www.broadcastnow.co.uk
30 May 2014
INTERNATIONAL
PRODUCTION
BEHIND THE SCENES
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LA Screenings: meet the showrunners
Archive: unlocking the past online
Off the leash: online comedy
Drama set for digital revolution Producers and channel execs believe Netflix’s £100m Left Bank drama signals new era BY JAKE KANTER, ANDREAS WISEMAN & PETER WHITE
The Queen: Peter Morgan, who scripted the 2006 film starring Helen Mirren, is behind The Crown
They are encouraging UK producers to bring them event pieces Douglas Rae, Ecosse Films
Holland, original series director Peter Friedlander and Lisa Nishimura, a third programming boss. “Ted Sarandos is the only exec who is known publicly, so everyone makes the mistake of pitching straight to him. But Ted puts his faith in his execs,” said one US drama source.
The UK drama community was animated by Netflix’s first UK commission, which is the continuation of an original content strategy that has given rise to political thriller House Of Cards and prison comedy Orange Is The New Black (pictured left). Origin Pictures boss David Thompson told Broadcast: “This sort of commission clearly provides a challenge to existing UK broadcasters in terms of length and cost. This kind of upfront commitment and investment is unprecedented.” Ecosse Films managing director Douglas
Rae added: “It’s an amazing new opportunity. They are encouraging UK producers to bring them event pieces and we’re actively developing a number of ideas.” Netflix is also close to agreeing a number of high-profile UK drama acquisitions, following deals for shows including The Fall and Midsomer Murders in the US. Some said the Left Bank commission was a natural step, given Netflix’s competitors have already made inroads in the UK. Amazon Prime Instant Video tied up a deal to revive Ripper Street in February, while last month Xbox partnered with Channel 4 on Kudos sci-fi series Humans.
£4.99
Senior drama figures have branded Left Bank Pictures’ £100m Netflix commission a landmark moment for British scripted content. Netflix is finalising a deal with the Sony Pictures Televisionowned indie for 20-part series The Crown, which will trace the story of the Queen’s reign from her ascent to the throne in 1952. Created by Peter Morgan – the creative force behind 2006 film The Queen – and director Stephen Daldry, it will be Netflix’s first UK commission. Sources indicated that the US SVoD service fought off competition from the BBC and ITV to land the series. One senior drama executive said £5m an episode was bigger than any other UK production and would be higher than the budget for shows such as Game Of Thrones. “It’s silly money, but Netflix shows have to appeal to a worldwide audience. They need to act as marketing tools,” the source said. The Crown will not be released until 2016 and details of the production are still being ironed out. It is understood that the idea was fully developed by the time it reached Netflix – an approach Left Bank boss takes Andy Harries takes to most projects. Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos has the final sign off on all commissions, but works closely with a small team who are increasingly making inroads to the UK market. Executives that have had contact with UK indies include original content vice president Cindy
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
Rise of digital friends and foes Vast global subs make VoD a potential partner as well as a threat
C
onfession time – I have, with slightly ironic timing, just cancelled my Netflix subscription. Demonstrating fiscal control that George Osborne would be proud of, I’ve decided that £5.99 a month is too much of an investment. My PVR is fit to burst and I can barely keep up with the UK’s linear schedules – plus I could never find much on there I wanted to watch. Fortunately for the SVoD service and particularly for Left Bank Pictures, there
‘That swell of subscribers allows Netflix to fund the eye-watering £100m budget allocated to The Crown’ are almost 50m people around the world who are more committed customers. It’s that swell of subscribers that allows Netflix to fund the eye-watering £100m budget that Broadcast understands has been allocated to The Crown. That figure has prompted a bit of head-scratching, given that it would seem to exceed the David Fincher/Kevin Spacey cash-fest that is House Of Cards and HBO’s epic Game Of Thrones. There may never be full clarity of the budget – Netflix is frustratingly secretive around costs and viewing figures – but it is clearly at the vanguard of a new group of platforms that mean serious business. UK broadcasters such as Channel 5 were understood to be mulling a bid for CBS’s sci-fi thriller Extant at the LA Screenings last week, but have 2 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
been beaten to the punch, for first run rights at least, by Amazon Prime Instant Video. And in our Rights & Finance supplement, published with this issue, two of TV’s most influential execs acknowledge the power of their emerging digital rivals – or are they potential partners? ITV director of television and Netflix customer Peter Fincham has revealed that the broadcaster is in development on drama projects with a number of digital companies, while Channel 4 chief creative officer Jay Hunt thinks the emergence of Amazon and Hulu is “utterly game-changing” for the genre. “I never thought we’d get to the point where I’m on the phone with the head of commissioning as quickly as I would be a UKTV, or an American studio – but I am now.” Both clearly believe these companies represent an opportunity, as well as a threat. The first evidence of that was C4’s deal to co-produce Kudos’s 8 x 60-minute Humans with Xbox. So while the likes of BBC and ITV missed out on The Crown because of Netflix’s chequebook, there’s every chance they may end up working with it in a meaningful way. The SVoD service has already put money into C4’s Derek and BBC2’s The Fall Fall, but an all-singing all-dancing co-pro with an even split of funding and major creative input from both sides cannot be too far away. That might be enough to win back even the busiest lapsed subscriber.
è The National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bectu and Unite have rallied against the reintroduction of a BBC staff ratings system which ranks employees on a scale of one to five.
è Top Gear (pictured) is to be remade in China after BBC Worldwide struck a deal with Shanghai Media Group and local indie Honyee Media.
è All3Media stablemates North One Television and Maverick Television are moving into shared offices in Farringdon from September.
Ratings Top Five 1 Monday’s first live Britain’s Got Talent semi-final of the year was about 700,000 viewers down on 2013’s episode, but still drew 9.6m viewers.
Pete Bowker’s BBC1 drama about the fallout from the 1996 IRA Manchester bombing, From Here To There, debuted on Thursday with more than 4.5m viewers. 2
3 Mr Sloane (pictured), Sky Atlantic’s latest original commission, launched with fewer than 100,000 viewers on Friday. 4 The Champions League final on Saturday peaked with 7.2m viewers in the closing stages – up more than 1.5m viewers on last year’s climax. 5 Channel 4’s three-part doc The Complainers failed to muster a huge crowd on Tuesday – pulling in 1.1m viewers.
Talking TV podcast è Visit broadcastnow.co.uk or iTunes to download the latest Talking TV podcast, featuring Morgan Freeman and Matthew Perry at the LA Screenings and a look at BBC2’s British Airways documentary.
www.broadcastnow.co.uk
News & Analysis
C4 shores up comedy team We were bad at getting back to people, and now we’re becoming good
By Matthew Campelli
Channel 4 has beefed up its comedy commissioning team in an effort to improve indie relations by “significantly” reducing pitch response times. Commissioning editor Fiona McDermott has been promoted to acting deputy head of comedy after Nerys Evans went on maternity leave earlier this month. Company Pictures executive Liz Lewin will fill McDermott’s shoes in the interim, while Rachel Springett has been taken on permanently after joining C4 on a temporary basis in November 2012. When Evans returns in 2015, the plan is that McDermott will revert back to her old role and Lewin will step down. Head of comedy Phil Clarke said the team was larger than it has been “in living memory” and that operations have become more effective as Lewin and McDermott take on responsibility for responding to pitches “quickly and efficiently”. Clarke couldn’t provide any quantitative details on how response times have improved, but he guaranteed it was “signifi-
Phil Clarke, Channel 4
Toast Of London: Matt Berry’s distinctive comedy has gained a second series
cantly quicker”. He added: “Response times were slower before, but now things are speeding up and people are noticing already. In the past we were bad at getting back to people, and now we’re becoming good.” The improvements follow C4 being named the worst broadcaster to deal with in Broadcast’s 2014 Indie Survey, with delayed answers to pitches and “the lingering maybe” being among the major complaints.
Clarke revealed his “delight” in McDermott’s decision to stay with C4 after she was linked with Myfanwy Moore’s comedy commissioner role at ITV. She joined C4 in January 2011, having worked for Zeppotron and Objective. The commissioning team will set to work fulfilling three distinct objectives laid out in C4’s annual report, in which Clarke said he wanted more “alternative voices”, “big joke” comedy and “witty acerbic, knowing” pieces.
Clarke also told Broadcast that Avalon Television’s non-TX pilot Catastrophe will go to series near the end of the year. Starring Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, the single-camera comedy focuses on the lives of an Irish woman and American man in London. It follows news that Tom Edgewritten sitcom Scrotal Recall will go to series in the autumn, while Clarke confirmed that the second series of Toast Of London is “being written as we speak”. “We are piloting as many shows as we ever have done and we’re also commissioning shows off the back of Blaps [C4’s online comedy vehicle],” added Clarke. “Reports about budget cuts were off the mark. We’re not commissioning fewer pilots and my budget is broadly the same as it ever was.”
Raw TV lifts the lid on digital rig technology We have learnt a huge amount and are bringing that to bear on Teens
By George Bevir
Raw TV is planning to roll out an innovative digital rig it used to monitor calls and text messages for an upcoming Channel 4 documentary on other shows, according to development boss Tim Wardle. Raw gave modified iPhones to 12 Leicester University freshers, allowing a team of researchers to sift through 200,000 text messages, phone calls, social media updates and internet searches during the three-month shoot on The Secret Life Of Students (w/t). The same technology is also being used on Raw’s other new C4 series, Teens (w/t), and Bafta-nominated director Wardle said the set-up helped deliver a greater sense of what was going on in stuwww.broadcastnow.co.uk
Tim Wardle, Raw TV
Wardle: digital rig gave great insight
dent’s lives. He said: “This is the first iteration of the digital rig – we have learnt a huge amount and are bringing that to bear on Teens. We are now looking at dating shows and other options.” Having assessed and dismissed off-the-shelf mobile monitoring
software, Raw worked with digital agency Numiko on a nine-month build of the system, which connected students’ phones to a central server. Raw owns the rig and C4 has first refusal on UK projects that make use of the specific technology. The indie is keen to continue working with C4, but it is also hopeful that its expertise could lead to similar shows with other UK and overseas broadcasters. A dedicated producer and team of three
researchers monitored calls, texts and status updates for almost 24 hours-a-day in near-real time. “There was a constant stream of information coming through. We noted the interesting things and could then decide whether or not to follow up,” said series producer Joanne Timoney. As well as informing the production, the data was archived for use in the edit, essentially creating two sets of rushes that allowed some of the students’ communications to appear as 3D graphics. Wardle said Raw put particular focus on duty of care for its young contributors and adopted a “beltand-braces” approach. Release forms ran to four pages, compared with one page for a standard observational documentary. 30 May 2014 | Broadcast | 3
News & Analysis In Brief Kelly joins Reef TV Reef Television is pushing into primetime with the hire of former Spun Gold exec Chris Kelly. Kelly has joined Reef as head of popular factual and replaces Alex Dundas, who left the company earlier this year to become the UK boss of Mark Burnett’s indie One Three Media. Kelly was most recently executive producer of popular factual content at Spun Gold.
Amazon bags Extant Amazon has acquired exclusive UK first-run rights to Halle Berry’s sci-fi drama Extant (pictured) following an agreement with CBS Studios International. The Amblin Television and CBS Studiosproduced thriller stars Berry as an astronaut trying to reconnect with her family after a year in space. The deal marks the first time that Amazon Prime Instant Video has acquired the first-run rights to a premium US drama.
All change at Talkback Talkback has assembled a new senior management team after naming Leon Wilson as its permanent managing director. Wilson assumes full control of the FremantleMedia UK label after originally being handed the role on an interim basis in November 2013. He has brought in Princess Productions development executive James Longman as head of programmes, while Simon Craig has been made permanent head of development.
Garden comp for BBC2 The winner of a new BBC2 gardening competition format will be offered the chance to design a show garden at next year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Designs on Chelsea aims to find the best aspiring garden designer in the UK. The 4 x 60-minute series will be made by BBC features in Bristol.
For the latest breaking news www.broadcastnow.co.uk 4 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
Bectu urges ITV to act on US freelancer conditions By Matthew Campelli
Bectu has added to growing pressure on ITV to engage with American trade unions over conditions for non-fiction freelancers in the US. The Writers Guild of America hit out at the broadcaster last week, claiming that it has denied basic benefits to non-fiction writers and producers. It added that ITV has not sat down at the negotiating table for “almost four years”. WGA grievances will be heard by the New York City Council on 25 June, where ITV has been asked to appear. Its production footprint has grown rapidly in the US with acquisitions including the £212m purchase of Leftfield Entertainment. The hearing will investigate claims that ITV has not negotiated benefits including healthcare, or paid leave and minimum compensation levels. Other accusations include employees working in excess of 40 hours a week without being properly compensated. Ahead of the meeting, WGA’s peers have piled the pressure on ITV. Bectu general secretary Gerry Morrissey said the union has
Pawn Stars: ITV acquired US producer Leftfield earlier this month
written to ITV twice to “encourage negotiations”. Although Bectu has “good industrial relations” with the broadcaster, he said it would continue to offer “practical support” to the WGA. Morrissey said: “We wrote to [chief executive] Adam Crozier about the issue because it’s unnecessary bad publicity.” He added that the WGA has responded to the wrangle “very reasonably”, stating that if the issue was affecting Bectu members, the union would have already taken industrial action.
Furthermore, WGA executive director Lowell Peterson told Broadcast that ITV has also fallen foul of giant US trade union federation AFLCIO. Peterson said AFLCIO executive vice-president Tefere Gebre has put his concerns in writing to ITV and its members have participated in a rally outside the broadcaster’s New York headquarters. An ITV spokeswoman said: “ITV Studios America is in on-going talks with the WGA East and has no further comment at this stage.”
