIP poster-girl Sanya-Jeet Thandi (main photo, above); and Alexandra Swann of UKIP youth wing Young Independence. Radio 4’s Today programme fell back slightly to 4:1 men to women. This month, we measured 7am-8am rather than 6am-7am. There doesn’t seem to be a significant difference between the average of the two hours overall, but it’s worth following this pattern to see if the more popular listening hour has more or fewer male experts.
On BBC News At Ten, the ratio was also 4:1. This shows no improvement over two years and that really isn’t good enough. But disaster of the month was ITV News At Ten, with a ratio of 6:1 male experts to females. That is as bad as Today was in the days when we threw our porridge at the radio. Come on ITV – this I not what Robin Elias was talking about when we spoke recently. Even looking at this month’s success story, what we find is that Sky’s Sunrise has more women experts on air, possibly because like all breakfast TV, it traditionally attracts more female viewers. But when men watch Sky News in bigger numbers in the evening, we get more male experts. So that makes for ‘his and hers’ news. Hmm.
11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 21
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Tax cut momentum builds Delegates at this year’s Children’s Media Conference were united in their endorsement of Pact’s campaign to extend tax breaks to live-action kids’ shows. Robin Parker reports
T
he mood at this year’s Children’s Media Conference was notably upbeat, with commissioners from Cardiff to Turkey talking up opportunities, a rousing keynote from children’s poet laureate Malorie Blackman and Moshi Monsters creator Michael Acton Smith launching his kids’ social media app PopJam. But dominating the agenda was the formal launch of Pact’s campaign for tax breaks for live-action children’s shows. Chief executive John McVay made the case from the lectern and stirred the crowd to action with characteristic passion. However, he urged producers not to start bombarding their MPs with petitions just yet. Blue Zoo co-founder Oli Hyatt, who received an MBE for securing animation tax breaks, was among those keen to hit hard. But, hinting at the delicate nature of the negotiations with George Osborne, McVay asked producers to wait until after he has met with the chancellor later this month. “We’re pushing on a door that’s certainly more than half open and the chancellor understands why the creative industries are so important,” he said. “For the Treasury, it’s not a cultural issue but a straight numbers game. Let’s do him the courtesy of meeting him and presenting our report. If George doesn’t go for it, we’ll ramp it up.” Pact is hoping for an extension of tax breaks – which currently apply to animation, high-end drama and film – to be mentioned in the chancellor’s pre-Budget announcement in November and formally introduced next year. The government wants to see evidence of market failure and McVay is arguing that the BBC’s monopsony on kids’ live-action programming is key. “They hold the main investment, albeit with a reduced budget,” he said. Last week, McVay met with Doctor Who lead writer Steven Moffat, who told him: “Kids’ TV is a place where much of the talent world get their training. It’s not just about the money, but about establishing world-class skills in a global business.” Moffat got his break creating ITV’s Press Gang, www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Katie Morag: live-action drama for CBeebies
‘Tax breaks would enable the quality threshold to go up. It just gives you that bit more flexibility’ Kay Benbow, CBeebies
while his predecessor on Doctor Who, Russell T Davies, wrote for shows such as Children’s Ward. For many producers and broad casters, the case was clear: securing 20% of funding via tax breaks rather than piecing together a patchwork of co-funders would be a huge relief. “We work with a lot of talented, passionate, industrious people,” said CBBC controller Cheryl Taylor. “If they don’t have to spend a huge amount of their time chasing funding, they can be even more creative and industrious.”
Pre-school drama The BBC has ambitions for more liveaction drama on CBeebies, which only recently dipped into the genre with Katie Morag and Topsy And Tim (left). This will include co-commissions with CBBC. “Tax breaks would enable the quality threshold to go up,” said CBeebies controller Kay Benbow. “It gives you that bit more flexibility, rather than working on the tightest pos sible schedule. It
would enable us to do more, particularly on CBeebies, where budgets are smaller. There’s a huge appetite for it and our audience deserves it.” For both Darrall Macqueen director Billy Macqueen, who is looking to top up funding for series two of Topsy And Tim, and Val Ames, director of production at Kindle Entertainment, it’s not just a matter of competing internationally, but ensuring live action can hold its own domestically too. “Internally, it’s not a level playing field,” said Ames. “With more dramas coming over here, the rate cards have gone up – we find grips who won’t work for less than £300 a day now. It’s such an outlay that any hope of a profit comes a long way down the line.” Cost pressures have forced Serious Lunch chief executive Genevieve Dexter to make upcoming CITV series Horrible Science 10 parts rather than 13, despite the limits that puts on international distribution. If Pact wins Osborne over, almost all UK children’s programming will be eligible for tax breaks. For Mike Watts, chief executive of Novel Entertainment, the case is clear: “This is the next step in securing the future of kids’ television. It’s not the solution, but it’s the evolution.” 11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 23
Behind the Scenes Royal Marines Commando School
Mud, sweat and privates on parade We set out to make a series that tells us something about a generation of young men, not just their military training, says Hamish Fergusson Hamish Fergusson Producer/director
O
ver the past decade, the Royal Marines have been at the forefront of the bloodiest fighting that Britain has seen since the Second World War. But many of those who served on the frontline in Iraq and Afghanistan are now back at a training camp in Lympstone, Devon, which is moulding a new generation of recruits into commandos. From initial conversations with the Ministry of Defence in January 2013 through to shooting this year, it’s taken nearly 18 months of close co-operation between Twofour, Channel 4 and the Royal Marines to make this series. Its focus is on the battle-hardened soldiers now back in Britain as instructors, and on their trainees – the raw recruits who turn up at Lympstone at a rate of 50 or more a fortnight. These young men, aged between 16 and 33, turn up at the camp’s tiny train station as civilians, carrying sports bags and wearing crumpled suits, full of fear and ambition. They have travelled from every corner of Britain and beyond, all fixated on earning the iconic green beret. Less than half will pass every test on their first attempt and only around twothirds will ever become marines. Royal Marine recruits have been filmed in the past but we saw an opportunity to make a series with a new sense of scale, covering four ‘troops’ of recruits spanning the full
24 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
32 weeks of training across eight films, and with unprecedented intimacy. This would be achieved by using fixed-rig cameras to capture the camp’s domestic life for the first time, behind the previously closed doors of the dormitories and training team offices. Our first challenge was deciding which of the 850 recruits and serving marines to focus on, then getting to know them. The key was to quickly narrow down a potential cast of characters and build the relationships that would allow us to follow them through the tough times (of which there were quite a few) as well as the good. Much of the drama of training – the mud, sweat and pass-or-fail tests – takes place outdoors, so filming recruits on field exercises was crucial. But it was clear that the most precious insights into their personal experiences would be found in the dormitories. So the series became a hybrid – with a full fixed rig of almost 50 cameras in the recruits’ living quarters and the training team offices, and traditional two-camera directing teams embedded with them whenever they were out and about. The demands of covering large numbers of recruits in such varied environments threw up budgetary concerns. We found savings by rotating the 50 fixed-rig cameras across a much larger number of camera positions, and by going ‘dark’ for a week mid-schedule when the fixed rig wasn’t operated. As a typical recruit’s day lasts from 5am to 11pm, we ran a flexible shift pattern. This meant being conscious of evolving storylines and having a
‘Royal Marine recruits have been filmed in the past but we saw an opportunity to make a series with a new sense of scale’ Hamish Fergusson
Royal Marines Commando School
Production company Twofour Length 8 x 60 minutes TX 9pm, Mondays, from 14 July, Channel 4 Commissioners Amy Flanagan; Nick Mirsky Series producer/directors Grace Reynolds; Alex Kohler Executive producers David Clews; Dan Adamson; Andrew Mackenzie Senior producer/director Hamish Fergusson Post-house Evolutions Fixed-rig facilities Mini cams Summary Fixed-rig series following Royal Marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan as they take new recruits through their paces.
