www.broadcastnow.co.uk
4 April 2014
MipTV Special
ALSO INSIDE ■ Studios: “Not full,
■ Kids, drama, documentaries and the best of British:
but busy” Page 25
Broadcast chooses 36 pages of Cannes’ hottest shows ■ 50 Cent explains why he turned exec producer, and the Weinstein brothers reveal their TV ambitions
■ BTS: Delving into care
for the elderly Page 28
C4 takes aim at global drama Broadcaster to compete with the BBC and Sky for co-pro projects with international appeal BY PETER WHITE
Channel 4 is to invest millions in international drama co-productions in a strategy that will result in it taking on the BBC and Sky for projects with global appeal. The broadcaster has poached Red Arrow Entertainment head of drama and comedy Simon Maxwell to oversee the initiative, which will be funded by a new pot of money rather than the existing drama budget. C4 will commission a couple of high-end global dramas a year and will be looking for contemporary ideas, with a particular focus on authored, genre pieces. Head of drama Piers Wenger said acquisitions from the US and Europe had always been a key part of C4’s output, and that the UK’s international credentials mean he now wants to commission original content “that can travel”. He said: “Audiences throughout the world have become more adventurous and less provincial in their tastes, which has given UK talent a global platform. Producers and broadcasters in the States and Europe are coming for our talent. “Our strategy offers UK writers and producers a greater chance to carry on working within the UK, while allowing their work to reach a much wider international audience.” Wenger said he wanted to develop projects that could sit comfortably on premium US cable networks such as HBO and Showtime. “Channel 4 has something
Homeland: spy thriller is the kind of international drama project that would fit into the new Channel 4 strategy
Channel 4 has something akin to the US cable sensibility, which means it can produce distinctive drama Piers Wenger, Channel 4
akin to the US cable sensibility, which means we can produce distinctive drama,” he said. He added that series such as US spy thriller Homeland and French zombie drama The Returned (Les Revenants), which
were acquired by C4, would have fitted this new strategy. “Both Homeland and The Returned are high-quality and distinctive. They are both genre pieces with a twist, with characters that are intelligent, entertaining and compelling,” he added. The broadcaster will initially target British writers and producers, but is also keen to hear from international producers and to assess global scripted formats that can be remade. Maxwell will join C4 after Easter as head of international drama and report to Wenger. At Red Arrow, he was responsible for global drama productions includ-
ing conspiracy thriller Odyssey, which was commissioned by NBC, and History Channel’s Hannibal, a Halle Berry-produced miniseries about the life of the Carthaginian general. The BBC and Sky have been the dominant UK players in international drama in recent years. High-profile BBC co-pros include Parade’s End, made with HBO, and the upcoming The Honourable Woman, which is being made with Sundance. Sky recently announced major co-production deals with HBO for drama and Louie network FX for comedy, and ordered bilingual drama The Tunnel with Canal+.
Editor’s Choice
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Chris Curtis, Editor
Top News
Channel 4’s factual renaissance Broadcaster’s new slate shows a change in mood and confidence
“I
t feels,” said one senior factual producer on Tuesday night, “as if Channel 4 has got its mojo back.” It was easy to see why. A Who’s Who of the indie world headed to the Serpentine Sackler Gallery this week as head of factual Ralph Lee launched an impressive slate that includes a Grayson Perry (below left) series that threatens to top the Baftawinning All In The Best Possible Taste,
‘There is a sense among the factual community that C4 has shrugged off some of its troubles of last year’ and a three-part campaign that should establish pianist James Rhodes as a major TV presence. Rhodes (below right) is a kind of antiGareth Malone (same passion, more swearing and syphilis jokes), and spoke with barely concealed anger about the state of music education in Britain’s state schools, and his efforts to reinvigorate it. Other shows also look strong. Raw TV’s Freshers has been a long time coming, but its use of Sherlock-style pop-up text messages feels engaging. It has unfettered access to its young contributors’ social media, calls and texts, and Lee spoke of the exciting challenge of editing together the show’s traditional and digital narratives to come up with what he believes will be a truly distinctive series. There is a sense among the factual community that C4 has shrugged off some of its 2 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
è The BBC has launched an “urgent investigation” into an information leak on a Films of Record Panorama doc about the mayor of Tower Hamlets.
è Baby Cow, Big Talk and Shed Media troubles of last year. The heat around accusations of micro-management has died down – grumbles undoubtedly remain, but their intensity has dropped – and factual ratings have been strong. The momentum created by Educating Yorkshire was continued by Benefits Street, and Gogglebox’s Friday night gamble has paid off, with overnight audiences closing in on 3 million. A few producers mentioned that the improved performance has led to increased confidence at C4, and Lee wasn’t scared to take a few pot-shots at rivals. He said C4 wants to make shows that “step into the unknown” rather than ordering docs about, say, the Plantagenets and “knowing what you will end up with”. He also took a dig at the BBC and Sky’s squabble over the scale of their arts commitment, saying that C4’s focus will be less on arts history and more on using art as a “prism for exploring contemporary life in Britain”. Lee’s new job, as C4’s deputy chief creative officer, formalised an unofficial hierarchy that has developed over the past few years (as well as ensuring he didn’t pop off to run BBC2). The factual renaissance is playing its part in changing the mood around C4, and the broadcaster will hope its other genres can follow suit, given that there has not been the same progress in features, drama, comedy and entertainment. If C4 can spread a sense of creative empowerment across the wider indie community, 2014 could be a much happier year.
have secured series from a range of cable networks as UK indies continue to make substantial gains in the US.
è The BBC has axed its 20-year old arts round-up The Review Show (right) less than 12 months after switching it to a monthly BBC4 format.
Ratings Top Five Dead Famous DNA, Channel 4’s attempt to reveal more about the genetics of deceased famous people, connected with 1m on Wednesday. 1
2 Watch’s heavily marketed Alfonso Cuarón drama Believe launched with an audience of 300,000, twice the slot average, on Thursday. 3 The Musketeers (below) finale bowed out with 4m, its lowest audience of the series, on Sunday. 4 Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway fell to a series low of 6m on Saturday, but remained the biggest show of the day. 5 Norwegian thriller Mammon opened on More 4 with 255,000 on Friday, more than 50,000 below slot average.
Talking TV podcast è Visit broadcastnow.co.uk to download out latest podcast, in which columnist Steven D Wright assesses Tony Hall’s vision for BBC arts, while Made In Chelsea exec Sarah Dillistone discusses the show’s forthcoming New York spin-off.
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News & Analysis
BBC in-house plans revealed In-house will be given some money and unhooked from traditional commissioning briefs
By Jake Kanter
BBC Productions is preparing a major digital content push and is drawing up plans to reward staff for devising international hits. Speaking for the first time since taking the reins, factual and daytime controller Natalie Humphreys and controller of fiction and entertainment Mark Freeland said they wanted to empower creatives and champion the division’s successes more robustly. One of their first priorities will be to boost BBC Productions’ online output. The pair will hire a digital guru to work alongside Ana De Moraes, creative director of the new central development unit. The digital executive will develop ideas for content to be funded out of the £2m that director of television Danny Cohen has freed up for programming ideas. Additional funding will be taken from BBC Productions’ research and development budget. “We’re creating a digital playground, where in-house will be given some money and unhooked from traditional commissioning briefs to think differently about
Natalie Humphreys
Inside The Animal Mind: clip of a puzzle-solving crow was a hit on YouTube
content. It will also play into changes at BBC3,” Humphreys said. The incoming digital exec will also look to exploit long-form programming, promoting in-house content on social media and unearthing clips that may find an audience online. One example is a pirated clip of a crow solving a puzzle on Chris Packham’s BBC2 series Inside The Animal Mind, which has racked up millions of views on YouTube.
Freeland said he was “really passionate that development isn’t just people writing ideas down on a bit of paper”. Ideas will be tested online and, if successful, will form the basis of pitches to BBC channels. The leadership team is focused on finding a new crop of global hits that can match the success of Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing and Top Gear, he added. Cohen last month mooted financially rewarding in-house staff
who create shows that resonate around the world. Freeland and Humphreys are looking more closely at the idea, which may involve BBC Worldwide topping up salaries with cash rewards. Humphreys said: “I don’t have a problem with world-class showrunners being rewarded in different ways for their brilliance. How we get that right is something we need to look at. It has to be in keeping with our brand values.” Freeland added: “If you lifted the lid on who got paid what on Dancing With The Stars, then it would be very meagre. Those people are not millionaires. [We can explore] pragmatic deals where people are part-funded by Worldwide and the public service BBC.” ➤ A full BBC in-house interview will appear in Broadcast’s 1 May issue
NI targets fact ent and factual with £43m pot We love to fund pilots where international distributors are attached
By Peter White
Northern Irish indies have hailed an increased £43m investment pot from the region’s funding body aimed at boosting drama and factual entertainment. Northern Ireland Screen has launched ‘Opening Doors’, a fouryear investment plan that it hopes will help the nation become home to the strongest screen industry outside of London. The investment dwarfs its previous award of £27.3m in 2010. The strategy is designed to bring in more international series on top of HBO’s Game Of Thrones, as well as beef up scripted projects such as BBC comedy Blandings, which Mammoth Screen filmed in County Fermanagh. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Richard Williams, NI Screen
Blandings: filmed in Northern Ireland
But its key additional focus is on factual and factual entertainment projects, particularly those with international appeal. “The truth is, we’ve had any number of one-offs in factual and entertainment, but we haven’t
seen the same growth in other areas,” said Northern Ireland Screen chief executive Richard Williams. “We want to recalibrate the focus on international projects. We love to fund pilots where international distributors are attached, and we’ll be doing more of that.” The body highlighted the work of Wild Rover, which produces BBC gameshow Secret Fortune and Take The Money And Run for US network ABC, and Waddell Media,
which produces C4’s forthcoming doc A Very British Mission, starring Paralympian Ade Adepitan. Wild Rover boss Phil Morrow said: “Northern Ireland Screen has always supported our projects and the signal is that they want to do more of that.” Waddell Media managing director Jannine Waddell added: “We hope this new investment, alongside Channel 4’s and the BBC’s commitments to the region, will bring a boost to factual and entertainment production in Northern Ireland.” Northern Ireland Screen admitted that more needs to be done to convince ITV, C4 and Sky to spend money in the country, and it has a meeting scheduled with BBC director general Tony Hall in May to talk about the BBC’s commitment. 4 April 2014 | Broadcast | 3
News & Analysis In Brief Garrett exits Kudos Kudos Film and TV chairman and Shine Pictures executive chairman Stephen Garrett is to leave the company after 23 years. Alongside chief executive Jane Featherstone, Garrett helped build Kudos into one of the UK’s most successful indies, responsible for shows including Life On Mars, Hustle and Spooks. He was part of the team that sold Kudos to Shine for around £35m in 2007.