ITV snares Sky’s Schuster to head up comedy By Matthew Campelli
ITV has hired Yonderland commissioner Saskia Schuster to lead its continued push into original comedy. Schuster will join ITV as a comedy commissioning editor from Sky this summer, replacing Myfanwy Moore, who became the BBC’s in-house comedy controller earlier this year. Broadcast tipped Schuster for the post last week. She will report to ITV director of entertainment and comedy Elaine Bedell. The comedy commissioner has been with Sky since 2011, where she ordered Yonderland, Little Crackers and The Kumars for Sky 1, as well as Sky Arts’ A
Schuster: “mainstream instincts”
Young Doctor’s Notebook and Psychobitches. Before her spell with Sky, Schuster was head of development for Toff Media, where she executive-produced the third series of The Armstrong & Miller Show for BBC1. She also counts FremantleMedia UK and Objective
among former employers, where she worked as a script executive and head of script development respectively. She picked up credits on shows including Peep Show and Reggie Perrin. “I’m thrilled to be joining the ITV family. ITV is leading the field across genres so when you throw into the mix passion and ambition for comedy growth, it’s the most exciting place to be,” Schuster said. Bedell added: “I have no doubt that Saskia is the right person to be steering the genre for ITV. She has great mainstream instincts but has also shown herself to be a champion of distinctive, new and emerging comedy pieces and talent.” www.broadcastnow.co.uk
News & Analysis
YouView adds personal touch We are looking at how we make the content discovery journey simpler
BY ALEX FARBER
YouView is working towards delivering a more personalised service that will recommend TV shows and offer viewers the ability to create VoD playlists. The joint-venture IPTV service is stepping up its evolution after a broadly positive BBC Trust review into accessibility and cross-promotion last week. YouView is keen to capitalise on the data it is collecting from its 1 million connected set-top boxes by tailoring its service. Chief executive Richard Halton (pictured) said the ambition was to create a more relevant service and the platform is in the process of adding about 50 staff to its development team – an increase of around 50%. “We are starting to think about the next generation of the user interface,” he said. “We are looking at how we make the content discovery journey simpler and offer a more personalised experience.” Halton added that YouView was unlikely to ask viewers to log in to receive recommendations. Instead it is considering several methods
Richard Halton, YouView
long-terms project to publish a combined view of linear and VoD viewing habits. YouView is also working towards a cloud-based storage system. The service, primarily aimed at new, cheaper YouViewlite set-top boxes that do not have a hard drive, will allow users to store and play back TV shows from an internet-based server. Elsewhere, YouView is keen to add more VoD partners to the platform, alongside the existing players from the terrestrial broadcasters, UKTV and Sky. The likes of Amazon Prime Instant Video and Netflix are thought to be among the frontrunners to roll out services later this year.
Personal service: YouView plans to use set-top box data to tailor content
that are invisible to users. “There are other clever ways you can approach things,” he said. “For example, most homes have an average of more than two people, but at 10pm the kids probably aren’t watching. So you can come up with intelligent ways of anticipating people’s needs without having their name and date of birth,” he said. The work, which could also result in targeted ads being served on linear TV, relies heavily on the data YouView gathers about who is watching, which channels
are being watched, and when. “We have started work in that space and can provide content providers with anonymised data. We are getting to position where we can provide Barblike info, but with real data rather than information from a panel,” he said. Halton added that he planned to feed the data into Barb’s system as part of the ratings provider’s
Ukip to petition Ofcom for major party status Ukip has pledged to “campaign hard” to convince Ofcom its major party status should be extended for the 2015 general election. UK broadcasters were required by Ofcom to offer Ukip the same level of editorial coverage as the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats in the run up to the European elections this month. Commercial channels had to give a fair share of airtime over to Nigel Farage’s party in news and current affairs, while ITV and Channel 5 had to show at least two election broadcasts. The BBC follows its own guidelines. Ofcom’s ruling took into account growing public support for Ukip in England and Wales, but was confined to coverage of May’s Eurowww.broadcastnow.co.uk
ALAMY
BY JAKE KANTER
Ukip: claims it should be treated as a major party in run up to general election
pean contest, meaning the party could lose its status going into next year’s general election. But after winning almost 28% of the votes at the weekend, Ukip now believes it has a strong base of support with the UK electorate and will lobby Ofcom to ensure
that broadcasters reflect this in their 2015 election coverage. “As a party that believes in direct democracy and taking our message straight to the people, we will campaign hard for parity,” a spokesman told Broadcast. He added: “Given not only the most
recent electoral success, but ongoing popular polling… it is only correct that the millions of voters who now regularly back Ukip at the ballot box are given the same opportunities to hear the views and policies of their first choice party.” An Ofcom spokeswoman said it is yet to make a decision on the list of major parties going in to the general election, adding that any changes will “ensure flexibility and responsiveness to the developing politics of the UK”. The spokeswoman added: “Should Ofcom decide to conduct a review of major parties ahead of the general election, we would be mindful that political parties and broadcasters would need enough notice to be able to plan ahead for the election.” 30 May 2014 | Broadcast | 5
News & Analysis
Maverick boss: get talent to use Twitter BY ALEX FARBER
Getting talent to tweet about their programming can help significantly boost VoD views but does not provide a silver bullet for ratings success, according to Maverick Television digital boss Dan Jones. Speaking this week at a Royal Television Society TV Retweeted event, the All3Media-owned indie’s digital exec said it was vital for TV producers and broadcasters to have a clear idea about the reasons for creating profiles across social networks such as Instagram, Tumblr and YouTube. If promoting a show to a wider audience is the main aim, then Jones advised encouraging the programme’s talent to tweet, rather than trying to create a show-specific account. “If you are simply trying to market your show then talent is your best vehicle rather than trying to build up thousands of followers to a show’s account,” Jones said. He added that while Twitter was unlikely to have a significant effect on a show’s live audience, tweets sent by talent could drive VoD
Embarrassing Bodies: Twitter account is used to source ideas from viewers
views. “Only once or twice have we really made an impact on a show’s ratings – when the talent involved had more than 10 million followers,” he said. “Where they can make a difference is in VoD, where we have seen an uplift from 10,000 to 100,000 views. It’s partly because you are able to reach a global audience.” Jones pointed to other wider benefits Twitter could offer, explaining that Maverick’s Embarrassing Bodies and Film4 accounts are used to canvas opinion and source ideas from viewers.
Twitter UK head of broadcast partnerships Dan Biddle added that it was vital to help talent understand the benefits of tweeting. “Explain that by tweeting a show, it will get more amplification which may help secure a recommission.” ➤ Twitter’s UK managing director Bruce Daisley will speak at the Media Summit on Wednesday 4 June, visit www.creativeweek.co.uk
Hope for film rights as Sparke lets go of Mercury Tim Sparke is hopeful that a new distributor will help represent Mercury Media’s catalogue of documentaries after he was forced to close his company due to illness. Sparke has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and has wound down boutique documentary distributor Mercury in recent weeks, making six people redundant. Sparke founded Mercury in 2000 and his brother Andrew Sparke has been helping run the company this year while he has undergone a number of operations. Mercury was also put up for sale, but Tim Sparke was unable to find the right buyer. It turned over more than £1m last year and had a catalogue of 130 films, including Young, Mormon And Single and The Four Year Plan. The United States Of Amnesia, Oxyana and The God Question were also among its titles. All the international rights have been handed back to the producers, but Sparke is hopeful that another, unnamed distributor, will take on the films in the coming weeks. Sparke said he was sad to let go of Mercury, but insisted that spending time with his family has become more important than ever.
BBC renews e-book push with updated D-Day title BY ALEXANDRA CHAPMAN
The BBC has renewed its push into the e-book market with the release of an updated D-Day title to mark the 70th anniversary of the landings. The corporation will publish a revised interactive edition of D-Day’s Last Heroes on 1 June, which will be free to download via iTunes and features unseen and uncut video interviews with D-Day survivors. Based on BBC1 series D-Day: The Last Heroes, the e-book forms part of a pilot launched in February 2013 “to use original BBC content in new and innovative ways”. 6 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
We were quite keen to see what market there might be Jonathan Renouf, BBC Science
D-Day’s Last Heroes: free on iTunes
The BBC is preparing a marketing push on the release following ITV’s move into the e-book market last week with its own title, If I Don’t Come Home – Letters From D-Day. Other brands that have created
e-books under the BBC’s pilot include Secrets Of Bones, A CBeebies Christmas Carol, Treasures Of Ancient Egypt and Operation Grand Canyon. “We were keen to see what market there might be for this kind of download-to-own experience, and to assess the practicality of embedding e-book production
within television programme production teams,” said BBC Science executive producer Jonathan Renouf, who is leading the e-book trial. He added: “A significant driver for the trial was the availability of Apple’s iBooks author software, which is free and easy to use. However, books created using this tool cannot be published to other platforms, so we have used Mag+ software to convert the e-books so they can be published to Android and Kindle.” The BBC’s first commercial e-book, based on Doctor Who, will be published next month. All other e-books remain free to download. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
International News
The talent talks from LA Peter White talks to the creators and executive producers of hot shows from the screenings Anthony Zuiker Executive producer, CSI: Cyber You realise that the amplification of crime is happening right now. There’s a 1.0 version that you’re used to, which we brought to the world back in 2000, and now there’s a 2.0 version of the crime of tomorrow, which is cyber-crime. A child pornographer back in the day would have had Polaroid images in a shoebox under his bed. Now they would be going on the deep web, sharing thousands upon thousands of images, normalising it and circulating it. I think we’re all quite proud that we’re not doing a CSI in another city, and we’re proud that in Patricia Arquette we have a female lead in our franchise for the first time. David Shore Executive producer, Battle Creek (below) A lot of people had the Battle Creek script sitting in a drawer for many years, and we thought we should make it. It’s extremely rare that a show takes so long, but it shouldn’t be. There are so many crappy things that end up on the air, and so many good things that don’t. The system is flawed, so going back ten years and taking another look is never a bad idea. I’d met Vince [Gilligan, co-creator] a couple of times and we got along well and seemed to have similar sensibilities. House and Breaking Bad both have very smart characters, grounded with a sense of humour. You just try to make it as well as you can and not be 8 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
Marry Me: the series was pitched just two weeks after David Capse’s creation Happy Endings was cancelled
aware of the fact that it’s going to be compared to House and Breaking Bad. With Battle Creek we’re examining humanity again, but I think it has a different appeal. Morgan Freeman & Lori McCreary Executive producers, Madam Secretary It started at a lunch with Nina Tassler [CBS Entertainment chairman] at which we talked about things CBS was looking for. It was right around the time of the Benghazi hearing with Hillary Clinton and she was just so great; we were so impressed by how forceful she was. We started talking about what went on when she went back to her office, and what happened when she went home to talk to Bill. Then we thought exploring the secretary of state’s office would make a really great show.
Gary Glasberg Executive producer, NCIS: New Orleans I learned there was an NCIS office in New Orleans that is run by one man, and I was intrigued because all of the other offices around the world are larger. You’re constantly looking for ways to keep the franchise going and to inject some enthusiasm, some quirk into the characters, and this was an opportunity. With the backdrop of New Orleans, that felt different enough that it would open all kinds of doors story-wise for us. Matthew Perry Executive producer, The Odd Couple I was intrigued about playing the part of Oscar Madison; I was a big fan of the play, the movie and the TV show. I’m very similar to him, I understand him. I thought it was time to be in front of a studio audience once again. I’ve battled against it for ten
years and finally decided that’s what I really like doing and it’s what I’m best at, so doing The Odd Couple was the dream. They let me write the script, which was nice of them. It’s important to be able to play a creative part as well. To be able to watch over things and not just be a talking head on a TV show was important to me. David Caspe Executive producer, Marry Me I loved making Happy Endings and I was bummed it got cancelled. Two weeks later I came up with Marry Me – they don’t give you long. I’m under contract with Sony, so when your show gets cancelled, you have to pitch new shows very soon. I just racked my brain to find something funny and came up with a cold opening of a totally botched marriage proposal. When you get super funny people it makes it so much easier – you’ll get a laugh on things that weren’t a joke and add shit on set. It’s a huge luxury. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
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Multiplatform News In Brief LoveLive launches app Music media company LoveLive TV has launched a free app on LG Smart televisions that will enable users to access an archive of live music performances and interviews. The app features performances from acts including Katy Perry, Florence And The Machine and Bombay Bicycle Club. “Fans have an insatiable hunger for high-quality music content, and they’re increasingly consuming in more visual ways,” said LoveLive chief executive Richard Cohen.
Shine Now V0D launches on Roku set-top boxes
S4C joins Facebook S4C has launched a Facebook app that will allow users to watch its programming without leaving the social networking site. The Welsh language broadcaster worked with Microcosm Games to develop the service. S4C digital manager Huw Marshall said: “70,000 under 20-year-olds on Facebook have noted on their profiles that they understand Welsh. Putting S4C on Facebook places the channel in among them.”
New addition to Summit The BBC’s head of iPlayer has joined the line-up for next week’s Media Summit, taking part in the Online And Television: Best Of Frenemies? panel. Dan Taylor will join Facebook UK and Ireland regional director Steve Hatch and YouTube/Google director of branding for northern and central Europe David Benson.
UBC acquires 7digital Multimedia production company UBC Media has agreed to buy digital download provider 7digital for £16.5m. Following the deal, UBC will form a new business, dubbed 7digital Group, which is to float on the stock market in June with an anticipated value of £29m. The acquisition forms part of UBC’s plan to become a global business for digital music and radio.