Hamish Fergusson My tricks of the trade n Take as much time as possible to
develop relationships and plan in detail before filming starts. n On a fixed-rig show with a large cast, sound is a big challenge. Use as many radio mics as possible and make sure there is good ambient coverage. n You can’t be hands-off filming fixed rig. Having PDs and APs on the ground to develop storylines and relationships is really important. n ‘Pod’ interviews during filming help capture the immediacy of the moment.
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highly adaptable team. First in line for battle honours would be our mobile shooting teams, who followed the recruits out into the harshest Devon winter in 250 years. It was a physically hard shoot in many other ways too, but equally important were the softer skills it required. Intimate access had to be nurtured through moments of real personal hardship and the occasional crisis. Also essential were the interviews that run through the series, shot in an on-site ‘pod’. This personal testimony delves into the backstory of recruits and carries the narrative of each episode. Plus, the insights of the serving marines instructing the recruits offer a sense of the future that awaits them. Training usually lasts less than a year, but for the recruits it is almost always the defining experience of their lives. Despite the extraordinary tasks they undertake at Lympstone, they are a refreshingly ordinary cross-section of people and our big aim was to make a series that could tell us something about a generation of young men rather than just military training. Finding universal themes in their experiences, relationships and aspirations was key to making their stories accessible to a broad audience. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Clockwise from top left: filming the passing out parade for 169 troop; training in the mud; Twofour operations room
RM CoMMando sChool FiXed-RiG FilMinG Rick Horne Head of broadcast facilities, Twofour
Every fixed-rig show has its own set of difficulties. But one of the most satisfying elements of any such production is solving the technical puzzle that a new location and cast can bring. The Royal Marine training camp was as challenging as they come. Almost 75 robotic camera positions needed to be fixed, with 20km of cabling connecting them to the eyes of the crew. Matching the military precision and pace of the recruits to ensure we caused minimal disturbance was no mean feat. And you couldn’t keep a marine in his dorm: the recruits’ schedules were diverse and spread across numerous blocks and outdoor spaces. We settled on a mobile rig, with 50 cameras covering 100 positions. During six weeks of filming, we would move the cameras every few days. Each move was carefully planned to ensure we were filming in the right location as quickly as possible.
Excel spreadsheets, diary cross-checking, colour-coding and a complex alpha-numerical numbering system for camera positions kept us on track. The web of cameras was complemented by 20 radio mics, which were carefully switched between the marines, to give us as much flexibility as possible. But the marines’ steady stream of uniform changes meant often relying on the ambient FX mics to pick up useable sound. These too were mobile, and repatched whenever we changed positions. The technical infrastructure was designed to be flexible and dynamic, so we could react quickly to the everchanging, fast-paced and fascinating world of the Royal Marines recruits.
11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 25
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11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 27
Ratings Mon 30 June – Sun 6 July
BBC1 finds Common touch Jimmy McGovern drama and Sunday stalwart Countryfile are bright spots in a football-heavy week BY Stephen Price
The expressions were transfixed. Silent prayers were offered to the heavens. Surely it couldn’t happen; not now. Not after all this planning. It was literally unthinkable. Someone had leaked Doctor Who. And judging by the fear in the eyes of the Brazilians in the crowd on Friday, some of them had read it. Meanwhile, in a sport-festooned week, BBC1 delivered a dose of drama on Sunday. The best non-peak sporting spectacle of the week was Wimbledon 2014: Men’s Final on BBC1 from 1.50pm on Sunday with 5.9 million/39%, peaking at 10 million/55% at 6pm. The best World Cup afternoon match was Friday’s France V Germany clash, which averaged 5.2 million/34% on BBC1 from 4.30pm, peaking with 8.1 million/43% at 6.50pm. ITV’s Coronation Street was Monday’s best performer with 6.2 million/31% (200,000 +1) at 7pm for an hour. From 8.30pm, ITV’s coverage of Germany V Algeria averaged 6.3 million/34% (22,000 +1), with a peak of 9.2 million/50% at 10.45pm. Opposite, following EastEnders’ 6.2 million/29% at 8pm, BBC1’s Holby City achieved 3.7 million/16% at 8.30pm, while a repeat of Mrs Brown’s Boys got 3.2 million/14% at 9.30pm. On Tuesday, BBC1’s back-toback matches began with 4.4 million/31% for Argentina V Switzerland from 4.30pm. After BBC News (5 million/28% at 7.45pm), Belgium V USA averaged 7.1 million/40% from 8.30pm, with a peak of 8.6 million/39% at 9.40pm. Opposite, 28 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