HBO Nordics drama deal HBO Nordics has acquired BBC drama The Honourable Woman (left) after striking a deal with BBC Worldwide. The broadcaster will launch the series in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark later this year. The 8 x 60-minute political thriller is produced by Drama Republic and Eight Rooks for the BBC and US cable channel Sundance, and was created by The Shadow Line’s Hugo Blick.
Hibbert pens China story Complicit writer Guy Hibbert is to pen a BBC2 drama about a Chinese woman struggling to uncover her true identity after being adopted by Anglo/American parents. The 2 x 90-minute One Child will be co-produced by BBC in-house and Sundance TV, and stars Harry Potter actress Katie Leung as lead character Mei.
C4 orders music doc Channel 4 has ordered a doc fronted by pianist James Rhodes. The 3 x 60-minute The Great Instrument Amnesty is a Fresh One series that tracks his attempts to reinvigorate music education in state schools by encouraging people to donate un-used instruments. The show focuses on a school in Basildon with an annual music budget of £2.20 per child, with the view to launching a wider campaign across the country.
For the latest breaking news www.broadcastnow.co.uk 4 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
BBC 3 announces fresh round of factual orders BY jake kanter
Keo Films will follow the arrivals and departures of British tourists at Bangkok airport as part of a raft of BBC3 factual commissions. The 6 x 60-minute Bangkok Airport (working title) will follow young, English-speaking travellers checking in and out, as well as their run-ins with immigration, police and customs. User-generated content will be incorporated into the show, which will be executive produced by Paula Trafford. Keo has also been commissioned to make a series inside west London’s The Bridge AP Academy, one of the UK’s biggest units for dealing with pupils who have been permanently excluded from their schools. The provocative 4 x 60-minute programme, titled The Unit, will question whether the young people who have been sent there have failed themselves, or whether they have been failed by the system. It is exec produced by Katie Buchanan. Elsewhere, Russell Brand is to make a follow-up to his 2012 documentary From Addiction To Recovery.
Brand: examines drug addiction treatments across the globe in new doc
Matchlight’s 60-minute Russell Brand: Give It Up will follow the comedian as he investigates how drug addiction treatments around the globe could improve services for people in the UK. Roughcut TV will hand Cuckoo star Tyger Drew Honey his first factual series for BBC3, reporting on issues affecting young people in Britain. Across the 3 x 60-minute series, the actor plans to tackle three subjects: pornography, relationships and dating, and body image.
Finally, BBC3 has commissioned a third, shorter series of Our War. The 2 x 60-minute BBC in-house series will capture the end of Britain’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan. Presenter and journalist Stacey Dooley has also landed an investigation series, with the working title New Drugs Frontiers, produced by Shed Media Group’s Watershed Television. ➤ See Broadcast Greenlight for full production credits
MTV shuns imitations for the ‘unexpected’ BY Peter White
MTV is eyeing two new formats for next year as it moves away from commissioning reality show imitations of Geordie Shore and The Valleys. The youth-skewing pay-TV broadcaster has sent out a brief to the indie community as it searches for two UK shows for 2015. Steve Regan, vice-president of production at MTV UK, said it wants ideas that are completely “unexpected” and “don’t look like our other hits”. In April, the Viacom-owned broadcaster will launch Ex On The Beach, a Whizz Kid-produced dating show in which a group of
The Valleys: MTV seeks alternative
contestants have to go on holiday with a former partner. Regan said the show would be its first UK-originated format and MTV would like more ideas that give traditional genres an unexpected twist.
MTV is open to gameshows and documentaries, but Regan does not want reality series following celebrities, and isn’t keen on magic, which he feels is “over-saturated”. And he believes it will be tough to do another dating show once Ex On The Beach launches. Titles are important to MTV and Regan said he wants to replicate the Ben Frow school of commissioning, which places a great deal of importance on a good title. The brief went out this week to around 24 producers. “That is more producers than ever before, because we’re trying to find things that are different. We’re going to people we haven’t worked with before, like Dragonfly,” he added. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
News & Analysis
Endemol back in indie hunt This is a continuation of our push into scripted TV that started in 2009
BY Peter White
Endemol UK is back in the market for indies after acquiring The Fall producer Artists Studio this week. Chief executive Lucas Church told Broadcast the super-indie was on the brink of a fresh wave of deals, but made it clear that it is not looking at purchasing any of the larger groups. Instead, Endemol is likely to follow the popular ‘umbrellaing’ strategy. “There will be more deals in the coming weeks and months,” said Church. “This is a continu ation of our push into scripted television that started with the purchase of Tiger Aspect in 2009. Then scripted was about 10% of our turnover, and now it’s nearly half.” He added: “There is a dearth of mid-range companies [left to acquire] but there are opportunities that are more akin to talent deals that you might want to back. “The reason we haven’t bought anyone for four years is that the deals have been very toppy. We’re not in that game.” Endemol beat several rivals to buy Artists Studio, which also pro-
Lucas Church, Endemol
The Fall: EWD will distribute the second series following the acquisition
duced Thorne for Sky and Combat Hospital for US network ABC. Lee & Thompson acted for Artists Studio. Endemol had previously had a relationship with Artists Studio’s sister company Far Moor, which is part of the deal and helped finance Tiger Aspect series Death Comes To Pemberley and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Artists Studio founder Gub Neal said the relationship contributed to the deal. “It was a really good fit and very good timing,” he said.
“We’d reached a critical mass in terms of what we were producing, particularly outside of the UK. Having additional support from a well-run and globally established distribution and support structure will be invaluable.” He said the fact that Endemol is still a standalone production company was critical. “We’re not dealing with an organisation that has been subsumed into a Hollywood studio or News Corp,” he said.
Endemol Worldwide Distri will sell Artists bution Studio’s programming, including the second series of The Fall, which was previously distributed by Content Television. The distributor will also help Neal and his team, including Justin Thomson-Glover, Patrick Irwin and John Bridson, work with Endemol’s global groups. “There will be opportunities where Artists Studio will fit in with other parts of Endemol around the world – for instance, our drama colleagues in Spain,” said EWD chief executive Cathy Payne. Artists Studio is working on a number of projects in the UK, including a Swedish format that is in development with a UK broadcaster, as well as a number of US projects, including a remake of Belgian cop drama Code 37.
Indies fight to fill hole left by Waterloo Road We are committed to commissioning new drama series for 8pm
BY Jake Kanter
Shed Productions and rival drama indies will compete to fill the significant slot left by the BBC’s decision to call time on school drama Waterloo Road. The corporation revealed this week that the 10th series of the show, which airs in 2015, will be its last. BBC1 orders 20 to 30 hours of Waterloo Road a year and is now in the early stages of hunting for a successor to play in a midweek, 8pm slot. Shed Media Group chief executive Nick Southgate said the company is “already developing more popular drama with the BBC” and is “particularly focused on delivering a new long-running series for Scotland”. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Charlotte Moore and Ben Stephenson, BBC
Waterloo Road: series ends in 2015
Waterloo Road is made in Greenock and represented a significant part of the BBC nations quota commitment to Scotland. In a joint statement, BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore and drama boss Ben Stephenson said they were “incredibly proud” of the series, but after 200 episodes, it
had “reached the end of its life cycle”. They thanked Shed Productions for all it has achieved. The pair said: “On BBC1 it’s important to make room for new drama and we are committed to commissioning new drama series for 8pm. There are some really exciting ideas currently in development but nothing to confirm yet.” BBC Scotland head of programmes Donalda MacKinnon
said: “Our firm aim is to continue growing the TV and the wider creative sector here in Scotland, utilising the increased skill base arising from Waterloo Road to build up future home-grown culturally representative output.” Waterloo Road launched in April 2006 and was created by Ann McManus. The drama was produced in Rochdale for six years before moving to Scotland in 2012 as part of a £25m deal that helped create 230 production jobs. The most recent series of the drama, which helped to launch the career of Doctor Who’s JennaLouise Coleman, averaged 3.8 million viewers (15.3%) earlier this year. At its peak, Waterloo Road registered audiences of more than 6 million. 4 April 2014 | Broadcast | 5
News & Analysis
Lunn takes aim at HMRC HMRC behaved in the same way as the police in the aftermath of Hillsborough
BY Jake Kanter
HMRC’s investigation into Christopher Lunn & Company (CLAC) has been conducted as improperly as the police’s handling of the fallout from the Hillsborough disaster, according to the TV accountancy firm’s founder. Christopher Lunn, whose former company represented thousands of freelancers, has launched an excoriating attack on HM Revenue & Customs after reporting restrictions were lifted on the criminal trial he faced earlier this year. In January, Lunn was cleared of two counts of “cheating” HMRC out of income and corporation tax, with a jury unable to reach a majority verdict on another four similar charges. He faces a retrial in September 2015. Lunn accused HMRC of pursuing the case to avoid facing an inquiry by the Adjudicator’s Office after CLAC lodged a complaint in 2012 claiming the tax body’s investigation was “disproportionate, unfair and misinformed”. He argued that HMRC has been “digging a hole” since tax inspectors “negligently” raided his premises in June 2010 and seized documents, despite telling Leeds Crown
Christopher Lunn
Freelancers: Lunn argues his former clients were ‘bullied’ by HMRC
Court that no evidence would be taken. HMRC declined to comment. “I believe that HMRC has behaved in the same way as the police in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster. Their case has evolved from a raid that was wrong. They should have stopped when they realised their evidence was flawed,” Lunn told Broadcast. He has gone on the attack because he does not want his
Bob‘s back – but not on the BBC Bob The Builder is back – and slightly slimmed down – with Hit Entertainment in production on 104 x 11-minute episodes of the pre-school series. However, the BBC is not attached to the remake, which will be up for grabs for British and international broadcasters at MipTV. CBeebies previously commissioned 249 episodes of classic Bob The Builder, ordering its last run in 2010. Hit will deliver the new series in 2015. It is co-produced by Canadian animation firm Mainframe and will be exec produced by Hit vice-president of content and former BBC kids boss Michael Carrington.
6 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
reputation and client base to “suffer death by a 1,000 cuts”. Lunn has closed down CLAC, which HMRC was refusing to do business with, and now works for start-up FTR Accountants. He is not a director or a shareholder, but is employed by the firm and has licenced it to work with his clients. FTR is registered in the name of Nadine Lunn and is overseen by a board of five trustees.