For the latest breaking news www.broadcastnow.co.uk 10 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
Got To Dance: consumers will be able to view the show for free with pre-roll advertising, or rent an ad-free version By Alex Farber
Shine Group wants to give more international consumers direct access to its content on a variety of digital platforms after launching VoD service Shine Now. The super-indie debuted the app, which features more than 200 hours of scripted and non-scripted content, on the internet-connected Roku set-top box this week. The deal will enable consumers to view shows including Educating Essex and Got To Dance for free with pre-roll advertising, or pay up to £1.20 ($1.99) to rent ad-free versions. Shine International digital consultant Gordon Synn said the service was likely to be rolled out across other platforms with talks under way with potential partners, including games console Xbox. “Digital media is opening up all sorts of possibilities. We have made a set of strategic decisions based on the business model, territory and platform. We launched on Roku because it is a leading platform in the US and offers a well-designed, user-friendly experience,” he said. “But we have
We are bringing in incremental revenue to the existing business Gordon Synn, Shine International
begun discussions with others about the possibility of growing it out in several stages.” Synn added that Roku was also chosen as a launch platform because it is accessed via a TV rather than tablet or PC, meaning users are more likely to accept preroll advertising. A UK launch is also under consideration, either via Roku, which is available domestically, or another platform. “The US is key when we are offering ad-supported VoD due to the size of the potential audience, but Shine Now has the potential to expand internationally,” said Synn. Shine International chief executive officer Nadine Nohr added: “We look forward to collaborating with Roku further to grow Shine Now’s reach in the future.” While a subscription model is appropriate for “super-premium”
players such as Netflix and Hulu, according to Synn, ad funding is more appropriate for Shine’s mix of scripted and non-scripted programming. He added that the distributor was being careful not to risk disrupting relationships with its broadcaster partners. “Shine Now gives us a way to monetise our content, especially for those shows which are not earning significant sums elsewhere,” he said. “We are bringing in incremental revenue and being very careful not to cannibalise the existing business.” Along with the revenuegenerating potential, the app will also allow Shine to market its shows to audiences which may not previously have been aware of them – paving the way for potentially lucrative TV deals. The launch of Shine Now follows All3Media’s decision to launch a direct-to-consumer connected TV app in 2012. The service, branded All3Media in the UK and Best of British in the US, features shows from its roster of 20 indies on LG and Samsung TVs. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
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Technology & Facilities Creative review
My Granny the Escort
England’s Top…
Building the World Cup
Post Envy Client Minnow Films Brief Provide picture and audio post for documentary about Britain’s granny escort industry, in which pensioners discuss what it’s like to sell sex in their 80s. How it was done The one-off documentary was self-shot by director Charlie Russell. Dubbing mixer Bob Jackson said the audio was particularly challenging and required a lot of noise reduction and enhancement techniques, using iZotope RX and Cedar software. It was also necessary to disguise the voices of some of the participants. This was achieved using pitch shift. Together with music by Tim Goalen, this helped to create an amusing soundtrack for the documentary. The final mix was completed by Matt Skilton. Peter Lynch completed the grade using Baselight while online editor Dicky Everton used Avid Symphony. Watch it Thursday, 10pm, C4
Post Fifty Fifty and Tamborine Client EVR Productions Brief Picture and audio post production of the 3 x 60-minute list series in which celebrities including Adrian Chiles and Gary Lineker take an offbeat view of England’s heroes, goals, successes and failures. How it was done The series was shot across the country with a transportable, compact set to enable a range of contributors to comment on the clips in the shows. This meant one of the challenges of the grade was to match the lighting setup across each set. Colourist Robin Doelly achieved this using Avid DS. Tamborine’s Andrew West mixed the audio using Pro Tools v10. His priority was to build the excitement of the show by smoothly combining the crowd and commentary pieces, while blending in music from the different eras that feature in the series. Watch it Tuesdays, 9pm, Dave
Post Rapid Pictures Client Blink Films for Discovery Brief Provide picture and audio post for the 3 x 60-minute documentary about the people responsible for building and renovating football stadiums in Brazil that will stage the World Cup. It includes the refurbishment of Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã Stadium. How it was done A challenge in post-production was working with many different formats and frame rates from a variety of sources. These included a lot of archive material, which online editor Matt Eversfield graded and onlined using Avid Symphony Nitris to create a consistent look. Alchemist was used for the frame rate conversions. The many industrial and building-site locations required extensive sound restoration work by engineer Matt Cheney, who used Pro Tools and iZotope RX plug-ins. Watch it Tuesdays, 9pm, Quest
You can view clips at broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils/creative-review To include your work email george.bevir@broadcastnow.co.uk
IABM picks Caryn Cohen to head North America push The IABM (International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers) has appointed Caryn Cohen (pictured) to the new role of director for North America. Cohen will be the IABM’s main representative in the US and Canada, leading its operations and business development in the region. IABM chief executive Peter White said: “In trying to serve a global industry, it is clearly crucial to have strong leadership in North America, and Caryn brings the right balance of industry knowledge, experience and passion to this new role.” Cohen joins the IABM from the Dundee Hills Group, where she 12 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
was founding partner of Wall Street Communications.
Encompass teams up with LTN in IP transmission move Encompass is working with LTN and its managed IP network to deploy IP transmission kits including multi-channel HD encoding for sports, news, entertainment and corporate events. Encompass, which has playout operations in the UK, US, Argentina, and Singapore, will use its New York facility as a point-of-presence for LTN. “With the demand rising for reliable, broadcast-quality IP delivery, Encompass is not only embracing this trend, but is looking one step ahead into what we see as a rapidly growing deliv-
ery technology,” said Encompass executive vice president of global occasional services Chris Myers.
Blackmagic Design shows off in HD with demo truck Blackmagic Design has built an Ultra HD demonstration vehicle to show off some of its latest kit. The truck will showcase UltraHD, 6G SDI and 12G SDI technology, with the company’s Studio Camera, ATEM 2M/E Production Studio 4K and Smart Videohub 20x20 used to demonstrate a live production workflow. A DaVinci Resolve grading suite will provide a demonstration of Resolve 4K on a Sony PVM X300 4K reference monitor.
BBC Sport dons TSL audio kit for World Cup coverage BBC Sport will use two TSL Products SoundField X-1 Upmix/ Downmix Processors (pictured)
during the World Cup. “The various audio elements that contribute to a sports programme, from studio and location dialogue, commentary, voice overs, phone calls, music, sound effects, actuality sound to crowd atmosphere will come into us from a wide variety of mono, stereo and 5.1 sources,” said BBC Sport sound supervisor Dave Lee. The devices will supplement the six processors that are permanently installed at the broadcaster’s MediaCityUK base for regional and international events through the sporting calendar. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
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Technology & Facilities Week HD Platform Post backs genre Creative stream to weigh up shift with office expansion pros and cons of 4K BY GEORGE BEVIR
Platform Post Production has taken two more floors at its D’Arblay Street offices in central London as it looks to broaden the range of genres it works on. The expansion into the facility’s ground floor and basement will increase its size by about 30%. Platform director Simon Cruse said: “It is the biggest expansion we have ever undertaken; we’re going from seven Avid Media Composer rooms to 12, and building additional online and audio rooms.” Cruse said CBBC’s move to Salford had prompted Platform to expand its client base beyond children’s TV. It is targeting comedy and documentary programming. “We have a lot of repeat business to accommodate, but there is also a change of emphasis,” he said. “Some of the people we previously worked with in children’s programmes have moved to other genres, and that has helped convince us we could make it work, particularly from a comedy point of view.”
Hank Zipzer: Platform Post provided post-production on the CBBC series
Cruse said Platform considered opening an additional facility in Salford, but decided expanding in London was the best way to invest. Platform is now working with AKA, Oakwood, White Mark and Wire Broadcast on the £400,000 extension of its Soho base, which it expects to finish by mid July. In addition to the offline suites, Platform will house four online
suites, consisting of two Flames, one Symphony Nitris with Baselight Editions and the fourth with either Smoke on Mac or Symphony Nitris. It will also house three Pro Tools audio rooms each with a voiceover booth, a Baselight suite and a graphics area. Platform is also installing Cat6 cabling and optical fibre to provide the facility with the bandwidth to work on 4K projects.
Bafta uses Quixel Pro to deliver 50-plus packages
De Lane Lea opts for Adder to kit out Soho facility
Bafta used the Quixel Pro platform to distribute more than 50 broadcast content packages to rights holders around the world for its TV awards. The high definition packages ranged from threeminute video news releases to 25-minute highlight programmes and were uploaded using Quixel’s simultaneous encode and upload engine. Bafta production manager Ryan Doherty said: “We used to spend a lot of man hours transferring rushes onto hard drives and sending them out with couriers, which was very labour-intensive process. Quixel has streamlined our workflow.”
Warner Bros De Lane Lea has installed Adder Technology’s AdderLink Infinity range at its Soho facility. Adder supplied three of the keyboard, video and mouse systems to allow engineers to reconfigure the mixing stages based on the requirements of its customers. The installation is part of Warner Bros De Lane Lea’s upgrade of equipment across its audio suites. The Adder deal was facilitated through reseller IP Performance.
TriCaster platform gets ISO recording and instant recall Newtek has upgraded its TriCaster multi-camera video production www.broadcastnow.co.uk
systems (pictured). All systems now offer full ISO recording capabilities and the ability to instantly recall highlights with integrated replay. The addition of “virtual genlock” has been designed to ensure frame accuracy between ISO recordings and to simplify the use of recorded media in non-linear editing systems. The new features, which also include improved monitoring and content viewing, as well as interoperability with 3Play integrated sports production systems, are available at no cost for owners of Newtek’s 8000, 860, 460 and 410 models.
200 LiveU portable video devices to cover World Cup More than 200 LiveU backpack and camera-mounted cellular bonding devices will be deployed across the 12 host cities in Brazil during next month’s World Cup. The units will offer live video transmission, as well as hot spot connectivity via the
A panel of industry experts will discuss the merits of moving beyond HD during next week’s Creative Week. Despite TV manufacturers touting the benefits of 4K displays, an increasing array of 4K-capable broadcast equipment, and more broadcasters trialling the technology, some question the commercial, artistic and editorial benefits of 4K. The 4K Council session is one of seven taking place during the HD Evolved stream of Creative Week. IHS Screen Digest principal analyst Ed Border will open the session with an analysis of the market and a potential 4K roadmap. BBC technology controller television Andy King, EBU senior project manager Adi Kouadio, Panasonic Professional Camera Solutions Business Unit group manager Nigel Wilkes and Ericsson strategic product manager Mark Horton will also offer their views. Creative Week takes place from Tuesday 3 June at Bafta in central London. ➤ For more information, visit creativeweek.co.uk
LiveU DataBridge system for use by broadcasters from 30 countries. LiveU vice president of marketing Ronen Artman said: “This is a tremendous opportunity for media companies — be that broadcast or online or a combination of the two — to show how dynamic they can be in what’s a very competitive arena.”
TDF picks Envivio for 4K French Open streaming Envivio’s compression technology has been used by French broadcaster TDF for live 4K streaming of the French Open to compatible TV sets in France. The softwarebased video processing and delivery technology firm described it as the world’s first digital terrestrial television broadcast video transmission delivered in 4K using HEVC (H.265) compression. The 4K video is encoded at 50fps using Envivio Muse encoding software. 30 May 2014 | Broadcast | 15
Comment
Everything the BBC has created in the line of business over its 90-year history has value Bill Thompson, Production, page 24
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TV set for home innovation Platforms will need to share plans to compete, says Nigel Walley
W
e are in a strange hiatus in TV. After the confusing rush of smart TV initiatives, we have come to a short pause in distribution innovation. There’s the launch of the odd dongle – Google Chromecast, Roku etc – and the odd new entrant, like Netflix, that confuses matters. But in the big scheme, these are minor things and we are in a waiting period before the next big platform innovations hit. As we wait, one thing has become clear: TV has been bundled into a bigger ‘triple-play’ telecoms business. BT’s decision to give away football to subscribers of their broadband service was a wake-up call. Football was meant to be the crown jewels of the pay-TV business, so why was a telco giving them away? In this context, it’s hard to avoid the idea that content is being commoditised in this new era. But what will replace content as king? It can’t be broadband, as that is the ultimate commodity. But what else do we care about? The rise of the ‘smart’ gadget has given us a hint. The amount of time that a consumer will spend configuring their smartphone and tablet has never been replicated in the TV world. We buy a telly or set-top box and it just works. We don’t add to it or change it. However, the next great tech wave to hit our homes might change this. We are finally making credible steps towards the ‘smart’ or ‘connected’ home and the TV industry (or at least the triple-play TV telcos) is in a great position to capitalise on it. In this first wave of the connected home, we own the key bit of kit – the home gateway – and the set-top box plugs right into it. The new generation of set-top boxes emerging in the US offer home automation, security and net-
worked media and push a full TV service to every screen in the house. TV companies that offer these new services have enjoyed a resurgence in subscriptions. Functionality is now king. However, for the UK platforms, this vision is problematic. The free-to-air platforms need their shareholders to unshackle them to innovate in this area. Most importantly, the free-to-air platforms need to be allowed to develop user relationships and keep data (as Freesat has very quietly started doing). For all the boxes, success in this area is dependent on being in control of your software road map. This is where the YouView project gets interesting, with three competitive companies (including YouView’s own retail business) sharing an operating system and a road map. The question that people are starting to ask is whether BT and TalkTalk can truly compete in a TV-centric connected home era if they have to share a development plan with each other – and with a company that competes with them in the retail sphere. They need to show the market that they can innovate separately around a shared operating system. Interesting times are ahead. ➤ Nigel Walley is managing director of Decipher. He is speaking at the ‘Gateway to the Connected Home’ session at the Media Summit on Wednesday 4 June at Bafta. For more details and to book visit www.creativeweek.co.uk
‘TV has been bundled into a bigger “tripleplay” telecoms business’
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PROGRAMME 9:20 OPENING ADDRESS: CHAIR TORIN DOUGLAS 9:30 KEYNOTE INTERVIEW: The growth of the UK film industry and Warner Bros’ creative contribution, from Harry Potter to Gravity.