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 24 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 36 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Broadcaster/ Producer*
MOTD Live: Netherlands V Costa Rica World Cup 2014 Live: Brazil V Colombia MOTD Live: Belgium V USA Countryfile Coronation Street Coronation Street Coronation Street BBC News World Cup 2014 Live: Germany V Algeria EastEnders Coronation Street Wimbledon 2014: Men’s Final EastEnders Emmerdale Emmerdale EastEnders Emmerdale MOTD Live: France V Germany Casualty BBC News BBC News At Ten Emmerdale Emmerdale World Cup 2014: Argentina V Belgium MOTD Live: Argentina V Switzerland Common BBC News At Six BBC News At Ten BBC News At Six Watchdog Celebrity MasterChef MOTD Live: France V Nigeria ITV News & Weather Holby City BBC News Celebrity MasterChef BBC News At Six Celebrity MasterChef All Star Mr & Mrs BBC News At Ten ITV News & Weather Tipping Point: Lucky Stars BBC News At Six ITV News & Weather ITV News & Weather Mrs Brown’s Boys ITV News & Weather The One Show Inside Asprey: Luxury By Royal Appointment Formula 1: The British Grand Prix
Sat Fri Tue Sun Wed Mon Fri Sun Mon Mon Thu Sun Fri Thu Fri Thu Wed Fri Sun Tue Wed Thu Tue Sat Tue Sun Fri Thu Mon Wed Wed Mon Fri Mon Sun Fri Wed Thu Wed Mon Sat Sat Thu Mon Tue Mon Thu Thu Thu Sun
20.30 20.30 20.35 19.10 19.30 19.00 19.30 18.45 20.30 20.00 20.30 13.50 20.00 19.00 19.00 19.30 19.00 16.30 20.10 19.45 22.00 20.00 19.00 16.00 16.30 21.00 19.10 22.00 19.10 20.00 21.00 16.30 18.30 20.30 22.30 20.30 18.00 21.00 20.00 22.00 19.20 19.30 18.00 18.30 18.30 21.30 18.30 19.00 21.00 12.00
7.62 7.40 7.13 6.72 6.59 6.36 6.32 6.29 6.28 6.20 6.05 5.89 5.75 5.69 5.38 5.35 5.34 5.19 5.12 4.96 4.59 4.51 4.48 4.42 4.42 4.40 4.36 4.25 4.11 3.85 3.84 3.73 3.69 3.66 3.62 3.60 3.60 3.57 3.56 3.53 3.50 3.49 3.45 3.39 3.30 3.22 3.21 3.10 3.03 2.82
42.78 37.04 39.71 34.84 34.54 31.99 33.16 35.99 33.89 29.29 30.58 38.58 30.28 33.96 29.68 28.27 30.30 34.31 24.70 28.03 25.21 22.55 23.79 32.93 30.72 21.43 23.98 23.77 21.02 19.81 18.64 25.10 20.28 16.22 22.11 18.11 24.49 17.70 18.30 16.82 21.63 20.53 25.06 18.05 19.63 14.24 21.09 18.48 15.01 22.60
BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1/LA Productions BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1/Shine TV BBC1 ITV/ITN BBC1 BBC1 BBC1/Shine TV BBC1 BBC1/Shine TV ITV/CPL Productions BBC1 ITV/ITN ITV/RDF TV BBC1 ITV/ITN ITV/ITN BBC1/Boc-Pix/RTÉ ITV/ITN BBC1 ITV/Plum Pictures BBC2
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Common
Inside Asprey www.broadcastnow.co.uk
All BARB ratings supplied by: Attentional
Source: BARB
50 52 53 54 55 55 57 58 59 60 61 61 63 64 65 66 67 67 69 70 71 71 73 74 75 76 77 78 78 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 87 89 90 91 91 93 94 95 95 97 98 98 100
Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Broadcaster/ Producer*
BBC News At Ten The One Show ITV News & Weather The Chase Love Your Garden Question Time ITV News & Weather The National Lottery: Break The Safe A Question Of Sport: Super Saturday BBC News At One Tonight: Beating Breast Cancer BBC News You’ve Been Framed! Wimbledon 2014 BBC News The Nation’s Favourite Motown Song The Betrayers Despicable Me The Chase New Tricks ITV News & Weather Wimbledon 2014 You’ve Been Framed! The Honourable Woman BBC News At One BBC News Have I Got News For You White Widow: Searching For Samantha BBC News At One Benefits Britain: Life On The Dole BBC News At One Midsomer Murders Room 101 The Chase The Chase ITV News & Weather Johnny English Reborn Bargain Hunt Wimbledon 2014 Pointless Celebrities Wimbledon 2014: Ladies’ Final One Born Every Minute The World’s Best Diet The Chase ITV News At Ten & Weather Mock The Week ITV News At Ten & Weather Wimbledon 2014 Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen John Bishop Live: Rollercoaster Tour...
Fri Wed Wed Thu Tue Thu Tue Sat Sat Fri Thu Sat Fri Fri Sat Sun Wed Sun Wed Fri Sun Wed Mon Thu Tue Tue Sun Wed Thu Mon Mon Sat Thu Mon Fri Fri Sun Fri Mon Sat Sat Wed Mon Tue Wed Thu Thu Mon Sat Fri
22.00 19.00 18.30 17.00 19.30 22.35 22.00 19.40 19.00 13.00 19.30 00.00 20.00 13.45 18.40 21.00 21.00 19.00 17.00 21.00 18.45 13.45 20.00 21.00 13.00 23.45 22.55 22.35 13.00 21.00 13.00 20.30 20.30 17.00 17.00 23.15 20.00 12.15 11.30 17.50 13.15 21.00 21.00 17.00 22.00 22.00 22.00 13.45 19.10 22.40
2.82 2.67 2.65 2.63 2.60 2.60 2.56 2.55 2.54 2.51 2.50 2.50 2.46 2.45 2.36 2.34 2.28 2.28 2.27 2.20 2.15 2.15 2.15 2.13 2.12 2.09 2.08 2.07 2.07 2.06 2.04 2.02 2.00 1.97 1.95 1.93 1.88 1.88 1.85 1.84 1.83 1.83 1.80 1.76 1.72 1.72 1.71 1.68 1.68 1.65
13.73 14.55 16.61 24.95 14.38 21.92 13.25 14.90 15.79 34.49 14.02 30.95 12.94 31.54 14.32 11.39 11.07 11.52 19.89 10.02 12.32 26.41 10.17 10.58 34.71 30.09 18.65 16.62 33.04 8.98 31.23 10.47 10.10 14.70 13.74 18.71 9.00 31.31 15.26 12.19 17.27 8.86 8.12 14.47 9.64 9.69 9.78 24.38 9.27 11.56
BBC1 BBC1 ITV/ITN ITV ITV/Spun Gold TV BBC1/Mentorn ITV/ITN BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC1 ITV/Shiver ITV/Wild Pictures ITV ITV BBC1/Wall to Wall ITV/ITN BBC1 ITV BBC2/Drama Republic/Eight Rock BBC1 BBC1 BBC1/Hat Trick Productions BBC1/Hardcash Productions BBC1 C5 BBC1 ITV/Bentley Productions BBC1/Hat Trick Productions ITV ITV ITV/ITN C4 BBC1 BBC2 BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1 C4/Dragonfly C4/Boundless ITV ITV/ITN BBC2/Angst TV ITV/ITN BBC1 C4 BBC1
*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.