At the peak of its powers, CLAC had 7,000 clients on its books, but this fell to 2,500 as HMRC’s investigation continued. FTR currently has 3,000 customers and Lunn said it is growing significantly, with television freelancers remaining its speciality. “I have had huge support and there was great relief when the verdicts were given,” he said. Lunn argued that some of his former clients were “bullied” by HMRC into submitting disclosures on potentially underpaid tax under a separate civil investigation into the tax affairs of CLAC’s client base. None of the clients who stayed with CLAC were advised to make disclosures and Lunn said they have not been hit with penalties for keeping quiet – a threat that HMRC originally made in 2010.
Sky 1 snaps up cyber thriller
Sky 1 has bought ABC Studios’ 13-part sci-fi thriller Intelligence from Disney UK & Ireland. Lost star Josh Holloway plays a US Cyber Command agent who has had a microchip implanted in his brain that allows him to tap into databases, computers and electronic files. The series will debut on Sky 1 on 17 April. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
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28/03/2014 09:45
News & Analysis
For all the latest breaking news, updated daily, visit www.broadcastnow.co.uk
YouView ups investment as backers extend deals BY Alex Farber
YouView will ramp up investment in the platform by 30-40% this year after securing the backing of its seven shareholders for a further five years. The connected-TV platform finalised the undisclosed backing, thought to be around £100m, in late March after months of negotiation. Chief executive Richard Halton said he had always been confident that a deal with the terrestrial broadcasters and ISPs BT and TalkTalk would be struck, but the mood at YouView was “jubilant”. “Five years was as long a commitment as we could have hoped for. It really helped when we broke through the 1 million homes barrier,” he said. Earlier this year, the future funding of the platform was in doubt because of a dispute between shareholders over their levels of investment and different agendas. Halton acknowledged the difficulties of managing YouView’s multiple partners. He said: “All the shareholders have scale as a com mon objective. But they have slightly different reasons for wanting to be in 10 million homes, and sometimes there are different strategies in play within each business. “The broadcasters want prominence on the EPG and the ability
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
8 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
Pic cap standard: style for caption
to sell advertising to a large audience, while for the ISPs, it underpins their ability to cross-sell broadband subscriptions.” Underpinning the partners’ investment is the £2.2m profit YouView generated for the 12 months to March 2013, up from £600,000 the previous year. Halton now aims to add two or three traditional broadcasters to the platform “to complete the set”, before targeting the emerging players. “The global VoD market is consolidating into a small number of brands,” he said. The ambition remains to feature a diverse range of smaller content providers on the platform, which will be bolstered by the planned development of infrastructure for connected-TV apps.
Initially, the platform will add support for the BBC Connected Red Button service, which provides access to BBC News and Sport content including live streaming, VoD and news updates. “The focus is on content partners and developing the technology to enable new forms of content. We want to open up the range of content-rich apps,” Halton said. The mobile app, which currently allows users to set remote recordings, will also be beefed up to include channel-changing functionality, as well as offering the ability to stream content. Broadcasters will be offered increased levels of data about the way their services are consumed, to allow them to serve more personalised, targeted adverts.
Poliakoff sets up indie and develops BBC period drama Stephen Poliakoff has established his own production company and is working on a project for the BBC that will follow in the footsteps of Dancing On The Edge. The writer has set up Amor Road Films with his wife Sandy Welch, who has also written extensively for television, including BBC adaptations of Jane Eyre, Emma, Our Mutual Friend and Turn Of The Screw. Poliakoff is now developing a BBC period drama that will again be framed within a musical context. The project was inspired by his enjoyment of making Dancing On The Edge, the 1930s-set drama about a black jazz band that aired on BBC2 last year to an average audience of 2.4 million (8.6%). It is understood that Poliakoff will co-produce the new series with Hilary Bevan Jones’ indie Endor Productions after Dancing On The Edge producer Ruby Film and Television increased its focus on the film market. Poliakoff previously had a long-standing relationship with Fremantle Media UK, where he oversaw successful dramas including BBC1’s The Lost Prince for the company formally known as Talkback Thames. His relationship with the indie effectively ended when former chief executive Lorraine Heggessey left the company in 2010.
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International News
Alaska finds a pearl for TV3 Reality series Oysters leads push for British indies to fill gap left by the loss of ITV soaps BY PETER WHITE
Irish broadcaster TV3 has ordered a Duck Dynasty-style reality series from UK indie Alaska TV as part of its drive to commission more British producers. The commercial station, which is run by director of programmes Jeff Ford, has ordered the 10 x 60-minute Oysters, which follows a family of oyster farmers in Carlingford, a coastal town in County Louth, Eire. Ford, the former Channel 5 director of programmes, said the Irish reality series would work domestically and internationally. “It’s character-led, which is something that we’ve never done before. In the past we’ve ordered traditional ob-docs but no one [in Ireland] has done a show that follows a family, is slightly scripted and has a comedy approach, like the Americans do with shows such as Pawn Stars,” he added. Alaska TV discovered the family after an extensive search across the UK and Ireland for a Duck Dynasty-style clan. “I wanted to see if that refreshing style could work on this side of the pond,” said creative director Ian Lamarra. “It’s got everything: family, fights, business, community, humour and loveable characters, all set against a beautiful Irish backdrop. It’s great to be putting a marker down in this territory in UK and Ireland.” Alaska co-founder Chris Fouracre added: “It was an easy show to crew up. Who wouldn’t want to spend three months in one of the most beautiful places in the world, eating oysters with a pint of Guinness?” TV3 has also ordered an untitled soap from Shameless indie Company Pictures and Quirke indie Element, as well as Cork: Ireland’s Mega Port from UK indie Goldhawk 10 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
Oysters: the reality series following a family of oyster farmers is part of TV3’s drive to commission more UK producers
We’ve got a huge shopping list because our deal with ITV ends this year Jeff Ford
Media, which made Dover: The Port for ITV. The projects are the first steps in TV3’s commissioning overhaul, which has seen it engage more with the independent sector in the UK and Ireland. The process began when it lost the rights to air ITV soaps including Coronation Street and Emmerdale. “We’ve got a huge shopping list because our deal with ITV ends at the end of the year,” Ford said. “Our schedule has been hamstrung because we had to have Coronation Street in a certain slot, so now there’s more freedom to experiment.”
Ford has already commissioned several shiny floor shows for TV3’s new 5,000 sq ft studio in Dublin. It has partnered with STV for bigmoney gameshow The Lie and Danish indie Gong Entertainment for trivia quiz show Crossfire, and will produce Brain Hacker, starring mentalist Keith Barry, in-house. Ford is now looking for entertainment formats to rival The Voice and The X-Factor and hopes that Ireland can become the next Israel, which produced breakout talent format Rising Star.
“Now we’re looking for Saturday night entertainment and one of our priorities is talent. When I arrived, I noticed that we had great talent during the day and in late night, but not so much in peak. I want to bring in some new faces to galvanise the channel,” he said. “I know there’s an Irish Ant and Dec out there.” All TV3 commissions, including Oysters, will be distributed internationally by DRG, which has a wide-ranging deal with the Irish broadcaster. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Multiplatform News IN BRIEF Twitter inks two deals Twitter has acquired social TV analytics firm SecondSync for an undisclosed sum. The Bristol-based business provides detailed data about the TVrelated conversations taking place on the social network. It has also expanded its partnership with measurement company Kantar Media to launch a new initiative dubbed Data of Now. The move will merge Twitter’s real-time social data with Kantar’s audience measurement insights.
Gaming move for Bodies Maverick is preparing to launch an Angry Birdsinspired game to support the forthcoming series of Embarrassing Bodies: Live From The Clinic (above). The All3Media- owned indie has partnered with Bristol-based games developer Opposable to create Embarrassing Bodies presents... Angry Boils. The 45-level game requires users to manage a team of 11 health specialists to ward off a variety of ailments.
ITV signs up for Amplify ITV has signed up to the Twitter Amplify service to help brands extend TV advertising campaigns across social media. The broadcaster will offer its advertisers the ability to feature in pre- and post-roll idents and banners within ITV’s video tweets, which Twitter will then promote to targeted users across its platform.
Comedy Central hires Comedy Central has appointed former Heat editor Sam Delaney as editor in chief of digital. Delaney will commission original content from a variety of comic performers to feed into a hub of funny videos, quizzes and articles from celebrities. He will also curate VoD clips from Comedy Central shows.
For the latest breaking news www.broadcastnow.co.uk 12 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
BBC Worldwide shortlists six for Labs 2014 scheme BY ALEX FARBER
A company that uses webcams to analyse viewers’ expressions and a social media video editing app are among the six companies selected for BBC Worldwide Labs 2014. Start-ups Crowd Emotion and Seen It are among six businesses shortlisted from more than 90 applicants to join the six-month scheme organised by the corporation’s commercial arm. Now in its third year, the Labs initiative is designed to forge ties with digital innovators and help them strike partnership deals with internal BBCW divisions. Labs does not take a financial stake in the businesses it backs, but all six plan to relocate to BBCW’s Media Centre offices. Programme co-ordinator Hannah Blake heads the scheme with chief digital officer Daniel Heaf and head of digital ventures Jenny Fielding. Blake said BBCW Labs had attracted more submissions than in previous years due to growing awareness and “a real boom in the tech start-up ecosystem”. She said: “We aim to work with businesses that offer the best opportunity for partnerships with BBCW. We look for a strong team who are working on something interesting and new, and who can demonstrate they understand our business.” Crowd Emotion is a data-gathering research tool that uses webcams to capture the expressions of people viewing online content, and analyses their emotions. It makes use of facial coding technology, mapping several muscle points to gauge viewers’ responses. Blake said there was a natural fit for the technology with BBCW’s audience research team. “It is a major task to get data about people’s reactions,” said Blake. “This service taps into a new area that I hadn’t heard much about. It would allow us to see how audiences react to different promos or programmes, for example.” Blake also highlighted Seen It. The mobile app allows users to send short-form videos to brands or
BBC Worldwide Labs 2014: scheme forges links with digital innovators
organisations, which then edit and distribute them across social media. “For example, a live event could direct people to download the app before filming a brief review about their experience,” Blake said. A third project, Op3n Voice, is designed to improve the effectiveness of searching for rich media by tagging and adding code to video content. “We have a huge amount of video from the archive on bbc.com, through the global news and on programmes like Top Gear. Searching for a video about Russia, for example, can be very tricky, but this service makes it much easier to do,” said Blake. She added that, on average, 50% of Labs businesses go on to secure either pilots or commercial partnerships with BBCW. But the selected Labs companies are also free to work with any other business. This year’s companies range in size from two to eight staff. E-commerce provider Foodity, mobile learning platform Ko-Su and video hotspot firm Wirewax are among the start-ups that have previously struck partnerships with BBCW through the Labs scheme.