Stuart Murphy
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10:00 ONLINE AND TELEVISION: BEST OF FRENEMIES? Steve Hatch, regional director UK & Ireland, Facebook; David Benson, director of branding northern and central Europe, YouTube/Google; Dan Taylor, head of iPlayer, BBC
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Emma Scott
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12.30 KEYNOTE INTERVIEW: TURNING ROUND ITV: new content, channels and revenue streams Adam Crozier, chief executive, ITV
13:00 LUNCH & NETWORKING 14:00 KEYNOTE: Gateway to the Connected Home. John Petter
Simon Fox
Sue Macmillan
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Tuesday 3 June, RADA Studios TO QUOTA OR NOT TO QUOTA? The panel will discuss how to achieve real change in the ethnic make-up of TV’s workforce and whether it is time for a more radical solution to embrace the idea of quotas. Trevor Phillips OBE, former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission; Krishnan Guru-Murthy, presenter, Channel 4 News; Simon Albury, chair at Campaign for Broadcasting Equality CIO; Stuart Cosgrove, director of creative diversity, Channel 4 PRACTICAL STEPS FOR MAKING YOUR PRODUCTION MORE DIVERSE This panel aims to offer producers and executives practical advice on how they can go about making their teams more diverse. Damian Jones, producer, DJ Films; Nigel Warner, Creative Access; Kate O’Connor, executive director, Creative Skillset; Michelle Matherson, talent executive, Shiver; Priscilla Baffour, industry talent specialist, Channel 4; Simone Pennant, founder / director, The TV Collective Please note: To attend Diversify you must be a Creative Week ticket holder, holding a pass for any of the summits or for the entire week. Brought to you by:
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Nigel Walley, managing director, Decipher; John Petter, chief executive, BT Consumer Division; Emma Scott, managing director, Freesat
14.50 KEYNOTE PANEL: Digital Disruption. Simon Fox, chief executive, Trinity Mirror; Matt Elek, MD EMEA, Vice Media; Sue Macmillan, commercial director, Mumsnet
15:40 REFRESHMENTS AND NETWORKING 16.00 KEYNOTE DESIGNOLGY: How design and technology must be indivisible to be successful. James Hilton, creative director and co-founder, AKQA; Ben Jones, chief technology director, AKQA
16:40 NEW MONEY FOR GREAT CONTENT: Paying for TV’s golden age Farah Ramzan Golant, chief executive, All3Media; Stuart Murphy, director of entertainment channels, Sky
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PROGRAMME 10:00 OPENING ADDRESS: UK VFX A POWERHOUSE FOR IDEAS: How the UK punches above its weight on the world stage. Alex Hope, managing director and co-founder, Double Negative
Graham Jack
Mike McGee
Simon Whalley
Hayden Jones
10:10 VISIONARY VFX: Exploring possibilities for VFX in harnessing cutting-edge technology and techniques. Mike McGee, creative director and co-founder, Framestore; Graham Jack, chief technical officer, Double Negative
10.50 REFRESHMENTS AND NETWORKING Damien Fagnou
Pat Joseph
Andre Assalino
Hugo Guerra
11:10 CREATIVE CROSS-POLLINATION: Opportunities for mixing VFX skills with other creative industries. Stuart Aitken, creative director, Axis; Simon Whalley, executive producer, Framestore; Andre Assalino, interactive creative director, MPC; Hugo Guerra, VFX supervisor/head of Nuke, The Mill
12.30 LUNCH AND NETWORKING Phil Dobree
Will Cohen
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Stuart Aitken
13:30 CHANGING THE VIEW: How VFX workflows are being revolutionised. Gil James, business development and VFX producer, Nvizible; Damien Fagnou, global head of VFX operations, MPC; Hayden Jones, VFX supervisor, DNeg TV; Bob Mayson, managing director, RealD; Rob Holmes, joint head of 3D, The Mill; Brad Blackbourn, director, IO Entertainment
14:20 THE SQUEEZED MIDDLE: How can VFX studios deliver more value to productions? Gil James
Richard Scott
Bob Mayson
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Will Cohen, CEO, Milk; Phil Dobree, CEO, Jellyfish; Tim Haines, creative director, ITV Studios; Jenny Cooper, business development, Nvizible/N-Group; Carlo Massarella, creative director, Windfall Films
15:10 REFRESHMENTS AND NETWORKING 15:30 UNREALITY CHECKED: How can the VFX skills gap be addressed? Jenny Cooper
Tim Haines
Carlo Massarella
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PROGRAMME 10:00 THE UHD PRIMER: Where we are with 4k, who is doing what and what might come next? Ed Border, principal analyst, IHS Screen Digest
10:15 THE 4K COUNCIL: Do we really need UHD? Thomas Urbye
Dado Valentic
Rebekah Wray Rogers
Adi Kouadio, senior project manager, EBU; Mark Horton, strategic product manager, Ericsson; Andy King, technology controller, BBC
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11:00 CASE STUDY: WAR HORSE – How War Horse was broadcast live across the world. Emma Keith, producer, National Theatre Live
11:45 4K THAT: A PRODUCER’S GUIDE TO UHD Adi Kouadio
Ruth Sessions
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Bill Scanlon, producer, world’s first LIVE UHD 4k broadcast over international satellite; Rebekah Wray Rogers, producer, Utopia and This is England ‘88
12:45 LUNCH & NETWORKING 14:00 THE RESOLUTION REVOLUTION: The pros and cons of high-resolution formats. Simon Cruse
Mark Horton
Audrey Aquilina
Thomas Urbye, managing director, The Look; Simon Cruse, colourist, Platform Post; Audrey Aquilina, lighting/camera/DP, Anywhere Films; Dado Valentic, chief colourist and founder, Mytherapy; Colin Elves, DOP; Ed Moore, DOP
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15:00 THE POST PERSPECTIVE: Dealing with the additional demands that 4k brings. David Klafkowski, managing and technical director, The Farm; Rik Tester, post production supervisor, ONSIGHT
THURSDAY 5 JUNE EVENING EVENT Creative Week is delighted to be hosting Screen International’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ exclusive party, with drinks and canapés included. Now in its 11th year, this annual feature spotlights up-and-coming UK actors and filmmakers that will be making waves in the years to come.
16:00 CASE STUDY: DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM ALIVE Ruth Sessions, director of operations, Atlantic Productions; Richard Mills, CTO, ONSIGHT
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PROGRAMME 9:30 OPENING ADDRESS 9:45 PANEL DEBATE: THE DISTRIBUTORS - What are the challenges faced by distributors in an ever consolidating TV business?
Nadine Nohr
Steve Macallister
Douglas Davis
Louise Pedersen
Paul Dempsey, president global markets, BBC Worldwide; Ruth Clarke, director of global acquisitions and co-productions, ITV Studios; Mark Lawrence, executive director, Endemol Worldwide Distribution; Nadine Nohr, CEO, Shine International; Steve Macallister, CEO, Zodiak Rights; Louise Pedersen, MD, All3Media International
10:45 REFRESHMENTS AND NETWORKING 11:20 PANEL DEBATE: THE PRODUCERS - A panel session of UK indies discussing their needs when it comes to international distribution. Catherine Mackin
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Richard Bradley, MD, Lion TV; Danny Fenton, MD, Zig Zag; Ian Lamarra, creative director, Alaska TV; Tom Brisley, creative director, Arrow Media
12:00 THE INTERNATIONAL ENTRANTS: With international companies competing aggressively with UK distributors for the best global content we look at some of the most competitive companies in this space. Mark Lawrence
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12:45 LUNCH & NETWORKING 14:00 PANEL: THE BUYERS - What are the UK buyers looking for?
Keren Shahar
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Sarah Wright, head of acquisitions, Sky; Catherine Mackin, director of programme acquisitions, UKTV; Toby Etheridge, head of programming UK, Fox; Katie Keenan, head of acquisitions, Channel 5
14:45 THE NEW CONTENDERS: Who are the new players that are moving into this business of international distribution? Wayne Davison, commercial director, DRG; Karoline Spodsberg, MD, Banijay International; Munia Kanna-Konsek, head of sales, Beyond Distribution; Paul Heaney, MD, TCB Media Rights; Jane Millichip, MD, Sky Vision
Karoline Spodsberg
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15:30 REFRESHMENTS AND NETWORKING 16:00 THE DIGITAL DISTRIBUTORS: This panel session looks at how the distributors approach the digital players and how essential these deals are becoming.
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Jonathan Ford
Jan Salling
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Will Ennett, head of TV content, TalkTalk; Gary Woolf, SVP digital and business development, All3Media; Jonathan Ford, EVP, Content Television & Digital; Douglas Davis, director of content acquisitions and sales, Blinkbox
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The web is egalitarian – all Streaming technology you need is a great idea can’t kill the radio star Web series are opening up many possibilities for writers and directors, says Lisa Gifford
Broadcast radio remains the most popular in-car entertainment, says Michael Hill
I
3some: award-winning series has screened at several international festivals
D
irectors UK’s recent report suggests that in some areas, doors aren’t opening for female directors. Perhaps women are off the radar to those calling the shots. But there has never been a better time to get yourself noticed. Once, potential TV directors were at a disadvantage. New filmmakers could make a short film, attempt to get it screened on the festival circuit, and use that as a springboard to feature films. There was no comparable route for those wanting to break into TV. But today, web series are opening the door to new entrants to show what they can do. The genre arguably came of age with Netflix’s House Of Cards and Orange Is The New Black. There’s a huge variance in both the quality and the budget of web series. Back in the mid-1990s, it was all about short animations and sketch comedy. In 2010, the BBC launched EastEnders spin-off E20, primarily as a training ground for new writers. Now fledgling channel London Live is putting web series Brothers With No Game and All About The McKenzies on TV. The web is an egalitarian space; all directors need is something as rudimentary as a webcam or an www.broadcastnow.co.uk
‘If the core idea and execution is solid, usually the work will find an audience’ iPhone. It is up to the writer and director to come up with the story or format that is best served by the resources available to them. There is an audience both for shows filmed on a webcam in a bedroom and for large-budget productions. If the core idea and execution is solid, usually the work will find an audience and garner attention. My own web series, 3some, has screened at festivals internationally and has won multiple awards, including the Indie Series Award for Best Writing in a Drama, at an award ceremony hosted in Hollywood. While in LA, I had a series of meetings with the studios. None of that would have happened if I hadn’t created the series to showcase my work. What got me through the door was running a series with more than half a million viewers. That’s what the web offers – the chance to go out into the industry and prove what you can do. ➤ Lisa Gifford is a writer and director For a longer version of this article, visit www.broadcastnow.co.uk
n a few years’ time, I’m hoping to replace my old car. I like to think I’ll be able to afford a model with Apple’s new CarPlay system. It’d be great to use the maps, listen to my music and send and receive messages using Siri. But there’s one thing I’m worried about. CarPlay is the long-awaited ‘iOS in the car’. I’ve seen the videos and screenshots of it in action and it looks great. I’ve spotted its music services, mapping and messaging and seen how it fits in with other dashboard features. But there’s no sign of a radio button. Like many drivers, I listen to lots of radio while I’m at the wheel. Recent studies tell us that broadcast radio remains the most popular entertainment option in cars. Car companies are obsessive about knowing their customers. It takes a long time to design and build a new vehicle, so it’s got be right. Most of us can’t update the family vehicle very often, so technology going into cars now is going to be around for a few years to come. That’s why I’m certain there’s an easy answer to all this. But burying the radio, or worse still, losing it all together, is not the answer.
And when I say a radio, I mean a proper broadcast radio, with FM or DAB, not some kind of mobile streaming arrangement. Nobody wants to crunch through their data plan and put up with buffering every time they tune in. It’s a conundrum most of the big names in the auto industry are wrestling with and many are developing their own systems. Radioplayer recently teamed up with Ford to launch its SYNC AppLink technology, which lets you control smartphone apps while driving.
‘Nobody wants to put up with buffering every time they tune in’ We’re prototyping ‘app-like’ hybrid radio interfaces, as well as making sure all our current apps are fit for ‘in-car’ purpose. In a car, an easy-to-use radio is as essential as a proper heater. It’s not something customers will ask about in the showroom, but we’re certain they’ll be pretty upset about it if there isn’t one in their shiny new dashboard. ➤ Michael Hill is managing director of Radioplayer For a longer version of this article, visit www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Apple iTunes CarPlay: ‘iOS in the car’ looks great but has no radio button 30 May 2014 | Broadcast | 23
Production RESTORATION AND ARCHIVE
Opening the vaults of history Archives are being mined in increasingly ingenious ways to offer greater public access and fresh revenue streams. Adrian Pennington examines four major projects BBC ARCHIVE PROJECT With a million hours of TV and radio content split over 4 million physical items, making the most of the BBC archive to ensure public access and to extract commercial value is a real challenge. Initiated in 2008 by inaugural BBC director of archive content Roly Keating, and continued under Tony Ageh, this twin approach is consistent with the repackaging of programming on iPlayer and plans for a downloadto-own BBC Store. Managed by BBC Worldwide, the store is expected to include 4,000 hours of archive material with around 1,000 new hours added each year. While most of the film archive is housed in Perivale, some is in the safe-keeping of institutions such as the BFI, which maintains the National TV Archive. Nor does it stop at audio visual assets, with written archives held in Caversham and 10 million still photographs.