The Nation’s Favourite Motown Song
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The Honourable Woman
ITV’s best was Emmerdale at 7pm with 4.2 million/23% (260,000 +1), followed by Love Your Garden’s 2.5 million/14% (150,000 +1). On footie-free Wednesday, BBC1’s Watchdog (3.9 million/ 20%) eclipsed ITV’s All Star Mr & Mrs (3.4 million/17%; 150,000 +1). At 9pm, BBC1’s Celebrity Master Chef’s 3.8 million/19% was well ahead of ITV doc The Betrayers (2 million/10%; 180,000 +1). On Thursday, BBC1’s 45-minute EastEnders achieved 5.4 million/ 28% from 7.45pm, behind ITV’s Emmerdale at 7pm (5.5 million/ 33%; 150,000 +1) but ahead of the 8pm episode’s 4.1 million/21%
‘BBC1’s Countryfile was the best nonfootball performer of the week’ (390,000 +1). Coronation Street was the evening’s best soap with 5.8 million/29% (276,000 +1) at 8.30pm. At 9pm, ITV’s documentary Inside Asprey: Luxury By Royal Appointment achieved a decent 2.8 million/14% (220,000 +1), but was behind BBC1’s Celebrity MasterChef’s 3.6 million/18%. On Friday, ITV’s coverage of Brazil V Colombia achieved 7.4 million/37% (40,000 +1), peaking at 9.9 million/54% at 10.50pm. BBC1’s best was EastEnders with 5.8 million/30% at 8pm. Celebrity MasterChef at 8.30pm achieved 3.6 million/18%, while a New Tricks repeat at 9pm managed 2.2 million/10%. Netherlands V Costa Rica was the week’s most-watched match, with 7.6 million/43% from 8.30pm on BBC1 on Saturday, peaking with 9.3 million at 10.45pm for the penalty shoot-out. ITV’s Tipping Point: Lucky Stars achieved 3.3 million/20% (140,000 +1) at 7.30pm, followed by a repeated Midsomer Murders’ 1.9 million/ 9% (134,000 +1) from 8.30pm. Sunday brought Jimmy McGovern drama Common to BBC1. From 9pm, it achieved 4.4 million/ 21% opposite ITV’s The Nation’s Favourite Motown Song’s 2.1 million/10% (200,000 +1). With 6.7 million/35% from 7.15pm, BBC1’s Countryfile was the best non-football performer of the week.
See over for digital focus, plus channel and genre overviews 11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 29
Ratings Mon 30 June – Sun 6 July Channel Overview
F1 leads the sporting pack BY stephen price
Two battered and parched travellers emerge from a sea of footballs, eyes glazed by fear and loathing. Surely, they groan, this can’t last forever. Then a tennis ball boinks off their noggin, cyclists rattle by and a fat tyre bounces past. They collapse at the horror of it all. “Fear not,” booms a passing thesp, “for drama, at last, is afoot.” Soothing words perhaps for the yarnstarved audience as BBC2’s new series began amid a deluge of sport. Monday’s third edition of Channel 5’s Benefits Britain achieved 1.9 million/8% (135,000 +1) at 9pm, ahead of BBC2’s Police Under Pressure (800,000/3%) and Channel 4’s The World’s Best Diet (1.6 million; 173,000 +1). BBC2’s eight-part drama The Honourable Woman launched on Thursday at 9pm with a decent 2.1 million/11%, defeating C4’s Embarrassing Bodies (1 million/ 5%; 238,000 +1) and C5’s Big Brother (900,000/5%; 196,000 +1). C4’s best this week was Sunday’s film Johnny English Reborn, with 1.4 million/7% (441,000 +1) at 8pm. Opposite, BBC2’s A Cabbie Abroad netted 1.4 million/ 7% from 9pm, while Big Brother mustered 1 million/5% (128,000 +1). BBC2’s coverage of the British Grand Prix averaged 2.8 million/ 23% on Sunday from midday as Lewis Hamilton finally won something for Britain.
Source: BARB
WEEK 27 Average hours per viewer Daytime Share (%) Peaktime Share (%) w/c 30.06.14 Peaktime share (%) w/c 01.07.13 Year to date Average hours per viewer Audience share (%) Audience share (2013)
BBC1 5.94 24.24 24.06 25.62 BBC1 5.70 21.94 21.28
BBC2 1.90 10.30 8.24 8.51 BBC2 1.66 6.38 5.78
ITV1 3.84 14.04 19.46 18.07 ITV1 4.10 15.77 16.17
C4 1.24 4.32 6.08 5.03 C4 1.47 5.68 5.80
30 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
Total 24.26 100.00 100.00 100.00 Total 25.97 100.00 100.00
Top 30 bbc2, channel 4 and channel 5 Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Broadcaster
1
Formula 1: The British Grand Prix
Sun
12.00
2.82
22.60
BBC2
2
The Honourable Woman
Thu
21.00
2.13
10.58
BBC2
3
Benefits Britain: Life On The Dole
Mon
21.00
2.06
8.98
C5
4
Johnny English Reborn
Sun
20.00
1.88
9.00
C4
5
Wimbledon 2014
Mon
11.30
1.85
15.26
6
One Born Every Minute
Wed
21.00
1.83
8.86
7
The World’s Best Diet
Mon
21.00
1.80
8.12
C4
8
Mock The Week
Thu
22.00
1.72
9.69
BBC2
9
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
Sat
19.10
1.68
9.27
C4
10
Coast Australia
Wed
21.10
1.63
7.92
BBC2
11
Formula 1: The British Grand Prix – Qualifying
Sat
11.55
1.62
17.50
12
The Auction House
Tue
21.00
1.59
7.49
C4
BBC2 C4
BBC2
13
Today At Wimbledon
Wed
20.00
1.53
7.78
BBC2
14
8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Fri
21.00
1.49
6.81
C4
15
George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces
Thu
20.00
1.48
7.44
C4
16
Gardeners’ World
Fri
21.00
1.46
6.68
BBC2
17
The Dog Rescuers
Tue
20.00
1.43
7.56
C5
18
James Corden Does Deal Or No Deal
Fri
20.00
1.42
7.30
C4
19
A Cabbie Abroad
Sun
21.05
1.38
6.54
BBC2
20
Wimbledon 2014
Tue
11.30
1.28
12.31
BBC2
20
Shopgirls: True Story Of Life Behind The Counter
Tue
21.00
1.28
6.03
BBC2
22
Today At Wimbledon
Thu
20.00
1.24
6.24
BBC2
22
Embarrassing Bodies
Thu
21.00
1.24
6.15
C4
22
Big Brother
Wed
22.00
1.24
7.47
C5
25