BBCW LABS 2014 OTHER PROJECTS Rezonence An advertising format that allows publishers to make money from digital content by asking users to ‘pay’ with engagement. For example, a user can unlock a video by viewing an advert and answering a question based on its contents. Buddy Bounce A platform that helps brands and talent better connect with fans. Users are encouraged to share pictures, texts and videos to earn credits, with the most active users more likely to be rewarded. Verticly A personalised ad platform that relies on social and location-based data to increase conversion and share rate. Brands can serve relevant ads to different users in real time.
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Technology & Facilities Creative review
A Trip to Italy
Rev
Shetland
Post Technicolor Client BBC Brief Provide picture post for Michael Winterbottom’s sequel to The Trip, in which Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon travel around Italy. How it was done The footage of Rome, Naples and the Amalfi Coast was shot with an Arri Alexa and complemented with a natural grade that was rich in contrast. Senior colourist Dan Coles used Baselight to accentuate the seas, skies and countryside, while increasing the warmth in skin tone and the overall palette. He also added a slightly cooler feel to the sequences of food preparation in the kitchen. The series includes dream sequences that were given a heightened look, bringing an added dimension of intensity to the scenes. Senior editor Siôn Penny completed the conform, online and title sequence using Avid DS. Watch it Fridays, 10pm, BBC2
Post Molinare Client Big Talk Productions Brief Provide picture and audio post for the comedy’s 6 x 30-minute third series. How it was done Series three moved to the Alexa and matching the establishing shots and GVs that were shot over the previous two series on a 2/3-inch camera was a challenge for senior colourist Gareth Spensley. He added defocusing vignettes in the grade to mimic the 35mm lenses, and softened the contrast to match the LogC acquisition of the Alexa footage. The third series is set in spring rather than winter, which required Spensley to subtly shift the greenery and skies with secondary keys and grads. Exteriors were given a spring-like appearance by online editor Des Murray, who added plates of blossom and daffodils captured by director Peter Cattaneo. Watch it Mondays, 10pm, BBC2
Audio Savalas Client ITV Studios Brief Provide audio post and create Shetland’s spectacular sonic landscape for its second series. How it was done The Glasgow-based sound facility recorded the settings and environments synonymous with the isolated region using a Sound Devices 744T recorder and Sennheiser MKH60 mic. Series dubbing mixer and managing director Kahl Henderson, and sound editors Leslie Liu and Paul McArthur, used MKH418 mics for the recording of beaches, harbours, cliff tops, towns and wildlife. A Schoeps CMC 641 mic was employed to capture local dialect, which was used as the basis for the show’s soundtrack, along with the original production audio, the Foley and John Lunn’s score. The series was mixed in 5.1 using the Pro Tools 10 HDX system and delivered to the R-128 loudness standard. Watch it Tuesdays, 9pm, BBC1
You can view clips at broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils/creative-review To include your work email george.bevir@broadcastnow.co.uk
IABM to hold State of the Industry breakfast at NAB
DPP unveils first draft of quality control tests
The International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers (IABM) will host its annual State of the Industry breakfast at NAB (pictured) next week. IABM chief executive Peter White will assess the challenges and opportunities faced by manufacturers, while a panel debate chaired by IABM director of business development and technology John Ive will discuss industry trends with chief executives Brian Cram from Dejero Labs, Carl Dempsey of Wohler Technologies, Marco Lopez from Miranda, and Charlie Vogt of Imagine Communications. It will take place on Monday 7 April at 7.30am.
The Digital Production Partnership (DPP) has released version one of its standardised UK quality control requirements, six months ahead of the October deadline for file-based delivery. Based on the EBU’s QC definitions, the DPP has created a minimum set of tests and tolerance levels required for UK broadcasters. They include AS-11 file compliance checks and automated quality control tests for video and audio.
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Masstech buys PlayBox products and technology Media asset management firm Masstech Group is to acquire the products and technology
of channel-in-a-box firm PlayBox Technology. Masstech chief executive Joe French said: “Adding PlayBox enables us to extend the Masstech platform to create the first fully integrated broadcast environment that includes playout and graphics within the asset management system.” PlayBox shareholders will continue to own and operate its system integration, support centre and distribution operation.
Digital Vision partners with SGO to support Mistika SGO’s Mistika post-production system will now support Digital Vision’s Precision grading panel (above right). SGO hailed the tie-up as a “landmark cross-vendor agreement”. SGO director of global sales and operations Geoff Mills added: “We have often been asked for a larger control surface and even looked into designing
our own panel, but doing this would simply drive-up costs and take focus away from software development. The Precision panel is routinely marked as being the very best grading surface out there.”
ITV quiz show The Chase moves to BBC S&PP’s Elstree The Chase has moved to BBC Studios and Post Production’s Elstree Studios. BBC S&PP will provide studio, technical and crew support at its Elstree complex for the eighth series of the ITV Studios gameshow. The series was previously recorded at London Studios. 4 April 2014 | Broadcast | 15
Technology & Facilities
world Cup to deliver extra content for second screen BY GEORGE BEVIR
Broadcasters airing this summer’s Fifa World Cup will have access to an extra 1,500 hours of content, all of which will be available for delivery to second-screen devices for the first time. The tournament in Brazil is also expected to be the first time that second-screen viewers of free-toair channels in the UK will be able to choose their own camera angles for replays during matches. Second-screen functionality will be delivered via EVS C Cast platform, with viewers potentially able to choose from six camera angles during live streaming and as many as 24 for on-demand content. Highlights of incidents during games will be delivered to viewers in an average time of one minute, said EVS marketing and communications director Nicolas Bourdon. He added that the UK is among the rights-holding countries that plan to provide viewers with multiangle clips of highlights on tablets and mobiles.
Content delivery to be worth £400m by 2018 Analysis firm Ovum says the business of delivering content to broadcasters and online video platforms will be worth £400m by 2018. In a study commissioned by media management firm Nativ, software businesses that manage the processes of production, ingest, post-production and transfer of media and data to broadcasters and online video platforms are said to have a potential value of £100m across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, South America and Middle East and Africa, which will quadruple over the next four years.
Codex releases compact HD camera for 2D and S3D Codex has launched Codex Action Cam (above), a compact HD 16 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
World Cup: second-screen viewers will be able to choose camera angles
Host broadcaster HBS will produce around 5,000 hours of live and edited content, up from 3,500 hours at the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa. The 5,000 hours will reside in a central store known as the Fifa Max Server. Content from 41 ENG teams will also be ingested into the system, which will be based on EVS XStoreSAN and will use 12 EVS XT3 servers. At the last World Cup, remote viewing was limited to ENG
content but in Brazil, EVS IPWeb tools will be used to provide access to low-res proxies of all footage. “This is a major shift in the way content is managed,” said HBS communication director Nicola Taylor. The BBC was unable to confirm its plans for World Cup coverage, while ITV said its second-screen coverage would include “real-time updates”, including pre-match analysis, interviews and live match data.
camera and recording package for 2D and S3D production. It uses a 2⁄3-inch CCD sensor and is capable of shooting RAW at up to 60fps. Codex’s Camera Control Recorder can be used to operate the camera head and adjust white balance, exposure index and frame rates. Delivery formats, via Codex media stations or Codex Vault workflows, include Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD, and H.264.
company, which provides playout, subtitling, channel branding and promos for the likes of the BBC, Channel 4 and UKTV.
ericsson given all-clear to buy red Bee Media The Competition Commission has cleared Ericsson’s takeover of Red Bee Media. The announcement confirms the provisional findings, which were published last month. The majority decision clears the way for Ericsson to complete its takeover of the media services
tvU Networks makes Grid system open access TVU Networks has released an open API for its TVU Grid IP-based video switching, routing and distribution system that will allow third-party broadcast kit manufacturers to integrate new or existing applications and devices with the TVU Grid ecosystem. TVU Networks chief executive Paul Shen said: “With the ability to support any IP video source, we can help broadcasters centrally manage live video content from more sources than ever before with just the click of a button.”
editworks Scotland boosts investment with Da vinci kit Editworks Scotland is installing a new Da Vinci suite, as investment
Onsight leaves Berners Street after 20 years Onsight is moving from its Berners Street home of 20 years to new premises in central London. The new post-production facility in WC2 (Covent Garden) will feature 4K and 3D projection suites equipped with Mistika finishing systems. The 4K projection room is being built around a Barco DP 4K projector. Onsight chief executive Simon Craddock said that although the new building is similar in size to the firm’s Berners Street site, it is “much more facility-like”. He said: “We are rightly viewed as technical solutions experts but we are looking at taking on more creative talent and building that side of our reputation.” Craddock said Onsight is looking to hire additional colourists to support its push for more higher-end finishing work. Onsight’s Shepperton base, which houses its camera department, is unaffected by the move. Recent Onsight 4K projects include David Attenborough’s Natural History Museum Alive 3D for Sky.
in the post company since it opened in 2010 hits the £500,000 mark. The Da Vinci suite will be installed over the summer, helping the firm broaden the range of programmes on which it works and taking the number of edit suites at the Glasgow facility to 14. A dedicated sound-proofed review space for BBC quality assessment review (QAR) has also been built. General manager Joanna Clements said: “Editworks Scotland now offers a full range of integrated post-production services.”