Adding value “We tend to think about the massive TV and radio collection but that does not account for everything that the BBC does, nor everything that has value,” says BBC head of partnership development Bill Thompson. “Stills and documents, including contracts, scripts, production notes and budgets – everything the BBC has created in the line of business over its 90-year history has value.” Thompson is tasked with improving access to the archive via collaborations with institutions such as the National Library of Scotland, V&A Museum and Museum of Wales. Out of this emerged BBC2 documentary I Was There: The Great War Interviews (above), which used previously unseen footage shot for 1964 BBC series The Great War. The original 16mm rushes from 280 eyewit24 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
‘Contracts, scripts, production notes – everything the BBC has created over its 90-year history has value’ Bill Thompson
nesses of World War I were held at the Imperial War Museum and restored, digitised and painstakingly synchronised with sound tracks. Some of the interviews were then added to iPlayer as part of the corporation’s wider World War I centenary activity. The BBC’s wider ambition for iPlayer to offer exclusive content and complementary material to scheduled shows will create more opportunities to mine the archives. As part of director general Tony Hall’s arts push, Thompson is exploring with the Royal Shakespeare Company how the BBC’s archives could generate content for the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death in 2016. Thompson says that opening up the archive has benefits outside of the BBC. “The internet makes it possible for holders of even the smallest collections to feel they can share old recordings,” he says. “Many of them won’t understand hurdles around rights issues, for example, so one of the things we can do for other organisations is to show them how to clear the rights minefield.”
RESTORING THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN ITV’s 1984 mini-series The Jewel In The Crown has been given a facelift for international distribution. The multi-Bafta-winning drama series, produced by Granada Television, charts the final days of the British Raj in India during World War II. Shot on 16mm film, much of it on location, the brief for the BBC Studios and Post Production Digital Media Services team was to integrate source footage with archive and historical material so that the 13 restored episodes had a consistent look and feel. Working from the original A/B rolls held in ITV Studios Global Entertainment’s archive, BBC S&PP scanned and conformed the material to produce a single timeline. The negatives were passed through an ultrasonic film cleaner and then a film scanner for output to 2K. The team over-scanned the picture area so they could stabilise any jumps in the footage. The digitised scans were then graded in Nucoda Film Master, with each frame manually checked to correct any scratch, stain or dust that the automated process had either missed or over-fixed.
➤ www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Production
ADVERTORIAL GETTY IMAGES/BBC MOTION GALLERY
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Better together and better for all Getty Images is the world’s largest licensor of digital media, so immediately this presents BBC Motion Gallery with a great opportunity to scale its sales into new international markets. The BBC archive holds huge provenance and comes with the very highest of reputations for its quality of production. As a result, we’ve been itching to work with BBC Motion Gallery for years. We feel the partnership will bring with it a positive halo effect for our wider video licensing business.
Q What content will be made available?
The BBC Motion Gallery archive holds more than a million hours of video that is available for licensing through Getty Images. This touches pretty much every genre. The only content we don’t have are the programmes currently being held for sales and distribution by BBC Worldwide, such as recent episodes of Top Gear, Doctor Who and Sherlock.
Q How much of it will be available online?
We have more than 100,000 clips available and ready to license without any additional rights checking or approvals. These clips are largely talent free, ambient or establishing shot-type clips, but certainly include Natural History Unit material, which is phenomenally successful. We have also made a commitment to upload a further 10,000 clips this year and will continue to collaborate with www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Saris: 1B08794_0002 BBC Motion Gallery/Getty Images
Body left - indent. Style for subsequent paragraphs which should begin with a paragraph indent. Getty Images senior sales director for UK and Ireland Chris Prior explains how an exclusive five-year deal making it the Nativ. “Linear broadcast uses a lot global distributor for high the BBC of expensive kit with very opera-Motion Gallery archive will benefit not only both parties but the wider TV industry too tional costs. Distribution to other makesisGetty IP-enabled platforms based on Q What Q Will researchers and ImagesITaand good producers benefit from commoditised is apartner lot more for BBC Motion Gallery? the change? cost-effective.”
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includes all the sales guys who worked closest to the BBC Motion Gallery content at BBC Worldwide over the past few years. So it is the same great people, just different email addresses, telephone numbers and, of course, a new website to search.
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Gallery be integrated into your portfolio? The collection will obviously retain its incredibly strong identity, but it will now be discoverable through search side-by-side with the many other video partners available via our website.
The most immediate benefit will be via the continued investment we are making into our websites, the process of search and discoverability, and our commitment to making the customer experience as friction-less as possible. We also hope those people that are new to Getty Images enjoy the personal level of service our sales teams offer – we’re all very passionate here about archive.
Q Is there anything Getty
Images can do to help streamline the process of finding, retrieving and delivering clips?
‘We have more than 100,000 clips available and ready to license without any additional rights checking or approvals’ Chris Prior, senior sales director for UK and Ireland, Getty Images
Although we are only a few months into the partnership, we are looking very closely at how we can best optimise technology to enhance the customer experience as video archive journeys from tape, or in some cases film formats, to digitised files that can be easily viewed, clipped, then seamlessly delivered as masters for HD playout. We have tried not to get ahead of ourselves just yet and, of course, we are still heavily reliant on tape. But yes, we’ve got some great ideas for enhancing and streamlining the process.
Contact details Getty Images content: E londonbroadcast@gettyimages.com T +44 (0)800 376 7981 gettyimages.com BBC Motion Gallery content: E BBC.MotionGallerySales@gettyimages.com T +44 (0)20 3227 2579 gettyimages.com/ ➤ bbcmotiongallery 0030 Month May 2013 2014 | Broadcast | 25
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Production Restoration and Archive Hitchcock’s Holocaust documentary restored
British Pathé taps YouTube revenues Covering some of the most significant moments of modern history, 85,000 films from British Pathé have been launched on YouTube in a move the archive hopes will open up a stream of new revenue. The 3,500-hour library has been available to view for free on British Pathé’s website since 2009, following digitisation in 2002, but now it’s on Google’s network, a wider audience can access it and anyone can now comment on, share and embed the vintage videos. “There is significant demand from newspaper websites to use our footage to accompany stories about, for example, royalty, weather or sport events,” says British Pathé chief executive Roger Felber. “But it was a timeconsuming process for journalists to contact us, search for content and enter into a licensing agreement. Even then, few newspapers could afford to spend thousands of pounds on a minute of footage.” Now, Felber has struck a deal under which newspaper websites can get content for free, if ad-revenue (from pre-roll and banners) is divided “roughly between Google and ourselves”. British Pathé’s main business of selling clips to TV producers remains unaffected, he says. Spanning 1896 to 1976, the collection includes footage of the
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Wright Brothers’ inaugural flight, the D-Day landings and Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile, alongside esoteric films documenting everyday life from around the globe. Lacking resources in-house, Felber assigned Munich-based online TV channel Mediakraft Networks to manage the distribution of archive material to YouTube. Delivering 300 million streams to 25 million viewers on platforms such as YouTube and Dailymotion, Mediakraft claims to be Central Europe’s biggest multichannel network. “The variety of ways that it drives people to view is completely different to ours,” says Felber. “Very few people will find a Mediakraft clip via search. The vast majority of visits to its site come from people who are regular viewers of its various channels, with interests in sport, fashion or the funny side of news.” Mediakraft will also repackage the archive with a contemporary spin. For example, says Felber, a series of newsreels showing the arrival of the Jamaican community to England in the 1950s could be reworked with voiceovers to give a topical perspective on immigration. British Pathé hopes to unlock the remaining 10,000 films in its vault once it clears ownership rights.
A part-finished 1945 film documenting concentration camp atrocities, assembled with the help of director Alfred Hitchcock, has been digitised, restored and completed using previously unseen material by the Imperial War Museum. Memory Of The Camps was an official Allied forces documentary compiled with footage shot by combat and newsreel cameramen accompanying troops as they liberated occupied Europe. Producer Sidney Bernstein, at Britain’s Ministry of Information, had sought Hitchcock’s advice on how the mix of 35mm and 16mm materials should be put together. Hitchcock became attributed as the film’s director, but the museum now says it is more accurate to suggest that he played the role of treatment adviser, given that all the footage had been shot prior to his involvement with the project. The production was intended to be played as a corrective to German prisoners of war but when delivery was delayed, political opinion shifted and the five complete reels (plus 100 components of unedited material) was instead shelved at the museum. In 2008, a team led by restoration director Toby Haggith began a hunt for the sequences for reel six, as described in the original shot lists.
All the scenes listed for the sixth reel were eventually discovered, except for two maps, one of which was recreated. The museum also revisited the original masters and reels, digitally scanning them and assembling the whole film from scratch in conjunction with Welsh facility Dragon DI. Retitled German Concentration Camps Factual Survey, the commentary was re-recorded and a new soundtrack of authentic audio recordings made on the battlefields of Europe in 1944-45 – also held in the museum collection – was added. The work will be released in cinemas and broadcast in 2015 as part of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
‘Rather than coming away feeling totally depressed and beaten, there are elements of hope’ Toby Haggith
According to Haggith, the film is far more candid and sophisticated than any contemporary documentary about the camps. He has described it in the press as “an alienating film in terms of its subject matter, but also one that has a deep humanity and empathy about it. Rather than coming away feeling totally depressed and beaten, there are elements of hope.”
30 May 2014 | Broadcast | 27
Behind the Scenes BBC iPlayer Comedy shorts
New adventures in comedy The BBC wanted to make a splash with some new comedy for iPlayer. Pett Productions’ team tell Robin Parker about ‘micro-producing’ an eclectic mix of experimental shorts BBC iPLAYER COMEDY SHORTS
Production company Pett Productions Length 6 x short episodes (all under 10 minutes) TX BBC iPlayer from 1 June Commissioners Victoria Jaye; Shane Allen Producer/executive producer Lisa Clark Director/editor Dave Walker Lead writer/producer Bob Mortimer
28 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
A
fter the smorgasbord of nostalgic laughs over BBC2’s 50th birthday celebrations this bank holiday weekend, it’s time to look to the future. So what have we got? Six short comedies, all from Reeves and Mortimer producer Pett Productions, featuring a stellar roster of BBC names. They’re a curious bundle of sketches, but what they’re emphatically not is a sketch show splintered into pieces, nor are they six pilots in miniature. For the BBC’s online ambitions, the iPlayer Comedy Shorts represent a statement. The corporation is transforming its video-on-demand service into a place where new content nestles among the schedules and, following new talent drives with Drama Shorts and Feed My Funny comedies, it wants to make a splash. “We wanted a big piece of content that sent a message that established talent was coming to iPlayer to explore different forms of storytelling,” says BBC iPlayer head of TV content Victoria Jaye. “Comedy is very popular on the site and we wanted talent who were up for adventure.” So Jaye and the BBC comedy team turned to Pett, which has worked with a range of comedic talent on Shooting Stars and, most recently, BBC2 sitcom House Of Fools. Sitting down with Pett producer Lisa Clark and writer/performer Bob Mortimer (below with Frankie Boyle), the message was clear: there were no rules.
“It was such an open brief that the first thing we told each artist was that they could do anything,” recalls Clark. “Which, to an unbridled artist, is quite the open invitation. Our first thought was that they all had to be tonally different, and to look different too.” What emerged were six strikingly varied pieces that took each performer out of their comfort zone. It’s no great stretch, for example, for Morgana Robinson to do an impressions-led sketch show in miniature, though to pull it off in two days was some chal-
‘Ownership let them go mad with their ideas while forcing them to remember that it would be their names on the titles’ Bob Mortimer
lenge; conversely, Micky Flanagan is seen in new light with his first singlecamera performance. Meanwhile, Frankie Boyle makes a low-key return to the BBC as an off-kilter sparring partner for Mortimer in a spoof cookery show that would have been a different beast with Bob’s regular comic foil Vic Reeves. “It was really interesting to see what happened once people recognised the opportunity to get their voice heard,” says Clark. “We really had to concentrate on delivering six different pieces, each of them bespoke to the artist.” Inspiration struck in a variety of ways. Meera Syal’s Playback drew on the writer and actress’s chance viewing of a London jazz singer on YouTube, a flight of fancy unravelling a Bollywood star’s relationship with their ‘playback’ singer. Matt Berry collaborated on profane natural history monologue The Lone Wolf after Clark and Mortimer identified Berry, who appeared in their BBC2 sitcom House Of Fools, as the funniest voiceover performer around.
Mortimer wrote or co-wrote three of the six and took on more of a producer role on the others. Both he and Clark see his role as a shepherd of the performers’ ideas. “Bob’s key because he’s an ally for the talent,” says Clark. “And he’s doing it because he wants to try something different.” Her one concern was that it felt distinct from his own work with Reeves. “On most of the shoots, at some point I’d ask him to take a step back. On Meera’s one, he stepped back completely because he said it was something he couldn’t add anything to.”