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Tue
21.00
1.21
5.72
C5
25
Location, Location, Location
Tue
20.00
1.21
6.40
C4
25
The Quest For Bannockburn
Sun
20.05
1.21
5.84
BBC2
28
Jamie’s Money Saving Meals
Mon
20.30
1.20
5.50
C4
29
Today At Wimbledon
Fri
20.00
1.19
6.12
BBC2
30
Wimbledon 2014
Wed
13.00
1.18
11.36
BBC2
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Multichannel 37.95
Audience for Channel 4’s latest mash-up, James Corden Does Deal Or No Deal (Friday, 8pm)
Others 10.40 43.65 37.95 38.52 Others 12.03 46.31 46.95
Daytime is 09.30-18.00. Peaktime is 18.00-22.30. Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
daytime share (%) w/c 30.06.14
peaktime share (%) w/c 30.06.14
1.4m
C5 0.93 3.45 4.21 4.25 C5 1.02 3.92 4.03
BBC1 24.06
ITV 19.46
C5 4.21 C4 6.08
BBC2 8.24
Multichannel 43.65
450k
A Culture Show look at female punks, Girls Will Be Girls, missed BBC2’s 10pm Monday slot average of 680k
BBC1 24.24
ITV 14.04
C5 3.45
BBC2 10.30
C4 4.32
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
Day
Naomi’s Nightmares Of Nature Naomi’s Nightmares Of Nature Splatalot Mister Maker Comes To Town Newsround Topsy And Tim Topsy And Tim Strange Hill High Dennis The Menace And Gnasher Everything’s Rosie
Tue Mon Sun Sat Tue Wed Mon Tue Tue Wed
Top 10 Factual programmes Start
Viewers (Age 4-15)
07.45 195,100 07.45 190,000 08.30 181,500 10.05 171,000 08.15 170,200 17.20 169,900 17.20 168,700 17.00 161,200 07.25 161,000 17.30 159,300
Strange Hill High
Share (%)
Channel
19.53 17.52 18.83 14.13 18.82 15.38 12.38 12.77 20.21 13.61
CBBC CBBC CBBC CBeebies CBBC CBeebies CBeebies CBBC CBBC CBeebies
Title
Casualty Common Holby City New Tricks The Honourable Woman Midsomer Murders Midsomer Murders Midsomer Murders Midsomer Murders CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
UP Casualty gains 1.05m
Mrs Brown’s Boys John Bishop Live: Rollercoaster... Benidorm The Big Bang Theory Live At The Apollo How I Met Your Mother The Simpsons Friday Night Dinner Sean Lock: Purple Van Man The Simpsons
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sun Wed Wed Fri Thu Thu Thu Wed Tue Wed
19.10 20.00 21.00 20.30 21.00 19.00 21.00 19.00 19.30 21.00
6.72 3.85 3.84 3.60 3.57 3.10 3.03 2.67 2.60 2.28
34.84 19.81 18.64 18.11 17.70 18.48 15.01 14.55 14.38 11.07
BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV ITV
Top 10 Entertainment programmes
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sun Sun Mon Fri Thu Sat Fri Tue Sun Tue
20.10 21.00 20.30 21.00 21.00 20.30 20.00 20.00 20.00 21.00
5.12 4.40 3.66 2.20 2.13 2.02 1.45 1.30 1.22 1.21
24.70 21.43 16.22 10.02 10.58 10.47 7.01 6.49 5.82 5.72
BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC2 ITV ITV3 ITV3 ITV3 C5
DOWN Question of Sport: Super Saturday down 1.27m
Title
UP Countryfile wins 1.45m
Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
All Star Mr & Mrs Tipping Point: Lucky Stars The Chase National Lottery: Break The Safe Question Of Sport: Super Saturday You’ve Been Framed! The Chase You’ve Been Framed! Have I Got News For You Room 101
DOWN All Star Mr & Mrs drops 120,000
UP The Chase up 770,000 on Thursday
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Wed Sat Thu Sat Sat Fri Wed Mon Sun Thu
20.00 19.30 17.00 19.40 19.00 20.00 17.00 20.00 22.55 20.30
3.56 3.49 2.63 2.55 2.54 2.46 2.27 2.15 2.08 2.00
18.30 20.53 24.95 14.90 15.79 12.94 19.89 10.17 18.65 10.10
ITV ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1
DOWN CSI loses 240,000
UP Holby City gains 150,000
Top 10 Music & Arts programmes
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Mon Fri Tue Thu Sat Thu Thu Fri Sun Wed
21.30 22.40 21.00 20.00 00.20 20.30 18.00 22.00 22.00 18.00
3.22 1.65 1.61 1.45 1.15 0.99 0.90 0.87 0.83 0.80
14.24 11.56 7.58 7.25 19.86 5.03 6.54 4.24 4.84 5.42
BBC1 BBC1 ITV E4 BBC1 E4 C4 C4 C4 C4
next week Sport and current affairs www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Countryfile Watchdog Celebrity MasterChef Celebrity MasterChef Celebrity MasterChef The One Show Inside Asprey: Luxury By Royal... The One Show Love Your Garden The Betrayers
Day
Big Sing: The UK’s Top Ten Hymns
Top 10 Comedy programmes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
All Star Mr & Mrs
Top 10 Drama programmes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Title
Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Nation’s Favourite Motown Song Big Sing: The UK’s Top Ten Hymns Culture Show: Girls Will Be Girls The Richest Songs In The World Glastonbury 2014 Highlights Neil Sedaka: King Of Song Top Of The Pops: 1979 Sounds Of The Eighties Sounds Of The Sixties Len Goodman’s Dance Band Days
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sun Sun Tue Fri Fri Fri Thu Fri Sun Mon
21.00 17.05 22.00 21.00 23.05 22.30 19.30 20.30 19.00 21.00
2.34 0.79 0.51 0.48 0.43 0.40 0.33 0.28 0.26 0.24
11.39 4.87 2.64 2.23 5.63 2.50 1.88 1.39 1.44 1.05
ITV BBC2 BBC2 BBC4 BBC2 BBC4 BBC4 BBC4 BBC4 BBC4
See over for demographic and digital focus 11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 31
Ratings Mon 30 June – Sun 6 July 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
49.98
BBC1
25.03
29.71
51.01
19.00
13.72
26.59
50.03
23.65
ITV
16.09
15.46
41.26
13.19
14.82
15.27
44.69
16.82
55.31
7.94
10.37
56.08
5.37
12.23
8.37
49.65
7.56
50.35
BBC2 C4
5.01
4.97