itv buys Sony cameras as regional news shifts to HD ITV has bought 190 Sony PMW400 and PMW-200 cameras to support its regional news teams’ transition to HD. The XDCAM cameras and CBK-WA101 wireless adapters will be used across all of the broadcaster’s regional newsgathering operations. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
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It was a great experience because it gave me a taste of going out and catching the action on camera Balihar Khalsa on C4’s investigative journalism training scheme, page 23
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18 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
Talent is key to better diversity Quotas will only work if BAME staff are supported, says Asif Hasan
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cannot overstate the impact on my life of seeing a positive and honest portrayal of BAME talent on TV. As someone who grew up on the receiving end of racism, the effect was palpable. When I felt condemned to living in a racist society, it gave me hope that the same people who would call me a ‘Paki’ had their lives enriched, and their prejudices unconsciously challenged, by Lenny Henry, Trevor McDonald and The Buddha Of Suburbia. Changing the way that people think about ethnic communities while entertaining and informing the nation is one of our industry’s most important achievements. More could have been done to ensure that this impact rippled out to Britain’s most deprived BAME communities. Nevertheless, enhancing and preserving our achievements should be at the heart of the diversity debate. But our best intentions to tackle diversity have fallen woefully short. Lenny Henry’s call for broadcasters to set up a pot of money targeted at BAME production talent needs further consideration. The danger is that such initiatives become a boxticking exercise where quality is compromised, and the content produced by BAME communities is marginalised and dependent on a subsidy culture. In an industry driven by, and riven with, ego, it’s unsurprising that many execs seem more comfortable with people who remind them of themselves. As budgets tighten and the pressure to deliver ratings grows, it becomes harder for execs to take a chance on people. They retreat into their comfort zone and it gets more difficult for those on the outside to break in. I spent 10 years at ITV working for Jeff Anderson. Jeff ’s no bleeding-heart liberal, yet his department was the model of diversity. While other execs unconsciously hired themselves, he hired on merit. Had I not had the good fortune to benefit from Jeff judging
me for what I did – not who I was, or how I came across – I would have quit TV. Instead, I established myself as a current affairs PD, working on Dispatches, Panorama, BBC3 docs and Tonight. Thanks to the support and encouragement from Cat Lewis, I have also established myself as a creative director at Nine Lives Media. I came up with BBC1’s Pound Shop Wars, on which a team, including a very talented Afro-Caribbean series director, delivered the BBC one of its best factual audiences of the past year. Ring-fencing money won’t lead to more stories like this if the industry lacks the BAME talent to develop. We all need to be conscious of the unconscious bias that dictates recruitment choices – for our own good, for viewers, and for the BAME talent we overlook. Only then can we re-engage BAME candidates no longer bothering to offer their talents. Whatever happens as a result of Lenny’s clarion call, entry-level diversity schemes will need to improve. The freelance culture and job insecurity have weakened the ability of diversity initiatives to nurture talent. Some have no choice but to leave, as the bank of Mum and Dad simply isn’t there to see less well-to-do candidates through the early years. If they do stick it out, many become disheartened by a lack of promotion at the end of it. However, if those who are given support do not have the spark or skills to enhance industry output, any diversity drive will simply be a PC box-ticking exercise doomed to fail. Millions watched Lenny Henry because he had one of the funniest sketch shows on television, giving us something different and better – not because he was the funniest black man on telly. ➤ Asif Hasan is creative director of Nine Lives Media
‘We all need to be conscious of the unconscious bias when recruiting’
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Taking a risk on formats will pay off The talent to create hit formats is here, but we aren’t giving it the chance, says Mark Robson The Cube: Objective gameshow is a peaktime hit
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he UK is universally acknowledged as being really rather good at creating television formats that work worldwide. So why are we currently looking elsewhere for shows? Why is the BBC not knocking out ideas inhouse that can compete with independently produced hits like The Voice UK? Why is it taking so long to come up with something as brilliant as Strictly Come Dancing? Why is a small nation like Israel doing better than us? We don’t wholly know, but there needs to be investment in development – nurturing people with a feel for formats and the ability to understand what viewers want next. This is a tough one, because the younger generation of reality viewers might enjoy watching classic game formats, but may not have the understanding and skill to create them. There are fantastic brains at work who understand the dynamic of peaktime games – Objective’s The Cube is a fabulous evolution in parlour games – but there are not enough formats to satisfy the market. We need more people brainstorming ideas or hothousing formats and getting the time and financial support to do so. Being part of a development team should be seen as a really important role within any production outfit, whether indie or in-house. It pays off: Twelve Yard has an amazing group of talent generating hit shows; CPL develops 20 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
cool new formats in-house; and ZigZag, Twofour and RDF all have great teams. Something we all acknowledge but find hard to address is how to replace a fear of failure with a culture of experimentation. Japan’s Nippon network created The Black Ship – a weekly slot that hosts gameshow pilots. Can you imagine that? Every Thursday at 10pm on BBC2, the chance to watch a brandnew game and get immediate viewer feedback. What doesn’t work one week gets refined before the next transmission. Goodbye mechanical rabbit, hello glamorous assistant. And let the experts take the risk. People running entertainment departments should be given the chance to make the decisions and take the praise and flak accordingly. Never ignore the skills and experience of the more mature producer. Look at the great things people like John Kaye Cooper and Richard Holloway have done in recent years. Finally, be prepared to look further afield. We know untapped talent is out there thanks to the courses we run for the National Film & Television School, the BBC and the Indie Training Fund. We’ve met some brilliantly talented young freelancers desperate to be heard. Give them a home – you’ll really benefit in the long run. More power to your development elbow and may all your formats be hits. ➤ Mark Robson is co-founder of Grand Scheme TV, which is running a diploma in entertainment for the NFTS, in partnership with the BBC
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Analysis paints a misleading picture of BBC3
read with interest Philip Reevell’s ratings analysis that ‘BBC3 fails to make an impact’ (Broadcast, 21.03.14) based on his rather odd choice of metric. ‘Consolidated ratings ranked by volume gain’ is not a measure I’ve looked at before. Philip has forgotten that at the BBC we have the iPlayer, where BBC3’s young adult viewers head to catch up, something his analysis ignored and a platform on which BBC3 shows do incredibly well. However, what disappointed me the most was the selection of this odd metric as a means to a misleading headline. Philip then went on to compare BBC3’s 16-34 share with our competitors, but for a 24-hour period. If he’s planning on looking closely at BBC3 it might be fairer to analyse the hours we actually broadcast. If he had done that, he’d have found that across 2013, BBC3 had the highest non-terrestrial share for 16-34s and a higher 16-24 share than Channel 4. ➤ Zai Bennett, BBC3 controller
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Training C4 Investigative Journalism scheme Dispatches: Secrets Of Your Pay Packet
Inside C4’s training scheme Last year, Balihar Khalsa left Broadcast to join the Channel 4 Investigative Journalism Scheme. How has it prepared this rookie for the competitive world of current affairs?
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s the Channel 4 Investigative Journalism scheme enters its third year, I am in the position of truly being able to assess whether it provides the elusive ‘break’ into TV. I was fortunate enough to be granted a place on the scheme after passing a gruelling X-Factor-style day followed by an interview with indie October Films. Over the past nine months, I have worked on three Dispatches and gained invaluable experience, while undergoing a fast-track initiation to the industry. In my naivety, I believed that my experience as a Broadcast reporter had given me a good understanding of how the industry operates, but nothing prepares you for a job like doing it. I have been on a huge learning curve, which in reality has only just started. For me, the scheme has kick-started my career in broadcast journalism and placed me firmly within a network that can often be hard to break into. The aim of the scheme, when it was first announced, was to safeguard www.broadcastnow.co.uk
‘The most useful thing will be to spend lots of time in edits, seeing how long films are put together’ Vicky Taylor, Channel 4
investigative journalism, which continues to face a number of challenges. It is also designed to grow the next generation of journalists from a diverse range of backgrounds. So who signs up? Last year, my group included a former police woman, a commodity trader and several print journalists with little or no experience in broadcasting. This year, C4 is to take on another set of trainees for the scheme, overseen by the broadcaster’s news and current affairs commissioner Vicky Taylor. There are no set criteria, but Taylor believes the trainees need “a passion for investigative journalism and digging into stories – some investigatory or research skills”. The programme included training in using Canon’s XF305 (pictured) and C300, plus lighting, editing on Avid, script
writing, story-telling, legal and compliance and data journalism, through a series of masterclasses and courses.
Real-world skills Training days were interspersed with on-the-job training, meaning we were able to put into practice the skills we had been taught. We also picked the brains of leading journalists and producers like Michael Crick, Jackie Long, Stephen Grey, Meirion Jones, Antony Barnett and Simon Ford. To date, the 2013 intake has worked on a plethora of Dispatches including Secrets Of Your Pay Packet; Secrets Of Your Credit Rating; Floods: Your Money Down The Drain; Secrets Of The Discount Stores; and What’s Your Pension Really Worth?. This year, the scheme is evolving into two groups. Four trainees will be offered positions at Nine Lives Media, ITN Productions, Blakeway Productions and Firecrest Media, while another four, who are already working in the industry, will be given training to reach the next stage of their career. ➤ 4 April 2014 | Broadcast | 21
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Training C4 Investigative Journalism scheme
How did the scheme benefit you? Paul Myles (2013) Myles was placed with ITN Productions. Prior to the scheme, he had worked undercover for Dispatches. “You get to learn both in the classroom and on the job. The training days gave me time to focus on specific skills: filming and editing, FOIs and data journalism. But working on productions is where I really got to put these skills into practice and expand on them.” Left to right: Cathy Heffernan, Balihar Khalsa, Joe Smith, Bronagh Walsh, Toby Bakare, Charlie Mole, Jamie Welham, Jessica Bell
“We talked to people who have been making these programmes because we want to make sure that they stay with investigative journalism,” says Taylor. “The feedback we have had is that it is really hard to make a step up and the four who are chosen will be given the skills to make the move from a shooting AP to producer/director.” The selected trainees will be given 10 days of training solely in camera work and editing. “The most useful thing will be to spend lots of time in edits, seeing how long films are put together,” says Taylor. “This kind of training is about being able to stand back and appreciate how the narrative of a film works and how things should look and feel.” By creating specific days for training, C4 believes that aspiring PDs will have the time to really understand what shots work by analysing rushes with editors to understand how to compose sequences and create beautifully crafted programmes.
Focus on journalism C4’s aim for the scheme is to equip people with the skills they need to stay in the industry making programmes that have journalism at their heart. “We would like them to stay within the investigative current affairs areas and be responsible for award-winning films and move on up the industry,” says Taylor. So far the track record is pretty good. Since it launched in 2012, 19 www.broadcastnow.co.uk
‘The highlight for me was being sent out on a recce and directing the opening sequence of a film’
trainees have been taken on. “From the trainees, there has been positive feedback,” says Taylor. “All bar one have carried on working in parts of the industry and they feel they have had the training to start developing skills that are needed to carry on.” Luckily, I am among those who have benefited. Since finishing the training scheme, I have moved onto another job, still working in current affairs. The highlight for me was being sent out on a recce and directing the opening sequence of a film, capturing footage of flooding in Oxford. It was a case of wading in houses where filthy flood water was rising, but it was a great experience because it gave me a taste of going out and catching the action on camera. The next day I was sent back with the reporter and cameraman to get a sequence, which was a huge amount of responsibility – but another chance to get truly involved. The downside of making the transition has been feeling unsettled at times because I don’t know where my next pay cheque will come from. Thankfully I have had lots of guidance from C4, which I’ve been able to contact regularly to ask for advice and pointers. I hope the training I have received will continue to help me make progress. While I am still learning how to navigate the industry as a new entrant, the scheme has given me a unique break and I know it will stand me in good stead in the future.