Joy of performance Mortimer’s name is all over the shorts, but he says all the contributors had complete artistic control. “This ownership let them go mad with their ideas while forcing them to remember that it would be their names going on the titles,” he says. “Freedom with selfrestraint enforced invisibly – and the freedom with which they all let the pieces develop – is reflected in the joy of their performances.” The Case Of The High Foot, a bizarre 1930s black-and-white movie parody starring Reece Shearsmith and Sally Phillips, is the most striking visually – and the one hardest to imagine being greenlit for a terrestrial channel. Mortimer’s script had been lying around for some time, as he had always wanted someone else to play the lead. He found the key in Shearsmith’s off-kilter mannerisms, inspired by Groucho Marx’s Dr Hackenbush in A Day At The Races. The recreation of scratchy old film and dialogue was a labour of love for director Dave Walker, who had previously dipped into Hollywood parody for the title sequence of Reeves and Mortimer’s Channel 4 one-off Lucky Sexy Winners. “It became its own animal,” Walker recalls. “We found a medical supply centre that had its own sets and a crypt. There was no roof, so we could light it from above, and then had lots of fun with sound mixing in post.” Mortimer and Boyle’s piece, by contrast, was filmed in a kitchen in a phowww.broadcastnow.co.uk
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tography studio, the lighting turned up on full to recreate the daytime TV look. Apart from Robinson’s short, each was wrapped in a day. Walker spent lunchtime viewing and editing on his Mac. “We couldn’t film more than we needed and I always knew exactly what I had left to fit into the afternoon. It’s odd to be editing something on the same machine people watch it on.” Clark says this compressed timeframe made for a gang mentality. “It’s a really interesting discipline,” she says. “Do a pilot and you shoot for six days; here, we had to nail it. It gave each one a real spirit of ‘we’re all in it together’.” She describes the process as “micro-producing”. “The restrictions gave you creativity just as much as not,” she says. “Mickey Flanagan’s piece was very long and involved – it comes out at 9 minutes 30 – and Dave did a lot of pre-shooting. Mickey threw himself right into it. As he was a novice on single camera, he did as he was told. His creative input was all in the writing and the performance.” The talent have worked across the BBC but are more associated with BBC2 than any other channel, not www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Clockwise from top left: Micky Flanagan with director Dave Walker; Bob Mortimer and Frankie Boyle; Sally Ayesha Dharker and Meera Syal; Morgana Robinson and Mortimer; Robinson as Gogglebox’s Dom; Phillips and Reece Shearsmith; Matt Berry
least Mortimer himself. Does Jaye see this project as an offshoot of BBC2’s established comedy slate, in the same way that BBC3’s online comedy supports new talent? Not quite. “It’s very much its own beast,” she emphasises. “It’s deliberately nonchannel specific and we feel that this line-up of talent has broad appeal. It’s really the comedians running free in a shape and form that’s not possible on any TV channel.” Ultimately, Clark is proud of how readily the talent embraced the chance to experiment. “This is not the kind of thing you could run past a research panel. It’s scary to get such a brief but it was easier to book than an episode of Shooting Stars and it was really interesting to see what happened once people recognised the freedom they had been given. For comedy, this could be a real starting point for iPlayer.” 30 May 2014 | Broadcast | 29
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Ratings Mon 19 May – Sun 25 May
ITV wins with BGT and footy Two sides of Madrid made compelling viewing on Saturday in the Champion’s League Final on ITV BY Stephen Price
It’s probably just coincidence, but the weather that is making such a mockery of May is storming in from Europe. Not so much a political earthquake as a meteorological deluge, soaking the darling buds of those hot summery few days not so long ago, that now seem a lifetime away. And if that’s not discombobulating enough, in the week of the Soap Awards, schedulers shunted the soaps to crowbar in a boy wizard. How much change can one country take? Elsewhere, BBC1 launched a couple of new dramas, while football clattered on. On Monday, the deep 9pm drama well, drunk mostly by ITV, ran dry. All New It’ll Be Alright On The Night moved in with 3.1 million/15% (324,000 +1), but was defeated by BBC1’s DIY SOS’s 3.7 million/18%. On Tuesday, the first of the week’s soapy shifts occurred with an hour-long Emmerdale at 7pm achieving 6.1 million/33%; 102,000 +1. Not to be outdone, an hour-long EastEnders managed 7.9 million/36% at 8pm, its best of the week, followed by Happy Valley’s 5.8 million/27%. ITV’s two-hour repeat of Endeavour pulled in 2 million/9% (250,000 +1) from 8pm. With half an hour grafted onto Tuesday’s Emmerdale, Coronation Street moved to 7pm on Wednesday, drawing 5.5 million/33% (470,000 +1), 1 million short of its 7.30pm show last week. Its early slot ushered in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 from 7.30pm, 32 | Broadcast | 30 May 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 25 25 27 28 29 30 31 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Broadcaster/ Producer*
Britain’s Got Talent EastEnders Coronation Street Coronation Street Coronation Street EastEnders EastEnders Coronation Street Emmerdale Emmerdale Emmerdale Coronation Street Emmerdale Happy Valley The British Soap Awards 2014 Tonight: Rise Of Discount Supermarkets BBC News At Ten Uefa Champions L’gue Final: Real V Atletico BBC News At Ten Antiques Roadshow Countryfile BBC News At Ten BBC News At Six From There To Here Pointless Celebrities BBC News At Six BBC News At Six BBC News At Six BBC News At Ten BBC News At Six Quirke Holby City Have I Got News For You BBC News Del Boys And Dealers BBC News BBC News At Ten Casualty Watchdog DIY SOS: The Big Build The National Lottery: In It To Win It The One Show The One Show BBC News It’ll Be Alright On The Night Pointless Gogglebox The One Show Pointless F1: The Monaco Grand Prix – Highlights
Sun Tue Mon Mon Fri Mon Thu Fri Tue Mon Fri Wed Thu Tue Sun Fri Wed Sat Tue Sun Sun Thu Fri Thu Sat Tue Thu Mon Mon Wed Sun Thu Fri Sun Wed Sun Fri Sat Wed Mon Sat Wed Thu Sat Mon Fri Fri Mon Tue Sun
19.00 20.00 20.30 19.30 19.30 20.00 19.30 20.30 19.00 19.00 19.00 19.00 19.00 21.00 20.15 20.00 22.00 19.00 22.00 20.00 19.00 22.00 18.00 21.00 19.00 18.00 18.00 18.00 22.00 18.00 21.00 20.00 21.00 22.30 21.00 18.35 22.00 20.40 20.00 21.00 19.50 19.00 19.00 18.40 21.00 17.15 21.00 19.00 17.15 17.05
8.43 7.86 7.69 7.66 7.44 6.96 6.76 6.64 6.25 6.13 6.00 5.97 5.96 5.79 5.56 4.96 4.91 4.89 4.88 4.82 4.80 4.73 4.56 4.54 4.50 4.50 4.47 4.44 4.29 4.19 4.18 4.18 4.01 3.98 3.91 3.90 3.84 3.82 3.76 3.74 3.73 3.58 3.57 3.50 3.42 3.40 3.36 3.35 3.34 3.33
42.18 36.40 35.12 38.64 38.52 33.72 34.54 30.96 33.13 34.64 33.72 35.64 32.59 26.69 26.69 25.30 28.66 24.59 27.81 23.31 24.41 26.62 29.37 21.75 25.07 29.81 29.13 30.03 24.41 30.94 20.20 20.34 19.37 24.30 18.78 24.06 22.30 17.80 19.82 17.55 18.63 21.34 19.52 21.13 16.01 26.17 16.62 18.89 27.45 23.27
ITV/Syco/Thames BBC1 ITV ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV BBC1/Red Production Company ITV ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1/Kudos Film & TV BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1/BBC Drama/Element/Tyrone BBC1 BBC1/Hat Trick Productions BBC1 BBC1/RDF Television BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1/12 Yard Productions BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC1/Remarkable Television C4/Studio Lambert BBC1 BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
British Soap Awards
From There To Here www.broadcastnow.co.uk
All BARB ratings supplied by: Attentional
Source: BARB
51 51 51 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 86 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 95 97 98 99 100
Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Broadcaster/ Producer*
Pointless RHS Chelsea Flower Show The One Show The Graham Norton Show Pointless Question Time A Question Of Sport The One Show Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Pt2 ITV News & Weather Room 101 ITV News & Weather Mrs Brown’s Boys ITV News & Weather Pointless ITV News & Weather ITV News & Weather RHS Chelsea Flower Show Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Pt1 Party Election Broadcast: Conservatives BBC News ITV News & Weather Lewis Gino’s Italian Escape RHS Chelsea Flower Show Party Election Broadcast: UKIP Food Inspectors BBC News At One BBC News At One RHS Chelsea Flower Show F1: The Monaco Grand Prix – Qualifying RHS Chelsea Flower Show The Island With Bear Grylls BBC News At One RHS Chelsea Flower Show 24 Hours In A&E The Guess List RHS Chelsea Flower Show Endeavour BBC News At One BBC News At One The Quite Remarkable David Coleman New You’ve Been Framed! ITV News & Weather Coast Australia Antiques Road Trip Have I Got A Bit More News For You Great British Menu ITV News At Ten & Weather Bargain Hunt
Mon Mon Tue Fri Thu Thu Tue Fri Thu Tue Fri Fri Sat Sun Wed Mon Thu Mon Wed Tue Sat Wed Fri Mon Tue Mon Fri Fri Thu Fri Sat Wed Mon Tue Fri Wed Sat Thu Tue Mon Wed Wed Sat Sat Wed Fri Mon Thu Mon Thu
17.15 19.30 19.00 22.40 17.15 22.35 19.30 19.00 19.30 18.30 21.30 18.30 22.30 18.45 17.15 18.30 18.30 20.00 19.30 18.25 22.10 18.30 21.00 20.00 20.00 18.25 20.00 13.00 13.00 19.30 17.25 20.00 21.00 13.00 20.00 21.00 21.30 20.00 20.00 13.00 13.00 22.35 18.30 17.45 21.10 16.30 22.35 19.30 22.00 12.15
3.28 3.28 3.28 3.21 3.19 3.18 3.16 3.15 3.11 3.10 3.09 3.03 3.02 3.01 3.00 2.99 2.98 2.88 2.79 2.78 2.77 2.75 2.74 2.71 2.70 2.68 2.63 2.62 2.61 2.60 2.53 2.52 2.51 2.50 2.46 2.41 2.41 2.36 2.25 2.20 2.19 2.15 2.11 2.07 2.04 2.04 2.01 1.96 1.94 1.90
28.17 16.54 17.96 24.24 25.48 26.58 16.24 17.72 15.17 18.84 15.65 18.16 17.55 18.16 27.62 18.67 17.88 13.55 14.58 17.71 13.38 18.68 13.54 13.14 12.53 17.35 12.79 38.88 39.17 13.46 16.80 13.11 11.76 38.87 12.00 11.60 11.23 11.45 10.39 38.76 42.20 20.05 12.75 14.09 9.79 19.88 16.66 10.01 11.32 31.84
BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1 BBC1 BBC1/So Television BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV BBC1/Hat Trick Productions ITV BBC1/BocPix/RTÉ ITV BBC1/Remarkable Television ITV ITV BBC2 ITV ITV BBC1 ITV ITV ITV BBC2 ITV BBC1/Betty TV BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC2 C4/Shine TV/Bear Grylls Productions BBC1 BBC2 C4/The Garden BBC1/12 Yard/Small Man BBC2 ITV/Mammoth Screen BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV BBC2 BBC1 BBC1/Hat Trick Productions BBC2/Optomen ITV 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.
Del Boys And Dealers www.broadcastnow.co.uk
24 Hours In A&E
which averaged just 2.4 million/13% (422,000 +1). BBC1 won with Watchdog’s 3.8 million/20% at 8pm and with new series Del Boys And Dealers at 9pm (3.9 million/19%), opposite Channel 4’s 24 Hours In A&E (2 million/10%; 400,000 +1). On Thursday, Holby City, moved from its Tuesday slot by EastEnders, achieved 4.2 million/20% at 8pm. That’s 600,000 fewer than last Tuesday’s, but well ahead of last week’s Food Inspectors in that slot. At 9pm, BBC1’s new drama From There To Here launched with 4.5 million/22%. Opposite from 7.30pm
‘ITV’s coverage of The Champion’s League Final peaked with 6.9 million’ to 10pm, ITV’s Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallow’s Part 2 lost with 2.7 million/13%; 496,000 +1. No EastEnders on Friday thanks to Tuesday’s hour-long special, so BBC1 held Food Inspectors back a day, averaging 2.6 million/13% from 8pm. ITV’s Tonight’s 4.7 million/24% (189,000 +1) at 8pm was ITV’s best non-soap of the evening. At 9pm, BBC1’s Have I Got News For You at 9pm achieved 4 million/19% (its extended repeat added 2 million). Fresh from its Bafta, the latest run of C4’s Gogglebox ended on a strong 2.9 million/14%; 450,000 +1, beating ITV’s Lewis repeat (2.6 million/13%; 100,000 +1). On Saturday, ITV’s coverage of the Champions League Final averaged 4.8 million/24%; 50,000 +1 from 7pm to 11pm, peaking with 6.9 million/33% at 10.10pm. BBC1’s best was Pointless Celebrities’ 4.5 million/25% at 7pm and Casualty’s 3.8 million/18% at 8.40pm. ITV easily won Sunday evening. Moved from Saturday for the football, Britain’s Got Talent averaged 7.8 million/39%; 665,000 +1 at 7pm helping The British Soap Awards reach 5.2 million/25%; 364,000 +1 from 8.15pm. At 7pm, BBC1’s Countryfile achieved 4.8 million/24%, followed by Antiques Roadshow’s 4.8 million/23% at 8pm. At 9pm, new BBC1 drama Quirke began with a solid 4.2 million/20%.
See over for digital focus, plus channel and genre overviews 30 May 2014 | Broadcast | 33
Ratings Mon 19 May – Sun 25 May Channel Overview
Budding start for RHS Show BY stephen price
Monday brought a clash of quintessentially British obsessions: gardening and weather. BBC2’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show coverage reached 2.9 million/14%, putting it ahead of Channel 4’s Britain’s Most Extreme Weather (1 million/4.5%; 100,000 +1) and Channel 5’s DIY Dummies (0.6 million/3%; 43,000 +1). At 9pm, C4’s The Island With Grylls Bear achieved 2.2 million/10%; 300,000 +1, its best so far, beating BBC2’s The Battle To Beat Polio (1 million/5%) and C5’s D-Day’s Sunken Secrets (900,000/4%; 86,000 +1). On Tuesday at 9pm, the final episode of BBC2’s Watermen: A Dirty Business achieved 1.7 million/8%, beating C4’s Mr Drew’s School For Boys (1.3 million/6%; 270,000 +1) and C5’s GPs: Behind Closed Doors (800,000/4%; 170,000 +1). On Thursday at 9pm, C5’s Trauma Doctors: Every Second Counts (1.3 million/6%; 95,000 +1) recovered to beat C4’s Heston’s Great British Food (900,000/4%; 119,000) and BBC2’s Horizon (900,000/4%). The best of BBC2’s birthday celebrations was Saturday’s 50 Years Of BBC Two Comedy: 1.9 million/10%, with the first part of The Fast Show Special and Harry And Paul’s Story Of The Twos coming in at under 1.5 million.