42.60
7.58
27.36
4.60
43.29
5.37
56.71
C5
4.00
3.45
37.11
4.25
19.20
3.08
36.23
4.82
63.76
ITV3
2.83
2.44
36.97
0.51
3.25
2.18
36.33
3.41
63.68
ITV2
2.27
1.78
33.73
3.53
28.10
1.80
37.22
2.70
62.77
E4
1.82
1.68
39.74
5.28
52.53
1.76
45.70
1.86
54.27
Film 4
1.59
1.31
35.45
1.65
18.77
1.95
57.83
1.27
42.17
ITV4
1.47
1.61
47.01
0.95
11.70
1.81
57.85
1.17
42.14
Dave
1.46
1.26
36.95
2.43
30.09
1.92
61.80
1.05
38.18
BBC3
1.29
1.06
35.56
3.21
45.15
1.41
51.68
1.17
48.32 59.63
More 4
1.09
1.04
40.76
1.03
17.05
0.94
40.37
1.23
BBC4
0.96
1.27
56.90
0.43
8.12
1.04
50.85
0.89
49.11
5 USA
0.91
0.65
30.70
0.63
12.52
0.79
40.87
1.02
59.13
Sky 1
0.73
0.66
38.71
1.51
37.30
0.80
51.47
0.67
48.60
Yesterday
0.67
0.56
35.87
0.28
7.68
0.85
59.97
0.50
40.00
Drama
0.66
0.61
39.75
0.25
6.74
0.56
40.26
0.74
59.80
Sky Living
0.43
0.40
39.77
0.59
24.54
0.30
33.21
0.55
66.79
20%
One in five viewers of Channel 4’s The Secret Life Of Students was aged 16-24, up from the 12% slot average (Thursday, 10pm).
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
C4’s Tour rides into top 10 BY stephen price
T’Tour came to the Republic of Yorkshire this week – and other places in the UK, apparently – triggering a reminder of the reign of sport’s biggest cheater, who ran riot amid blood transfusions, bullying and pitiless manipulation before finally he was exposed. On Sunday, and in a cunning move, BBC4’s Storyville got in ahead of Channel 4’s Monday telling of the Lance Armstrong story. The best of ITV4’s cycling coverage was Saturday’s Tour De France with 900,000/10% from 10.30am to 5.25pm. BBC4’s The Lance Armstrong Story – Stop At Nothing achieved 600,000/3% at 9pm on Sunday for 100 minutes. The next night, C4’s The Armstrong Lie, at 9pm, achieved only 300,000 more, with 900,000/5% (incl +1) over two-and-a-half hours. E4’s The Big Bang Theory topped the table again with 1.5 million/7.3% on Thursday at 8pm. ITV3’s Midsomer Murders netted 1.5 million/7% on Friday at 8pm. 32 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
Source: BARB
digital homes
Top 30 multichannel programmes Title
1 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 26 26 29 29
The Big Bang Theory Midsomer Murders Midsomer Murders Midsomer Murders Midsomer Murders Lewis Red How I Met Your Mother Hollyoaks Tour De France 2014 Live Quantum Of Solace Hollyoaks The Only Way Is Essex The Only Way Is Essex Hollyoaks Nanny Mcphee And The Big... Hollyoaks The Big Bang Theory Family Guy Family Guy Family Guy Hollyoaks Lance Armstrong Story... Tour De France Highlights The Big Bang Theory Lewis Family Guy A Hard Day’s Night American Dad! The Queen’s Castle
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Day
Thu Fri Tue Sun Mon Wed Wed Thu Wed Sat Thu Thu Wed Sun Mon Sat Tue Thu Thu Sat Thu Fri Sun Sun Wed Sat Sat Sun Wed Wed
Start
20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 21.00 20.30 19.00 10.30 20.00 19.00 22.00 22.00 19.00 17.50 19.00 18.30 23.25 23.50 23.00 19.00 21.00 19.00 18.30 17.55 0.10 19.35 23.55 22.00
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
1.45 1.45 1.30 1.22 1.15 1.14 1.12 0.99 0.96 0.91 0.80 0.79 0.77 0.75 0.74 0.72 0.71 0.70 0.70 0.68 0.67 0.66 0.63 0.62 0.61 0.59 0.59 0.59 0.57 0.57
7.25 7.01 6.49 5.82 5.16 5.70 6.19 5.03 5.47 9.69 3.99 4.68 4.45 4.18 3.79 4.53 3.79 4.61 7.98 6.85 6.30 3.62 3.11 3.30 3.83 3.71 8.71 2.89 9.23 3.47
E4 ITV3 ITV3 ITV3 ITV3 ITV3 Film 4 E4 E4 ITV4 ITV2 E4 ITV2 ITV2 E4 ITV2 E4 E4 BBC3 BBC3 BBC3 E4 BBC4 ITV4 E4 ITV3 BBC3 BBC4 BBC3 BBC4
Channels
Share (%)
BBC1 ITV BBC2 C4 C5 Total Multichannel ITV3 ITV2 E4 Film 4 ITV4 Dave BBC 3 CBeebies More 4 Other Cable/Satellite BBC4 5 USA
25.035 16.089 7.939 5.010 3.999 41.9275 2.83 2.27 1.82 1.59 1.47 1.46 1.29 1.14 1.09 1.05 0.96 0.91
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
275k
Howard Jacobson’s two-part BBC4 doc, Rebels Of Oz, launched below 443,000 slot average (Tues, 9pm) www.broadcastnow.co.uk
All BARB ratings supplied by: Attentional
Non-PSB top 50 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 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Title
Day
Start
Viewers (all homes)
Share %
Live British F1 Grand Prix Storage Hunters 24: Live Another Day New Tricks Storage Hunters Top Gear Burma Special Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Top Gear Africa Special The Simpsons Top Gear Burma Special Storage Hunters The Simpsons Live British F1 GP: Paddock The Simpsons Storage Hunters QI XL Storage Hunters Would I Lie To You? Storage Hunters Storage Hunters NCIS: LA The Simpsons The Simpsons Storage Hunters Bones Storage Hunters The Simpsons QI XL British F1 GP Qualifying The Simpsons Death In Paradise Modern Family Great British Railway Journeys PD James: The Murder Room Mock The Week Grimm The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons Would I Lie To You? The Simpsons Modern Family Sin City Motors Storage Hunters QI XL The Simpsons Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Not Going Out
Sun Mon Wed Thu Thu Wed Sun Sun Thu Mon Sun Tue Mon Sun Fri Fri Sun Sat Thu Fri Sun Sun Wed Fri Sun Wed Mon Wed Sun Sat Wed Mon Mon Sun Wed Thu Wed Wed Thu Sun Wed Wed Mon Tue Wed Sun Thu Sun Thu Sat