David Pegg (2012) Pegg started as a researcher at October Films and is now an AP. “You emerge with a unique set of skills and can start using things like data journalism or social media research for TV. I’ve used these skills on stories about everything from gambling to sewage leaks, and it has paid off with new lines or stories. You quickly understand what to do and when, and how to approach certain problems, just by being around other people who are fluent at it.”
Jessica Bell (2013) Bell was previously a reporter for Bolton News. She has been working at Nine Lives Media since securing a place on the scheme and has just had her contract extended. “The invaluable training and support, amazing opportunities and chance to meet some of the best journalists in the business helped me make the leap from print to broadcast.”
Toby Bakare (2013) Bakare worked at October Films and ITN Productions after securing a place on the scheme. “Nothing gives you confidence like working with your own production company and helping to pull it all together. My advice to others: have ideas and be prepared to fight for them.”
4 April 2014 | Broadcast | 23
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Production StudioS 24: Live Another Day: Fox series is currently housed in West London’s Gillette Building
Room for manoeuvre It’s glass half full, glass half empty at the UK’s studios as tax rebates for high-end TV continue to put a squeeze on space. Adrian Pennington reports
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he studios business is like the hotel trade: both make their revenue filling empty boxes and their margin by selling ancillary services. If there’s no room at the inn, then surely trade is good. Even the prime minister, congratulating UK talent for Gravity’s Oscars, told the House of Commons: “Our studios are full to bursting point.” It’s a double-edged sword, though, and there’s danger in hoisting a ‘full’
sign. “We’re not full, we’re busy. That’s the message we should be putting out,” says Elstree Studios managing director Roger Morris. “There are always ways of getting people in; otherwise, they tend to stop phoning.” Elstree’s bookings include Kudos’ ITV drama Grantchester, Ruby Films’ feature Suffragette and the live finals of Wall to Wall’s The Voice UK, produced by BBC Studios and Post Production.
“I don’t like to think the industry is in an unsustainable boom,” says Morris. “But at the same time, I like the idea of being able to ensure I have my toe in a number of different markets – film, TV and commercials – to spread the risk.” With the closure of Maidenhead’s Bray Studios last year, to be followed by Teddington when Pinewood’s lease expires at the end of 2014, there is some contraction. But it’s the tax breaks ➤ ➤
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4 April 2014 | Broadcast | 25
Production StudioS ‘The UK has plenty of mid-sized spaces that can be configured for use if producers are willing to look’ Derek Watts, 3 Mills
Enterprise, published last month, for high-end TV that are credited with confirms that there is “evidence of a the boom in interest and consequent clear and present opportunity for a crunch on space. studio facility in Scotland”, not least Pinewood Shepperton is locked out because of the skills and infrastrucwith features Avengers: Age Of Ultron ture such a base would attract. and Star Wars VII, with the next Bond The report pinpoints a £15m, film set to follow and Camelot’s 35,000 sq ft Foundation Studio as National Lottery Live based in TV3 “the strongest” of five options for until 2018. Pinewood Shepperton sites, including the converted waredirector of strategy Andrew Smith house space near Glasgow where claims the studio has failed to attract Sony/Starz TV drama Outlander has high-end TV because of the lack of been shooting since late last year. capacity: “We’ve not been able to With backlots at a accommodate any, despite premium, producers are the success of the TV tax improvising with postbreak policy.” industrial studio space. Figures released by Inward investment Outlander producer Left the BFI following the from 13 projects Bank Pictures scoped introduction of TV tax after introduction studios in London prior relief last April show of tax relief to moving north. Likewise, inward investment in TV Neal Street relocated Showproductions totalled £158m time/Sky Atlantic series Penny from 13 projects, including Dreadful to Dublin’s Ardmore Studios Game Of Thrones (tying up Belfast’s after failing to find space to mock up a Titanic Studios), Outlander, Da Vinci’s Victorian street. To house large standDemons (below) and Elementary. Meanwhile, ABC’s Galavant is the first ing sets and green screen stages (and guarantee its BBC Wales commission), US comedy to be shot on these shores Urban Myth Films leased an old Tesco since the tax rebates were introduced. unit near Chepstow for Atlantis. Heralding the policy as a “gamechanger”, Adrian Wootton, chief executive of the British Film Commission Capital alternatives and Film London, nonetheless plays The shortage is arguably most acute down the ‘Britain is full’ rhetoric: in and around the M25. To satisfy “Although not quite full, as is often demand, film and media agency Film reported, the UK is incredibly busy London has identified 1.25 million sq ft and we continue to receive a huge of alternative stage space in the capital, number of enquires,” he says. including iCity at the Olympic Park Pinewood Shepperton’s answer is to and the ExCel Arena. West London’s build more capacity. It is awaiting the Gillette Building is currently home to results of a public inquiry into a £200m Fox series 24: Live Another Day. expansion on neighbouring green belt “Many US production companies land, which will be decided by the are obsessed with Pinewood Sheppergovernment by 14 July. ton to the extent that nothing else From 2015, it also plans to build exists in this country,” says 3 Mills and operate four stages at Wentloog, studio executive Derek Watts. “The 10 miles from Cardiff, as part of a UK might not have a vast number of five-year deal with the Welsh gov20-30,000 sq ft stages, but it has ernment, and will administer and plenty of mid-sized spaces that advise on a £30m annual film and can be configured for use if proTV investment fund. ducers are prepared to look.” “We selected Wales over After searching for two 20,000 sq ft stages, one US producer is a site in Scotland using two adjoining stages because of the combination of a linked totalling 21,500 sq ft at 3 Mills to accommodate a facility and fund,” explains Smith. high-end TV series, which That decision starts pre-production later rankles north of this month and begins the border, where shooting in June. At Twickenham Studios, the Scottish govwhich is undergoing extensive ernment has been refurbishment since being saved criticised for failing from administration, sales to land Pinewood. A study manager Lucy McCutcheon says commissioned by Scottish
£158m
Top to bottom: Oscar-winner Gravity, shot in part at Pinewood Shepperton; Countdown, filmed at Dock10; new Bond is set for Pinewood Shepperton; Atlantis was shot in an old Tesco unit; Game Of Thrones filmed at Belfast’s Titanic Studios; alternative studio space iCity at the Olympic Park 26 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
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some of the perceived capacity issues are down to scheduling. “We’re sometimes given lead times by US producers of just a few weeks, which can mean turning work away,” she says. The studio recently housed BBC comedy Crims and Fox feature Frankenstein. “London will be packed to the hilt by the end of the year,” claims Piers Read, who runs Wimbledon Film & TV Studios. “We have shows pencilled in three to four deep from Q3 onwards.” With TVC Studio 1 out of action until 2015, arguably Wimbledon’s biggest local rival is ITV’s The London Studios, home to Graham Norton’s and Jonathan Ross’s chat shows, Loose Women, Daybreak (now rebranding as Good Morning Britain) and This Morning. Along the Thames, Tower Bridge TV Studios relaunched in February with a facelift and HD upgrade to serve Russia Today political shows, among others. Read aims to fill the “vacuum of multi-camera TV studio space” with a facility upgrade on the back of a £6m investment he hopes will be signed off
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‘Between ourselves, ITV and Sharp, we’re establishing Manchester as a new UK capital for media production’ Andy Waters, Dock10
this month. The scheme will be underpinned by the activity of companies renting the site’s Media Village, which is also full. “We’re considering rebranding to make Wimbledon the focus for multi-camera TV in London,” he says.
Northern solutions The five-stage Space Project complex, opening in Manchester’s Gorton district next month, is predicated on the lack of studio space in the south. “When the tax breaks came in, it was always likely that London’s studios would become full, the market would overheat and prices would be pushed up, creating a great chance to take advantage of new space,” says Sue Woodward, director at Space Project. The £10.5m, 360,000 sq ft drama hub is said to be the largest in Western Europe, outside of London. “We have at least twice-weekly calls from producers fed up with being in a leaky warehouse and having to buy in a generator because there’s no power,” she adds. “North-of-London facilities
will always have to work harder to get productions to move, but once they come, we know they will return.” Across town, Dock10 is fitting new infrastructure into HQ1 to squeeze more production into its schedule. The £1m injection includes scenic hoists and a saturated lighting rig to “increase turnaround to accommodate demand,” says studio chief Andy Waters. “With old-fashioned trussing, it can take a number of days to move largescale productions in and out, but this new equipment means we can take out a show like The Voice UK and put in A Question Of Sport in a day,” he says. Dock10 handles ITV Studios productions The Jeremy Kyle Show, Countdown, Family Matters and Remarkable TV quiz format Ejector Seat, plus CBeebies’ Swashbuckle and The Slammer Returns, while ITV manages the Coronation Street lot across the canal. Waters says: “Between ourselves, ITV and Sharp, we’re establishing Manchester as a new UK capital for media production.”
4 April 2014 | Broadcast | 27
Behind the Scenes protecting our parents
Putting elderly care into focus Filming aged patients during and after their hospital stays showcased the complexities of co-ordinating a care system that involves multiple agencies and budgets, says Alice Perman Protecting our parents
Production company BBC Documentaries TX TBC (probably 9pm, Thursday 17 and 24 April, 1 May), BBC2 Commissioner Clare Paterson Series producer/ director Alice Perman Director Jonathan Taylor Executive producer Julian Mercer Producer Rob Miller Director of photography Petra Graf Film editors Tom DixonSpain; William Grayburn DV director Chloe Fairweather Post house The Station
Alice Perman Filming in care homes n Have provision in the
budget and schedule for contributor after-care. Duty of care to vulnerable contributors goes beyond the delivery of the series. n Find a champion within the organisation you’re filming with. You need someone who believes in the project and will push hard, even on uncomfortable stories, to allow the complete access needed to be truthful to the subject. n Don’t start filming until access is fully in place. Firming up access while filming wastes precious resources to put on screen. n Mind your bedside manner. A recurring complaint of older adults in the care system is that they feel patronised and talked down to. n Listen and wait. Pauses in dialogue can be more poignant than words.