Source: BARB
WEEK 21 Average hours per viewer Daytime Share (%) Peaktime Share (%) w/c 19.05.14 Peaktime share (%) w/c 20.05.13 Year to date Average hours per viewer Audience share (%) Audience share (%) 2013
BBC1 6.87 16.46 25.03 22.00 BBC1 5.78 21.84 21.30
BBC2 2.44 7.21 8.21 8.23 BBC2 1.71 6.45 5.59
ITV1 4.57 10.99 20.48 20.61 ITV1 4.07 15.40 16.34
C4 1.88 5.97 5.83 6.14 C4 1.53 5.78 5.95
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
34 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
Total 32.14 100.00 100.00 100.00 Total 26.45 100.00 100.00
Top 30 bbc2, channel 4 and channel 5 Title
Day
1
Gogglebox
2
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Share %
Broadcaster
Fri
21.00
3.36
16.62
C4
Mon
20.00
2.88
13.55
BBC2
3
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Tue
20.00
2.70
12.53
BBC2
4
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Wed
20.00
2.52
13.11
BBC2
5
The Island With Bear Grylls
Mon
21.00
2.51
11.76
C4
6
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Fri
20.00
2.46
12.00
BBC2
7
24 Hours In A&E
Wed
21.00
2.41
11.60
C4
8
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Thu
20.00
2.36
11.45
BBC2
9
Coast Australia
Wed
21.10
2.04
9.79
BBC2
10
Great British Menu
Thu
19.30
1.96
10.01
BBC2
11
50 Years Of BBC Two Comedy
Sat
21.30
1.87
10.33
BBC2
12
Posh Pawn
Thu
20.00
1.74
8.44
13
Great British Menu
Wed
19.30
1.69
10.08
BBC2 BBC2
C4
14
Watermen: A Dirty Business
Tue
21.00
1.67
7.70
15
The Supervet
Wed
20.00
1.58
8.34
C4
16
Great British Menu
Tue
19.30
1.57
8.04
BBC2
17
Mr Drew’s School For Boys
Tue
21.00
1.54
7.12
C4
18
Great British Menu
Fri
19.30
1.49
7.69
BBC2
19
The Fast Show Special – Part One
Fri
22.00
1.46
8.54
BBC2
20
Alan Carr: Chatty Man
Fri
22.00
1.45
9.13
C4
21
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Sat
20.30
1.43
6.72
BBC2
22
Great British Menu
Mon
19.30
1.42
7.18
BBC2
23
Trauma Doctors: Every Second Counts
Thu
21.00
1.37
6.54
C5
24
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
Sat
21.00
1.36
6.92
C4
25
Absolutely Fabulous
Sun
22.00
1.28
6.62
BBC2
26
Harry And Paul’s Story Of The Twos
Sun
21.00
1.27
5.91
BBC2
27
Eggheads
Mon
18.00
1.21
8.16
BBC2
28
Hollyoaks
Mon
18.30
1.18
7.37
C4
29
Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fri
20.00
1.17
5.70
C4
30
The Simpsons
Tue
18.00
1.16
7.69
C4
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Multichannel 36.29
Audience for BBC2’s irreverent nostalgia spoof Harry And Paul’s Story Of The Twos (Sun, 9pm)
Others 15.09 55.53 36.29 39.06 Others 12.32 46.59 46.79
Daytime is 09.30-18.00. Peaktime is 18.00-22.30. Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
daytime share (%) w/c 19.05.14
peaktime share (%) w/c 19.05.14
1.3m
C5 1.31 3.84 4.16 3.96 C5 1.04 3.93 4.02
BBC1 25.03
ITV 20.48 C5 4.16 BBC2 8.21 C4 5.83
Multichannel 55.53
644k C5’s Irish detective Jack Taylor returned to half of series one’s 1.2 million debut (Thurs, 10pm)
BBC1 16.46
ITV 10.99
C5 3.84
BBC2 7.21
C4 5.97
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
Grandpa In My Pocket DNN: Definitely Not Newsround Newsround Splatalot Grandpa In My Pocket Gigglebiz Gigglebiz Dani’s Castle Grandpa In My Pocket Newsround
Top 10 Factual programmes
Day
Start
Viewers (Age 4-15)
Share (%)
Channel
Wed Wed Tue Thu Thu Wed Fri Thu Fri Thu
17.30 17.00 08.15 16.30 17.30 17.15 17.15 17.00 17.30 16.25
198,400 196,900 196,400 194,400 190,800 176,600 174,600 173,300 169,300 168,600
16.50 17.82 17.33 15.72 12.76 15.36 12.75 12.38 12.43 15.31
CBeebies CBBC CBBC CBBC CBeebies CBeebies CBeebies CBBC CBeebies CBBC
Quirke
Title
Happy Valley From There To Here Quirke Holby City Casualty Lewis Endeavour Midsomer Murders Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. NCIS
UP Casualty gains 490,000
Antiques Roadshow Countryfile Del Boys And Dealers Watchdog DIY SOS: The Big Build The One Show The One Show The One Show RHS Chelsea Flower Show The One Show
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Tue Thu Sun Thu Sat Fri Tue Sun Fri Wed
21.00 21.00 21.00 20.00 20.40 21.00 20.00 16.30 20.00 21.00
5.79 4.54 4.18 4.18 3.82 2.74 2.25 1.48 1.17 1.13
26.69 21.75 20.20 20.34 17.80 13.54 10.39 10.93 5.70 5.43
BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV ITV C4 C5
DOWN Britain’s Got Talent drops 680,000
Title
Mrs Brown’s Boys Live At The Apollo The Big Bang Theory The Fast Show Special – Part One Absolutely Fabulous Harry And Paul’s Story Of The Twos The Simpsons Benidorm The Simpsons The Simpsons
UP Midsomer Murders up 390,000
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sun Sun Wed Wed Mon Wed Thu Mon Mon Tue
20.00 19.00 21.00 20.00 21.00 19.00 19.00 19.00 19.30 19.00
4.82 4.80 3.91 3.76 3.74 3.58 3.57 3.35 3.28 3.28
23.31 24.41 18.78 19.82 17.55 21.34 19.52 18.89 16.54 17.96
BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1
Bruce Forsyth On Sammy Davis Jr
Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Britain’s Got Talent The British Soap Awards 2014 Pointless Celebrities Have I Got News For You The National Lottery: In It To Win It All New It’ll Be Alright On The Night Pointless Gogglebox Pointless Pointless
DOWN Have I Got News For You loses 480,000
UP Happy Valley adds 70,000
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sun Sun Sat Fri Sat Mon Fri Fri Tue Mon
19.00 20.15 19.00 21.00 19.50 21.00 17.15 21.00 17.15 17.15
8.43 5.56 4.50 4.01 3.73 3.42 3.40 3.36 3.34 3.28
42.18 26.69 25.07 19.37 18.63 16.01 26.17 16.62 27.45 28.17
ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC1 C4 BBC1 BBC1
DOWN Watchdog drops 300,000
UP Lewis rises 40,000
Top 10 Music & arts programmes
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sat Sat Thu Fri Sun Sun Tue Mon Mon Thu
22.30 23.00 20.00 22.00 22.00 21.00 18.00 22.35 18.00 18.00
3.02 1.68 1.52 1.46 1.28 1.27 1.16 1.16 1.08 1.05
17.55 13.18 7.52 8.54 6.62 5.91 7.69 10.42 7.27 6.82
BBC1 BBC1 E4 BBC2 BBC2 BBC2 C4 ITV C4 C4
next week Sports and current Affairs www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Day
Top 10 Entertainment programmes
Day
Top 10 Comedy programmes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The Fast Show Special
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
Bruce Forsyth On Sammy Davis Jr Imagine... Philip Roth Unleashed The Story Of Women And Art Later Live... With Jools Holland One Direction & Pharrell @R1bw The Mysterious Mr Webster Lynn Barber’s Celebrity Masterclass Coldplay Live @R1bw Later... With Jools Holland Sammy And Bruce
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sun Tue Fri Tue Sat Sat Mon Sat Fri Sun
22.20 22.35 21.00 22.00 20.00 19.30 22.00 21.55 23.10 23.45
1.54 0.93 0.83 0.62 0.46 0.45 0.43 0.42 0.42 0.40
10.18 8.87 4.11 3.59 2.24 2.32 2.51 2.16 4.61 5.29
ITV BBC1 BBC2 BBC2 BBC3 BBC2 BBC2 BBC3 BBC2 ITV
See over for demographic and digital focus 30 May 2014 | Broadcast | 35
Ratings Mon 19 May – Sun 25 May Demographic Focus Channels
Individuals Share (%)
Adults ABC1 Share (%)1
Source: BARB
Adults ABC1 Profile (%)2
Adults 16-34 Share (%)1
Adults 16-34 Profile (%)2
Male Share (%)1
Male Profile (%)2
Female Share (%)1
Female Profile (%)2
54.78
BBC1
22.02
25.79
47.35
11.47
9.16
21.54
45.22
22.43
ITV
15.11
13.68
36.62
14.02
16.31
12.50
38.25
17.35
61.75
C4
5.58
5.60
40.51
8.16
25.67
5.24
43.41
5.88
56.58 52.83
BBC2
5.31
7.09
53.92
2.37
7.85
5.42
47.17
5.22
C5
3.97
3.42
34.84
3.32
14.68
3.63
42.21
4.27
57.78
ITV2
2.59
2.10
32.77
4.25
28.86
2.13
37.97
2.99
62.04
ITV3
2.45
2.33
38.47
0.62
4.47
1.96
36.88
2.88
63.12
E4
1.91
1.91
40.32
5.47
50.30
1.92
46.45
1.90
53.52
Film 4
1.65
1.38
33.86
2.22
23.65
1.92
53.68
1.42
46.30
ITV4
1.47
1.63
44.86
1.02
12.21
2.15
67.72
0.88
32.32
Dave
1.38
1.35
39.45
2.37
30.23
1.88
63.02
0.95
37.01
BBC3
1.31
1.22
37.67
3.10
41.75
1.50
53.08
1.14
46.92
Sky Sp’ts 1
1.30
1.67
52.05
2.00
27.16
2.05
73.01
0.65
26.96
More 4
1.07
1.15
43.13
1.06
17.28
0.96
41.39
1.17
58.61
5 USA
0.99
0.65
26.30
0.53
9.34
1.00
46.32
0.99
53.72
BBC4
0.91
1.34
59.73
0.35
6.77
1.06
54.20
0.77
45.78
Sky 1
0.88
0.90
41.47
1.88
37.73
1.03
54.15
0.75
45.79
Yesterday
0.86
0.76
35.55
0.47
9.62
1.11
59.56
0.65
40.42
Drama
0.71
0.69
39.57
0.23
5.67
0.64
41.58
0.77
58.42
0.0%
None of the audience of BBC4’s broadcast of theatre production The Duchess Of Malfi was aged 25-34 (slot average: 4%). Three quarters – 76% – of them were 55+, up from a 68% average.