12.00 20.30 21.00 21.00 19.30 20.00 20.30 20.00 20.00 19.30 17.20 19.30 19.00 15.30 19.30 20.30 21.00 20.30 22.30 20.00 16.50 22.00 19.30 19.00 16.25 21.00 20.00 20.30 22.00 12.00 20.00 21.00 20.00 21.30 21.00 23.10 21.00 18.30 19.00 19.00 22.40 19.00 20.30 20.00 19.30 23.00 19.30 13.30 19.00 21.40
560,600 510,500 464,400 450,200 448,700 441,100 426,500 413,200 391,800 384,300 374,300 369,600 366,900 366,800 356,100 346,500 337,800 329,500 307,600 305,600 304,900 302,600 302,500 302,200 301,200 300,500 297,500 296,800 293,800 293,400 285,700 281,800 279,700 279,300 275,700 273,400 272,000 269,400 267,700 265,500 263,300 263,000 259,600 258,900 256,300 245,400 242,900 240,900 240,500 238,500
4.73 2.33 2.25 2.29 2.52 2.27 2.03 2.04 2.00 1.90 2.09 2.10 1.88 2.49 1.87 1.74 1.59 1.84 2.25 1.61 1.97 1.77 1.58 1.67 2.03 1.46 1.41 1.48 1.71 3.15 1.52 1.25 1.32 1.31 1.48 3.00 1.32 1.69 1.60 1.46 2.08 1.49 1.19 1.37 1.34 2.70 1.36 2.08 1.43 1.20
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
NCIS: LA www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Death In Paradise
Broadcaster/ Producer* Sky Sports F1 Dave/T Group Sky 1 Drama/Wall to Wall Dave/T Group Dave Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Dave Sky 1 Dave Dave/T Group Sky 1 Sky Sports F1 Sky 1 Dave/T Group Dave/Talkback Dave/T Group Dave/Zeppotron Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Sky 1 Sky 1 Sky 1 Dave/T Group Sky Living Dave/T Group Sky 1 Dave/Talkback Sky Sports F1 Sky 1 Alibi/Red Planet/Kudos Sky 1 Yesterday Drama Dave/Angst Productions Watch Sky 1 Sky 1 Sky 1 Dave/Zeppotron Sky 1 Sky 1 Dave Dave/T Group Dave/Talkback Sky 1 Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Dave/Avalon
815k Dave had a hit with its two screenings of BBC2’s Top Gear Burma Special (combined figure)
Sky 1’s 24 bounces back BY Stephen price
Jack Bauer spends a lot of time looking grim, running about, grunting and wielding his weapon. He must wonder why it’s so hard saving the world. Why are villains always, until they aren’t, just one step ahead? The phlegmatic Brit PD James has the answer: get a room and put the murderers in it. The best-placed non-sporting, non-storage-based show this week was Sky 1’s 24: Live Another Day, which achieved 464,000/2% at 9pm on Wednesday, ahead of last week’s football-knobbled low of 409,000/2%. Opposite, a repeat of PD James’ two-part rather more British thriller The Murder Room began on Drama with 276,000/2% at 9pm. Drama’s best was New Tricks’ 450,000/2.3% on Thursday at 9pm. Dave’s racial insult-free Top Gear Burma Special achieved 441,000/ 2% on Wednesday at 8pm, the channel’s second best show of the week after, inevitably, a couple of Storage Hunters, the best of which was Monday’s 511,00/2% at 8.30pm. Another 374,000/2% watched the Burma Special repeat on Sunday at 5.20pm. Sky Living’s US series Bones was the channel’s best effort of the week with 301,000/2% on Wednesday at 9pm. Sky Sports F1’s coverage of the British Grand Prix averaged 561,000/5% on Sunday from noon to 3.30pm. 11 July 2014 | Broadcast | 33
Ratings Mon 23 June – Sun 29 June
All BARB ratings supplied by: Attentional
Consolidated Ratings
Corrie is streets ahead of rivals BY Stephen Price
Some years ago when I was a scheduler, I got into trouble with a sporty colleague for describing the World Cup as something that ‘disrupted’ the schedule. A schedule, I wanted to say (but luckily didn’t) is like a delicate and treasured vase placed carefully in pride of place in your Gran’s living room; the World Cup is the muddy-kneed urchin in baggy shorts dribbling a leather ball. The shows that get ‘disrupted’ most tend to be the staples: soaps. This week, EastEnders’ three episodes included an hour-long show on Monday and an 8.15pm start on Friday, Coronation Street had minimal disruption with an hourlong episode on Monday, while Emmerdale had only four episodes rather than six, on Thursday and Friday only.
Source: BARB
ITV: Coronation Street The most-recorded show of the week was Friday’s Coronation Street at 8.30pm, which achieved a live rating of 6.3 million/29%; after 831,000 recorded and watched, it finished on 7.2 million/30%. The weekly average for the soap is 7.7 million/35% after 875,000 record and watch. In the week before the World Cup (itself with an extra episode due to England friendlies), Coronation Street was recorded by just over 1 million viewers on average, ending on 7.6 million/37%.
BBC1: EastEnders BBC1’s EastEnders was on three times this week, down from its usual four. A one-hour special on Monday was recorded by 817,000, the most-recorded episode of the week, delivering a final rating of 6.1 million/26%. The weekly average was 5.8 million/26% after 654,000 recorded and watched. The week before the World Cup, EastEnders was recorded by 749,000 on average, delivering 6.7
million/31%; BBC3’s catch-up achieved 556,000/3.5% this week compared with 507,000/3.3% in the week before the World Cup.
ITV: Emmerdale Emmerdale’s most recorded episode was Thursday’s 8pm edition with 5.6 million/24% after 569,000 recorded and watched. The bestperforming episode was Friday at 8pm, which ended on 6 million/ 27% after 513,000 recorded and watched. This week, the four episodes were recorded by 664,000 to deliver an average of 5.7 million/ 27% over the week. In the week before the World Cup, Emmerdale was recorded by 511,000 on average to deliver a series average of 6.3 million/32%.