28 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
Alice Perman Series producer/ director
T
he 2012 series Protecting Our Children set the bar high. Sacha Mirzoeff and the BBC Bristol documentaries team had spent two years with social workers to produce a critically acclaimed, unflinching series about children at risk, and the professionals charged with protecting them. Could a series on our elderly capture the essence of the frontline care of vulnerable older adults? Each series was conceived in a similarly febrile climate: Protecting Our Children against a backdrop of critical reports on the failings of social care in the case of Baby Peter, and Protecting Our Parents amid a series of scandals on care of the elderly, including MidStaffs and Winterbourne View. But there is a key difference. While the earlier series focused on a small team of dedicated social workers with a caseload of vulnerable children and families living on the margins of society, Protecting Our Parents is about all of us: our parents, grandparents and the many health and social care professionals who look after them as they get older – and will care for us in our old age too. It took 18 months for producer Rob Miller and executive producer Julian Mercer to put in place access to the eye-watering number of agencies and professionals needed to enable us to try to make sense of a system that, for the older people at its heart, is often disjointed and bewildering. Hospital-based social workers and doctors rarely have the chance to see their clients or patients in the community, so we were able to observe what many of the professionals couldn’t. We filmed contributors leaving hospital with social care packages that had been carefully designed over weeks, sometimes months, on the ward – only to be readmitted within weeks.
On occasion, we would know before the Community Social Work team, the GP or the hospital consultants that our contributors were back in A&E or on a ward, because we’d get the information from carers and families. Not because medics and social workers aren’t hardworking, dedicated and caring, but because what we observed is symptomatic of the fault lines in the elderly care system between health and social care, hospital and community. In complex cases, we would film with more than 10 professionals, all from different sectors. For all their
‘What we observed is symptomatic of the fault lines of the elderly care system’ Alice Perman
good intentions, sharing information quickly and managing cases between agencies with competing budgets and targets is one of the greatest challenges of the elderly care system. For the team, filming often vulnerable, frail contributors caught in the middle, it posed the dilemma of when to film and when to intervene. By applying the basic principles of elderly care – dignity, respect, safety – and adding our own (‘If that was my mother…’), I’d like to think we got the balance right. Director Jonathan Taylor and I were filming Kathleen’s hospital discharge when, after months of preparation, it was cancelled by the Community Social Work team, and then reinstated at the last minute by their hospital counterparts. We knew the change of plan meant the carers would be delayed in receiving Kathleen at home (although the ward staff didn’t). The discharge held up the Ambulance Service workers and made Kathleen anxious. But this is the reality of elderly care, and so with Kathleen’s permission, our DoP Petra Graf and DV director Chloe Fairweather continued to film – and then stayed with her throughout the evening.
There were many times, too, when our concerns about our contributors’ wellbeing were too great not to share the information we had. While making her breakfast, we had found a metal teapot in Joyce’s microwave. She has advanced dementia, but lives at home alone. Her social worker Jenny arrived for a routine visit and we wondered whether she had seen it. She hadn’t, but we filmed her subsequent, delicate conversation with Joyce – and Jenny then quietly removing the metal teapot from the kitchen to stop it from happening again. For those on their own in hospital or at home, with no visitors apart from the occasional nurse, doctor or carer for long periods of the day, the regular visits from our crew seemed to break up the monotony. Betty’s eyes lit up whenever Jonny stopped by. Jim, often confused and lonely at home, would be visibly lifted after an evening with Chloe or talking about the football with Rob. Evelyn, whose prolonged stay in hospital due to her advanced dementia made her aggressive towards hospital staff, was often calm and engaged when Petra was there. For all of our hundreds of hours of filming, much of this took place off-camera – and many of these relationships still endure. By the end of the production, Dr Peter Wallis, Heartlands Hospital’s lead elderly care consultant, joked that we probably knew more about the cases than his team did. Of course we didn’t – we’re not the professionals. But we did see more of the system than many who work in it do, because we were free to move between community and hospital, social care and health. And we had the time to sit, talk, hold a hand, make cups of tea and feed the cat. Perhaps for our elderly, going through what is often the most challenging experience of their lives, that’s what’s needed: someone at the centre of the system – an independent advocate rather than just a film crew – who has the time to sit and listen, and the freedom to help join up the professionals around them. www.broadcastnow.co.uk
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Top down: Kathleen and Leonard Price today, and in their younger days (bottom)
Clockwise from main picture: Heartlands Hospital lead elderly care consultant Dr Peter Wallis talks to a patient; patient Betty Williams; elderly care consultant Dr Sally Jones
protecting our parents DutY oF care Julian Mercer Executive producer
Projects like this always require detailed access arrangements but while our previous film Protecting Our Children was ring-fenced by legal requirements, Protecting Our Parents mainly placed moral limits on our actions. In Children, access to cases subject to legal proceedings was sanctioned by the family courts – to film or broadcast. In Parents, we were subject to the Mental Health Act (in managing contributors whose capacity was questioned), but our compliance ethos centred on a determination to respect the older people, never to treat them as anything other than human beings with dignity. The elderly contributors were offered a two-tier consent process: they had to be happy to film, and were then given a right to view the films and decide whether to approve their broadcast.
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Where the elderly person’s capacity to consent was in any doubt, their approval had to be corroborated by their family (if they had any) and the lead professional in their care. Both series placed unusually onerous responsibilities on the production teams, but I like to think that, by demonstrating our willingness to respect the law and the people involved, we raised the level of trust that individuals, families, social workers and medical professionals were able to place in us with a consequent increase in the depth and quality of access.
4 April 2014 | Broadcast | 29
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Ratings Mon 24 Mar – Sun 30 Mar
Ant & Dec beat Kylie and Tom ITV duo edge out the The Voice judges as BBC1’s MasterChef returns and The Musketeers bows out BY Stephen Price
On our road there’s a tree that, at this time of year, produces a sappy, sticky fruit. Without ever acknowledging it, everyone who owns a car tries to avoid parking under it; walking turns to that runny walk people do when they don’t want to be seen to be running as they seek out a nonsapped-drenched space. Similarly, Kylie and Tom were running/not running against Ant and Dec running/not running on the other side of the road, both trying to get ahead. And each week, like the amused birds sitting in the tree looking on, the viewers watch and decide. Meanwhile, MasterChef is back, as is young Morse, while The Musketeers have hung up their buckles and swashes. On Monday, the second part of ITV’s The Widower continued to impress, matching its launch episode on 5.2 million/ 22% (430,000 +1). Opposite, the penultimate episode of BBC1’s Silk lost out with 3.8 million/16%, the lowest in live ratings of any episode across its three series. On Tuesday, the third episode of BBC1’s Shetland achieved 4.5 million/20%. It’s the lowest of the trio so far, but along with Holby City’s 4.8 million/22%, it was enough to see off ITV’s repeat of Midsomer Murders’ 2.2 million/ 10% (270,000 +1) for two hours from 8pm. ITV’s Big Star’s Little Star returned for a second series on Wednesday. Its 4 million/19% (200,000 +1) was slightly behind last autumn’s launch but ahead of 32 | Broadcast | 4 April 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 26 27 28 29 29 31 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 38 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Broadcaster/ Producer*
Coronation Street Coronation Street Coronation Street Coronation Street EastEnders EastEnders Emmerdale EastEnders Coronation Street EastEnders Emmerdale EastEnders Emmerdale Countryfile Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway Emmerdale Emmerdale The Voice UK BBC News At Six Endeavour The Widower BBC London News Emmerdale BBC News At Six BBC News At Six BBC News At Six Casualty BBC News Antiques Roadshow BBC News At Six BBC News At Ten Holby City BBC News The National Lottery Live BBC News At Ten The One Show MasterChef Shetland BBC News At Ten Law & Order: UK MasterChef The One Show Big Star’s Little Star The One Show BBC News At Ten The Musketeers The One Show The Cube Surprise Surprise Mother’s Day Special The One Show
Mon Wed Mon Fri Mon Tue Mon Thu Fri Fri Wed Thu Tue Sun Sat Fri Thu Sat Mon Sun Mon Wed Thu Tue Wed Fri Sat Sun Sun Thu Tue Tue Sat Sat Wed Mon Thu Tue Mon Wed Wed Tue Wed Thu Thu Sun Wed Sat Sun Fri
19.30 19.30 20.30 19.30 20.00 19.30 19.00 19.30 20.30 20.00 19.00 20.30 19.00 19.00 19.00 19.00 19.00 19.00 18.00 20.00 21.00 18.30 20.00 18.00 18.00 18.00 21.20 22.00 20.00 18.00 22.00 20.00 22.10 21.10 22.00 19.00 21.00 21.00 22.00 21.00 21.00 19.00 20.00 19.00 22.00 21.00 19.00 20.25 19.00 19.00
8.45 7.72 7.63 7.45 7.23 6.87 6.80 6.74 6.70 6.60 6.50 6.29 6.27 6.24 6.14 6.04 5.98 5.94 5.74 5.63 5.58 5.55 5.53 5.25 5.13 4.98 4.90 4.85 4.84 4.84 4.82 4.82 4.81 4.73 4.61 4.50 4.48 4.47 4.47 4.38 4.33 4.32 4.26 4.16 4.13 4.09 4.04 3.93 3.87 3.86
39.00 36.47 32.95 37.41 31.94 32.29 33.33 33.39 30.46 31.41 32.83 28.52 31.42 32.22 28.85 32.06 30.96 28.29 32.38 25.14 24.07 30.28 26.12 29.90 29.32 30.52 26.81 25.35 21.83 28.97 27.43 21.90 28.96 24.22 25.35 22.06 20.85 20.00 23.96 19.57 19.35 21.65 19.98 21.56 23.56 18.07 19.75 19.50 19.98 20.46
ITV ITV ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV ITV ITV BBC1/Wall to Wall BBC1 ITV/Mammoth Screen ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1/Shine TV BBC1/ITV Studios BBC1 ITV/Kudos Film & TV BBC1/Shine TV BBC1 ITV/12 Yard BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV/Objective Productions ITV BBC1
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Endeavour
The Musketeers www.broadcastnow.co.uk
All BARB ratings supplied by: Attentional
Source: BARB
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 59 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 67 69 70 71 72 72 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 92 94 95 95 97 98 99 100
Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Broadcaster/ Producer*
Silk ITV News & Weather BBC News At Ten Match Of The Day Party Political Broadcast: Lib Dem ITV News & Weather Room 101 ITV News & Weather Catchphrase Mother’s Day Special ITV News & Weather BBC News Holiday Hit Squad Pointless New Tricks I Never Knew That About Britain MasterChef The Chase The Chase Bang Goes The Theory The Chase The Chase ITV News & Weather The Chase Pointless Pointless Pointless Pointless BBC News BBC News At One You’ve Been Framed! Top 100 Shockers University Challenge Student Nurses: Bedpans & Bandages Gogglebox Tonight: The Truth About Immigration BBC News At One BBC News At One Mary Berry Cooks A Question Of Sport Match Of The Day 2 BBC News At One BBC News At One ITV News At Ten & Weather The Great British Sewing Bee Panorama: The Great NHS Robbery Midsomer Murders Gardeners’ World Question Time Joanna Lumley Meets Will.i.am ITV News & Weather Formula 1: The Malaysian Grand Prix
Mon Wed Fri Sat Wed Mon Thu Tue Sun Thu Sun Wed Mon Fri Mon Fri Thu Fri Mon Wed Mon Fri Tue Tue Thu Fri Wed Sat Tue Sat Mon Fri Fri Thu Mon Thu Mon Fri Sun Wed Fri Mon Tue Mon Tue Fri Thu Fri Sun Sun
21.00 18.30 22.00 22.30 18.25 18.30 20.00 18.30 18.00 18.30 18.35 20.00 17.15 21.00 20.00 20.30 17.00 17.00 19.30 17.00 17.00 18.30 17.00 17.15 17.15 17.15 17.15 18.40 13.00 18.00 20.00 20.00 21.00 19.30 13.00 13.00 20.30 19.30 22.25 13.00 13.00 22.00 21.00 20.30 20.00 21.00 22.35 22.35 22.00 08.00
3.81 3.80 3.79 3.78 3.77 3.70 3.64 3.63 3.58 3.58 3.55 3.50 3.47 3.43 3.42 3.39 3.36 3.36 3.35 3.33 3.32 3.30 3.30 3.28 3.27 3.24 3.22 3.20 3.06 3.05 3.02 2.92 2.87 2.86 2.79 2.78 2.73 2.71 2.69 2.68 2.63 2.56 2.56 2.53 2.50 2.50 2.49 2.48 2.46 2.45
16.43 20.76 22.30 31.21 21.17 19.47 17.19 19.23 22.26 20.04 21.20 16.44 24.30 17.16 15.11 15.40 25.16 25.20 15.47 24.63 24.27 18.87 24.00 22.89 23.49 23.25 22.78 18.69 40.34 18.74 13.36 13.91 14.37 14.18 41.48 39.99 11.79 13.60 20.82 39.16 39.98 14.25 11.46 10.94 11.30 12.25 22.36 20.31 12.87 32.69
BBC1 ITV/ITN BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV/ITN BBC1/Hat Trick Productions ITV/ITN ITV ITV/ITN BBC1 BBC1/Twofour BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1 ITV BBC1/Shine TV ITV ITV BBC1 ITV ITV ITV/ITN ITV BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1/Remarkable Television BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC2 ITV/Twofour C4/Studio Lambert ITV BBC1 BBC1 BBC2/Love West BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV/ITN BBC2/Love Productions BBC1 ITV/Bentley Productions BBC2 BBC1/Mentorn BBC1/Rain Media Ent/Big Red ITV/ITN 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.