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
Mum’s the word for E4 BY Stephen Price
The recent round of series culls in the US left The Big Bang Theory untouched and barging on for more, which E4 will have appreciated. Meanwhile, with ITV Encore on the horizon, a wistful ITV3 watched its detectives do well. Elsewhere, ITV2’s brand extension didn’t extend so well on its Sunday outing. E4’s Thursdays continued cosmically on with The Big Bang Theory. At 8pm this week, it achieved a table-topping 1.5 million/8%. Serendipitously, How I Met Your Mother at 8.30pm was the channel’s next best import at 900,000/4%. Saturday provided ITV3 with its best night. Foyle’s War averaged 1 million/5% at 9pm. Second best was Doc Martin, at 890,000/4% at 8pm, matched by the best of a clutch of Lewis episodes: Sunday’s at 8pm with 890,000/4%. On Sunday at 8.15pm, ITV2’s Britain’s Got More Talent slipped to 620,000/3%, about half what it gets on a normal Saturday. This was at leas in part due to the Soap Awards on ITV. 36 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
Source: BARB
digital homes
Top 30 multichannel programmes Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 9 10 10 10 10 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 21 23 24 25 25 27 28 29 30
The Big Bang Theory Live Uefa Champions League Live Monaco F1 Grand Prix Foyle’s War Live Championship Hollyoaks Game Of Thrones How I Met Your Mother Celebrity Juice Doc Martin Lewis Hollyoaks Hollyoaks How The Wild West Was… The Call Centre Hollyoaks Nanny Mcphee Hollyoaks Froch V Groves Lewis Pirates Of The Caribbean… Made In Chelsea The Big Bang Theory Star Wars: Episode V The Big Bang Theory Star Wars: Episode IV Lewis The Big Bang Theory Brooklyn Nine-Nine Britain’s Got More Talent
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Day
Thu Sat Sun Sat Sat Thu Mon Thu Thu Sat Sun Tue Fri Thu Tue Wed Sat Mon Sat Wed Fri Mon Tue Sun Wed Sat Sat Mon Thu Sun
Start
20.00 18.00 12.00 21.00 14.00 19.00 21.00 20.30 22.00 20.00 20.00 19.00 19.00 21.00 21.00 19.00 17.30 19.00 22.30 20.00 19.25 22.00 18.30 17.45 18.30 19.25 18.00 18.30 21.00 20.15
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
1.52 1.18 1.10 1.01 1.00 0.98 0.93 0.93 0.91 0.89 0.89 0.89 0.89 0.86 0.85 0.84 0.81 0.80 0.77 0.76 0.75 0.75 0.71 0.70 0.67 0.67 0.65 0.64 0.63 0.62
7.52 6.11 12.07 4.99 8.79 5.36 4.38 4.44 5.62 4.39 4.22 4.87 4.98 4.11 3.92 5.04 5.08 4.52 4.46 3.82 3.76 4.82 4.34 3.95 4.56 3.25 3.80 3.99 3.00 2.98
Channel
E4 Sky Sp’ts 1 Sky Sp’ts F1 ITV3 Sky Sp’ts 1 E4 Sky Atlantic E4 ITV2 ITV3 ITV3 E4 E4 BBC4 BBC3 E4 ITV2 E4 Sky Sp'ts 1 ITV3 BBC3 E4 E4 ITV2 E4 ITV2 ITV3 E4 E4 ITV2
Channels
Share (%)
BBC1 ITV C4 BBC2 C5 Total multichannel ITV2 ITV3 E4 Film 4 ITV4 CBeebies Dave BBC3 Sky Sports 1 BBC News More 4 5 USA
22.02 15.11 5.58 5.31 3.97 48.01 2.59 2.45 1.91 1.65 1.47 1.41 1.38 1.31 1.30 1.28 1.07 0.99
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
860k BBC 4’s biggest audience this week was for How The Wild West Was Won With Ray Mears (Thurs, 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 %
Broadcaster/ Producer*
Live Uefa Champions League Live Monaco F1 Grand Prix Live Championship Game Of Thrones The Gloves Are Off: Froch V Groves 24: Live Another Day Monaco F1 Group Qualifying Live Football League Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Live European Rugby Storage Hunters Live T20 Cricket Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Storage Hunters The Simpsons Criminal Minds Storage Hunters Storage Hunters NCIS Room 101 The Simpsons Hawaii Five-0 Salvage Hunters Storage Hunters The Simpsons Storage Hunters Penny Dreadful Grimm New Tricks Open All Hours The Simpsons Storage Hunters Live ODI Cricket Open All Hours Open All Hours Arrow Elementary Live International Football The Simpsons Open All Hours The Simpsons Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Bones
Sat Sun Sat Mon Sat Wed Sat Sun Sat Sat Sat Sat Sat Sat Tue Sat Sat Tue Sun Thu Mon Sat Sun Fri Wed Wed Sun Wed Sun Wed Sun Tue Wed Thu Sat Wed Sat Thu Sat Fri Thu Tue Sun Fri Fri Tue Fri Sun Sat Wed
18.00 12.00 14.00 21.00 22.30 21.00 12.00 14.00 18.00 19.00 18.30 19.30 16.00 17.30 17.30 17.00 16.30 19.30 14.00 19.00 21.00 16.00 14.30 21.00 22.00 19.30 21.00 21.00 13.00 20.00 13.30 21.00 21.00 21.00 19.40 19.00 15.30 17.00 19.00 21.40 20.00 21.00 17.30 19.30 21.00 19.00 20.30 11.00 15.00 21.00
1,177,400 1,101,800 997,300 934,200 766,200 584,800 578,400 519,200 490,000 489,100 464,700 451,600 450,600 422,400 420,700 413,200 399,600 381,200 379,000 378,800 371,500 371,400 370,500 367,700 365,500 361,900 359,800 358,500 357,600 355,900 355,400 353,500 337,900 335,900 331,000 329,900 329,100 325,700 323,300 321,500 321,300 318,000 314,100 312,800 310,600 305,800 305,500 304,000 303,800 300,400
6.11 12.07 8.79 4.38 4.46 2.81 6.47 4.89 3.15 2.80 2.80 2.39 3.15 2.93 2.29 3.20 3.32 1.96 4.10 2.07 1.74 3.30 3.89 1.82 2.23 2.16 1.68 1.72 3.81 1.94 3.73 1.65 1.62 1.67 1.69 1.97 3.06 1.88 1.83 1.73 1.56 1.47 1.85 1.62 1.52 1.68 1.42 4.16 2.99 1.44
Sky Sports 1 Sky Sports F1 Sky Sports 1 Sky Atlantic Sky Sports 1 Sky 1 Sky Sports F1 Sky Sports 1 Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Sky Sports 2 Dave/T Group Sky Sports 2 Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Sky 1 Sky Living Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Fox Dave Sky 1 Sky 1 Quest Dave/T Group Sky 1 Dave/T Group Sky Atlantic/Neal Street Watch Drama/Wall To Wall Yesterday Sky 1 Dave/T Group Sky Sports 2 Yesterday Yesterday Sky 1 Sky Living Sky Sports 1 Sky 1 Yesterday Sky 1 Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Sky Living
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Mr Sloane www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Penny Dreadful
398k Audience across three showings of Gold’s documentary Porridge: Inside Out
Sky Atlantic is in for a Penny BY Stephen Price
The Victorians, those straightbacked Empire-builders with virtue preserved, forked out a penny each week to be thrilled by sensational dread. This week, Sky Atlantic brought these yarns to 21st Century telly and took a detour to the 1960s, where a man named Mr Sloane had been dealt a dreadful hand. Sky Atlantic’s gothic horror Penny Dreadful began on Tuesday at 9pm with a live rating of 353,000/2%. Seven repeats added another 399,000 to total 752,000 before recording. Not quite Game Of Thrones, which averaged 900,000/4% on Monday at 9pm, but a strong start. After premiering on-demand, Sky Atlantic’s other major launch this week was lower key: Mr Sloane achieved 96,000/1% on Friday at 9pm. Three repeats have added another 126,000. The third episode of Quest’s Cars That Rock With Brian Johnson achieved 239,000/1% on Thursday at 9pm, well above slot average and the second highest of the series so far behind the launch episode (242,000/1%). Three more repeats of this week’s episode added another 255,000. An hour before ITV’s coverage, Sky Sports began its build-up to the Champions League Final at 6pm. It drew 1.2 million/6% over four-and-a-half hours, peaking at 1.8 million/8% at 10.15pm. 30 May 2014 | Broadcast | 37
Ratings Mon 12 May – Sun 18 May
All BARB ratings supplied by: Attentional
Consolidated Ratings
MasterChef’s ratings feast BY Stephen Price
If the mood grabs her, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has it within her gift to award The Order Of The Elephant, while Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf can bestow The Order Of The Polar Star. After the return of Wallander this week, with bigger-than-ever numbers, BBC4, instigator of the Nordic Noir boom, might just be in line for a gong; perhaps even an elephant or two. The Vikings pillaged good numbers for History, while amateur chefs proved as popular as ever on BBC1. However, Derek suffered from a slight hiccup.
BBC1: MasterChef The latest series of BBC1’s MasterChef finished on 16 May at 8.30pm. Its 5.4 million/26% live
Source: BARB
rating was boosted to 6.58 million/27%. In volume terms, that’s the second-best non-celebrity MasterChef for BBC1 behind 27 April 2011’s 6.6 million/24%. In share terms, it’s the best. The 2013 series averaged 5.1 million/20%; this year’s run beat that with 5.3 million/22% without dipping below 4 million. The closest was the series’ lowest 4.2 million/17% on 4 April at 8.30pm, opposite Coronation Street’s 8.6 million/33%.
Among 16-34s, it’s averaging 713,000/18%, just shy of the first series’ 747,000/18% overall.
C4: Derek
The first episode of series one of History Channel’s Vikings aired first on Amazon over here. Its ‘proper’ British telly debut was 13 May at 10pm, where it grabbed just 171,000/1.1%. However, after more than 500,000 caught up, it finished on 683,000/3.7% – and 57,000 watched the 18 May repeat at 9pm. This is the History Channel’s best performing show, certainly since 2006 and possibly ever. The previous best was an Ice Road Truckers episode from October 2008 (389,000/1.9%).
The second series of Ricky Gervais’s Derek launched on Channel 4 on 23 April with a consolidated rating of 2.6 million/12% at 10pm, matching the first series’ launch in January 2013 for audience and share. The fourth episode, on 14 May, dipped somewhat, reaching 1.5 million/7% after more than 600,000 recorded and watched; the lowest of all so far. After four episodes, this series is averaging 2 million/10%, in line with series one’s 2 million/9%.
BBC4: Wallander BBC4’s subtitled Swedish detective Wallander returned on 17 May 2014 at 9pm to a live rating of 818,000/4%. After more than 200,000 caught up, that grew to 1 million/4.6%, its best ever UK rating, beating the previous high of 657,000/3% on 20 February 2010.
History Channel: Vikings
Top 30 Consolidated Ratings: ranked by gain
1 2 3 4 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 17 19 19 19 22 22 24 24 26 27 27 27 30
3.1m
Channel 4’s The Island With Bear Grylls matched the previous week’s consolidated figure.
UP Prey ended 630,000 up DOWN Vera down 420,000
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Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Gain (m)
Gain %
Prey Vera Masterchef Happy Valley Casualty Britain’s Got Talent MasterChef The Mentalist Coronation Street MasterChef Gogglebox Game Of Thrones EastEnders Coronation Street Coronation Street The Big Bang Theory Person Of Interest The Island With Bear Grylls EastEnders Person Of Interest Coronation Street Derek Have I Got News For You EastEnders Fargo Celebrity Juice Made In Chelsea Arrow 24: Live Another Day Coronation Street
Mon Sun Fri Tue Sat Sat Thu Tue Fri Wed Fri Mon Tue Fri Mon Thu Thu Mon Mon Thu Wed Wed Fri Thu Sun Thu Mon Thu Wed Mon
21.00 20.00 20.30 21.00 20.45 20.20 21.00 22.00 20.30 21.00 21.00 21.00 19.30 19.30 20.30 20.00 23.00 21.00 20.00 22.00 19.30 22.00 21.30 19.30 21.00 22.00 22.00 20.00 21.00 19.30
7.35 6.88 6.58 6.79 4.42 10.64 6.23 1.85 7.59 5.93 3.73 1.76 7.72 7.68 8.20 2.44 1.12 3.11 8.10 1.42 8.07 1.45 5.11 7.11 1.88 1.82 1.25 0.95 1.29 8.59
26.60 27.79 26.97 27.50 17.78 43.58 25.81 9.82 30.31 23.21 15.86 6.41 37.15 39.56 34.46 10.64 10.82 11.44 36.64 7.64 39.40 7.19 22.66 36.81 7.53 9.67 6.94 4.30 4.99 40.09
1.60 1.22 1.14 1.07 1.07 1.03 0.99 0.91 0.87 0.86 0.83 0.79 0.75 0.73 0.69 0.66 0.65 0.65 0.63 0.63 0.63 0.61 0.61 0.58 0.58 0.56 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.54
27.80 21.60 21.00 18.70 31.90 10.80 18.90 96.70 12.90 17.00 28.40 81.00 10.70 10.40 9.20 36.70 137.90 26.30 8.40 79.20 8.40 72.00 13.50 8.90 44.40 44.70 78.30 137.30 73.40 6.70
Broadcaster ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC1 C5 ITV BBC1 C4 Sky Atlantic BBC1 ITV ITV E4 C5 C4 BBC1 C5 ITV C4 BBC1 BBC1 C4 ITV2 E4 Sky 1 Sky 1 ITV
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
38 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
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Off Cuts
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ALL A TWITTER
we can only speculate what industry truths were revealed and shared as the evening wore on…
David Dimbleby just did an impression of @rustyrockets [Russell Brand] – shame it’s for the unrecorded warm up section #bbcqt @Brendan_Miller (Brendan Miller) Series producer, Free Speech
Would I Lie To Yewtree? “@ UKComedyNews: Rhod Gilbert to host new BBC2 comedy pilot in which he looks at guests’ internet browser history”
Notts TV goes quackers
The real powers in TV
Thanks to newly launched local television service Notts TV for furnishing the Broadcast team with some bath-time toys. The ducks are branded with famous Nottingham phrase “ey up, me duck”, which is designed emphasise the station’s distinctive local flavour. Here’s hoping they make a splash.
Around 60 of the most powerful people in TV enjoyed a rare gathering in central London last week. But you’re unlikely to see any of them grace the stage at Edinburgh, for these were the invisible power behind the throne, the PAs to the head honchos at the leading broadcasters and indies (above, left). The brainchild of Eleri Davies, assistant to Voltage TV chief Sanjay Singhal,
Ey up, me duck: Notts TV local flair
Supreme summit: powerful PAs
@rufusjones1 (Rufus Jones) Actor
Am I right in thinking BBC2 has had two Gervais/Office-bashing sketches in as many consecutive days? Let’s not stop now. @SquidyUK (Jonathan Sloman) Freelance film and TV editor
US press write off a show cancelled after “just 2 seasons”. While our lot hand out their 3-hour commissions like it’s f*****g Maundy money. @brooligan (Stephen Gallagher) Writer
40 | Broadcast | 30 May 2014
An illustrator known as IsRightCartoons has been getting a bit of attention for their portraits of Gogglebox stars in recent weeks. As the latest series of the C4 hit drew to a close, they went behind the camera to immortalise the people that made it happen, including executive producer Tania Alexander (far left) and Studio Lambert chief Stephen Lambert (third from left).
AND FINALLY ... Will Cohen CEO, Milk
What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told? “There is no problem hitting the deadline.” Runner up: “I will be leaving in a minute.” What is you biggest regret? A beautiful Jaguar Mark 2, about 14 years ago. We would have been very happy together. Who would you be on Stars In Their Eyes? Michael Bublé (below). What do you do to relax? Drink Talisker. What law would you most like to break? Plan and execute the coolest bank robbery ever attempted. What words or phrases do you most overuse? “Boom”, I am ashamed to admit. Who or what would you put into Room 101? Jobsworths. And the complete sculptures of Henry Moore. Where would you put a webcam? In my office. I’d stream it as a reality-based show to create instant celebrities and a diverse revenue stream. Where’s the best place to do some ‘meeja’ networking? Waitrose in Chiswick. Will Cohen is talking at The VFX Summit at Bafta on Wednesday 4 June. To book tickets, visit: creativeweek.co.uk
www.broadcastnow.co.uk