Consolidated audience for first TX of BBC3’s Murdered By My Boyfriend. After repeats, it has reached 3.1m
UP One Born Every Minute up 330,000
E4: The Big Bang Theory E4’s The Big Bang Theory on Thursday at 8pm achieved a consolidated rating of 2.3 million/10% after 670,000 recorded and watched. The best episode this year so far remains 23 January with 2.7 million/10%.
Top 30 Consolidated Ratings: ranked by gain
1 2 3 4 4 6 7 8 9 9 11 12 13 14 15 15 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 23 25 25 25 28 29 30
879k DOWN Graham Norton back down by 2.4m
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Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Gain (m)
Gain %
Coronation Street EastEnders Coronation Street Coronation Street Casualty Celebrity MasterChef 24: Live Another Day EastEnders Coronation Street Celebrity MasterChef The Big Bang Theory The Only Way Is Essex Holby City CSI: Crime Scene Investigation The Only Way Is Essex Emmerdale Modern Family Friday Night Dinner Emmerdale One Born Every Minute EastEnders Benefits Britain: Life On The Dole Vikings Emmerdale NCIS: Los Angeles Episodes Grimm Unforgettable Bones Emmerdale
Fri Mon Mon Wed Sun Fri Wed Tue Fri Thu Thu Sun Thu Tue Wed Thu Mon Fri Fri Wed Fri Mon Tue Thu Sun Wed Wed Mon Wed Fri
20.30 20.00 19.30 19.30 21.10 20.50 21.00 19.30 19.30 21.00 20.00 22.00 20.00 21.00 22.00 20.00 20.30 22.00 20.00 21.00 20.20 21.00 22.00 19.00 22.00 22.00 21.00 22.00 21.00 19.00
7.15 6.13 8.47 7.87 4.86 4.58 1.20 6.33 7.31 4.23 2.25 1.61 3.87 2.22 1.43 5.63 0.95 1.60 6.00 2.47 4.85 2.85 0.50 5.73 0.68 1.09 0.67 0.50 0.73 5.63
29.83 25.66 37.40 38.73 19.93 20.38 5.02 31.54 35.61 18.23 9.57 7.55 17.17 9.34 7.07 23.86 3.95 7.81 27.11 10.42 20.98 12.00 2.52 29.78 3.32 5.16 2.81 2.52 3.06 30.31
0.83 0.82 0.80 0.79 0.79 0.75 0.74 0.71 0.70 0.70 0.67 0.66 0.65 0.64 0.57 0.57 0.56 0.55 0.51 0.50 0.44 0.43 0.42 0.42 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.40 0.39 0.38
13.10 15.40 10.40 11.20 19.30 19.50 162.60 12.70 10.60 19.80 42.40 69.40 20.20 40.80 66.00 11.20 147.10 52.20 9.40 25.10 10.00 17.90 541.30 7.90 148.20 59.20 153.20 388.10 116.60 7.30
Broadcaster ITV BBC1 ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1 Sky1 BBC1 ITV BBC1 E4 ITV2 BBC1 C5 ITV2 ITV Sky 1 C4 ITV C4 BBC1 C5 History ITV Sky 1 BBC2 Watch Sky Living Sky Living ITV
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
34 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
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The most anticipated entertainment market of the year. 4 days of screenings, networking and inspiring keynotes. 1,700 exhibiting companies showcasing their latest programmes. 4,600+ international buyers looking for fresh content. 13,500 participants on the road to success. Endless opportunities.
13-16 October, 2014, Cannes – France MIPCOM_Broadcast_210x297.indd 1
mipcom.com 09/07/2014 14:21
Off Cuts
robin.parker@broadcastnow.co.uk
ALL A TWITTER It must be awful for Mark Lawrenson, held, against his will, watching sports events he disdains so much. #prayforMark @daraobriain (Dara Ó Briain) Comedian
Heat – with cats: one for the kids?
Going down like a dead rat
As usual waiting in the BBC reception provides entertainment. Today a brass band, Vanessa Feltz & a group of excited German teens.
Producers attending the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield last week got tips on how not to pitch their ideas, with commissioners revealing some of the worst methods they’d encountered.
Like the dead rat that Disney Channels UK & Ireland’s Louise Bucknole was sent with instructions to keep it in her fridge for a Monday pitch. Or the US execs whose power pitch to ZDF Junior Enterprises’ Katharine Pietszch comprised 50 shows in five minutes, climaxing with “puppies replaying German fairy tales”. Disney Channel and Disney XD EMEA’s Orion Ross recalled with horror being offered pre-school title Barrister Bear and the pitch ‘Heat – with cats’. But the biggest laugh came when Nickelodeon UK’s Tim Patterson recalled being given a list of short-form titles at Mip and urged to “ignore the soft porn and the exotic – but there might be something for the teen market”.
@hollycocker (Holly Cocker) Documentary-maker
BBC Slow-Mo department going for a BAFTA again this year #Wimbledon2014 #FederervsDjokovic @danbrimley (Dan Brimley) Development producer
Off to Sky Indies Day where everyone who turns up gets a commission. Don’t hurry while stocks last.... @saltbeeftv (Jeremy Salsby) Founder, Salt Beef TV
£4.99
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Disney wasn’t taking any chances in its preview of new animation Star Wars Rebels at the Children’s Media Conference. To ensure attendees didn’t film the clip to leak it online, execs called in security for the cinema. Cue two Stormtroopers, who loomed at the front menacingly, with guns, for the duration – before posing for photos, of course.
AND FINALLY ... Richard Watsham Director of commissioning, UKTV
What TV channel would you most like to launch? Are there any left? Who would you be on Stars In Their Eyes? Apparently, my Gaga is legendary. What would you do with a million quid? Give it to COSMIC, the intensive care unit for children at St Mary’s hospital. It’s UKTV’s charity of the year for good reason. How do you get your own way? I try to be nice and hope people will give a damn. What’s the worst rejection you’ve ever had? I presented a careers video but didn’t make it past the pilot. Turned out not to be my dream career after all. Who or what would you put into Room 101? Email. Who would you put in the Celebrity Big Brother house? Anyone with a Taser. What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Be nice. When you f*** up at work, you’re less likely to get fired. What’s the most embarrassing item in your wardrobe? Shoes that would not look out of place on a clown.
“Quite simply, the arri amira is the best documentary camera i have had on my shoulder in over 20 years.” cinematographer Neil Harvey (One Direction: Where We Are Tour; Fullwell73)
Truly cinemaTic www.arri.com/amira
36 | Broadcast | 11 July 2014
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