Surprise Surprise www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Joanna Lumley Meets Will.i.am
the rest of the series and enough to beat BBC1’s Holiday Hit Squad (3.5 million/16%). BBC1’s MasterChef cooked off again at 9pm, launching with 4.3 million/19%, a fraction ahead of 2013’s launch. Opposite, ITV’s Law & Order: UK recovered nearly 1 million from last week with 4.1 million/18% (250,000 +1). On Thursday, BBC1 had an extra EastEnders due to the previous Friday’s Sport Relief. At 8.30pm, it achieved 6.3 million/ 29% following Room 101’s 3.6 million/17% at 8pm. Opposite, ITV’s Emmerdale scored a win with 5.3 million/25% (189,000 +1)
‘At 9pm on Friday, a repeat of New Tricks (3.4 million/17%) won the slot for BBC1’ at 8pm, while Ade At Sea at 8.30pm found the water choppy with 2.1 million/10% (120,000 +1). At 9pm, BBC1’s second MasterChef (4.5 million/21%) reduced ITV’s Dangerous Dogs to 2.2 million/10% (200,000 +1). At 9pm on Friday, a repeat of New Tricks (3.4 million/17%) won the slot for BBC1. Channel 4’s Gog glebox came next with a series high of 2.5 million/12% (400,000 +1), well ahead of ITV’s Edge Of Heaven (1.4 million/7%; 120,000 +1). At 10.35pm, BBC1’s Joanna Lumley Meets Will.i.am did nicely with 2.5 million/20%. On Saturday, ITV’s Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Take away was its lowest of the past two series (5.8 million/27%; 344,000 +1) at 7pm, while The Voice UK’s semi-final proffered its second lowest of this run with 5.9 million/28% from 7pm to 9.10pm. At 8.25pm, ITV’s The Cube lost out with 3.7 million/18% (275,000 +1). ITV celebrated Mother’s Day with Catchphrase at 6pm (3.6 million/22% incl +1) and Surprise Surprise at 7pm (3.9 million/20% incl +1). At 8pm, ITV’s Endeavour returned winningly with 5 million/22% (635,000 +1) for two hours ahead of Antiques Roadshow (4.8 million/22%) and the finale of The Musketeers (4.1 million/18%), the lowest of the series.
See over for digital focus, plus channel and genre overviews 4 April 2014 | Broadcast | 33
Ratings Mon 24 Mar – Sun 30 Mar Channel Overview
Lambs spring into top 10 BY stephen price
In fields around the land this week, green visors were delivered, baize tables were set up and cards dealt out, and once again the lambs had to explain, hoofs on hips, that they gambol. Elsewhere, sewing moved to 9pm for a week, while Rev returned. On Monday at 10pm, BBC2’s new series of Rev began with 1.6 million/9%, generally in line with the 9pm autumn 2011 series and ahead of Channel 4’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats (1 million/6%; 100,000 +1) and Channel 5’s hour-long Born To Kill (600,000/4%; 100,000 +1). The best of BBC2’s Lambing Live was Tuesday at 8pm (2.3 million/10%), defeating C4’s Kirstie’s Best Of Both Worlds (1.3 million/6%; 150,000 +1) and C5’s Benidorm ER (800,000/4%; 122,000 +1). Moved by the lambs to 9pm, BBC2’s Great British Sewing Bee held on to 2.6 million/12%, in line with its 8pm episodes, defeating C4’s Food Prices: The Shocking Truth (1.5 million/6%; 132,000 +1) and C5’s The Mentalist (900,000/4%; 128,000 +1). The second episode of BBC2’s W1A (1.3 million/7%) lost 350,000 on launch at 10pm on Wednesday, but was still ahead of C4’s First Dates (800,000/5%; 196,000 +1) and C5’s Castle (600,000/4%; 82,000 +1).
Source: BARB
WEEK 13 Average hours per viewer Daytime share (%) Peaktime share (%) w/c 24.03.14 Peaktime share (%) w/c 25.03.13 Year to date Average hours per viewer Audience share (%) Audience share (%) 2013
BBC1 5.37 19.65 23.20 21.94 BBC1 6.12 22.33 21.58
BBC2 1.37 4.02 7.20 6.85 BBC2 1.90 6.94 5.63
ITV1 3.82 14.72 19.85 21.67 ITV1 4.23 15.44 16.29
C4 1.33 5.00 6.01 5.96 C4 1.60 5.82 6.13
34 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
Total 24.49 100.00 100.00 100.00 Total 27.40 100.00 100.00
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Broadcaster BBC2
Top 30 bbc2, channel 4 and channel 5 Title
Day
Start
1
University Challenge
Mon
20.00
3.02
13.36
2
Gogglebox
Fri
21.00
2.87
14.37
C4
3
Mary Berry Cooks
Mon
20.30
2.73
11.79
BBC2 BBC2
4
The Great British Sewing Bee
Tue
21.00
2.56
11.46
5
Gardeners’ World
Fri
21.00
2.50
12.25
BBC2
6
Lambing Live
Tue
20.00
2.28
10.36
BBC2
7
Lambing Live
Fri
20.00
2.22
10.32
BBC2
8
Lambing Live
Thu
20.00
1.99
9.19
BBC2
9
Lambing Live
Wed
20.00
1.98
9.28
10
Alan Carr: Chatty Man
Fri
22.00
1.92
12.51
C4
BBC2
11
The Woman In Black
Sun
21.00
1.90
9.46
C4
12
One Born Every Minute
Mon
21.00
1.87
8.06
C4
13
Dad’s Army
Sat
19.30
1.76
8.19
BBC2
14
Mayday: The Passenger Who Landed A Plane
Thu
21.00
1.74
8.11
C4 BBC2
15
Antiques Road Trip
Tue
19.00
1.68
8.13
16
The Plantagenets
Mon
21.00
1.64
7.07
BBC2
17
Louis Theroux’s LA Stories
Sun
21.00
1.62
7.13
BBC2
18
Salting The Battlefield
Thu
21.00
1.59
7.89
BBC2
19
Food Prices: The Shocking Truth
Tue
21.00
1.58
7.09
C4 BBC2
19
Rev
Mon
22.00
1.58
8.61
21
Antiques Road Trip
Thu
19.00
1.56
7.88
BBC2
22
Kirstie’s Best Of Both Worlds
Tue
20.00
1.50
6.84
C4
23
The Hoarder Next Door
Thu
20.00
1.47
6.81
C4
24
Antiques Road Trip
Fri
19.00
1.45
7.49
BBC2
25
The Simpsons
Wed
18.00
1.43
8.17
C4 BBC2
25
The Perfect Morecambe & Wise
Sat
20.00
1.43
6.63
27
Antiques Road Trip
Mon
19.00
1.38
6.55
BBC2
28
Flog It!
Sat
18.30
1.37
7.23
BBC2
29
The Simpsons
Mon
18.00
1.35
7.61
C4
30
The Simpsons
Tue
18.00
1.30
7.43
C4
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Multichannel 40.47
The first part of C4’s Dead Famous DNA mustered half the slot average (9pm, Weds)
Others 11.68 52.18 40.47 39.99 Others 12.46 45.46 46.32
Daytime is 09.30-18.00. Peaktime is 18.00-22.30. Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
daytime share (%) w/c 24.03.14
peaktime share (%) w/c 24.03.14
970k
C5 0.92 4.43 3.27 3.59 C5 1.10 4.01 4.05
BBC1 23.20
ITV 19.85
C5 3.27 C4 6.01
BBC2 7.20
Multichannel 52.18
1.1m
Channel 5’s Killing Spree: Suffolk Strangler was slightly ahead of the 908,000 slot average (8pm, Weds)
BBC1 19.65
ITV 14.72
BBC2 4.02 C5 4.43 C4 5.00
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
Newsround Deadly Pole To Pole: Forces Of... Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures Tree Fu Tom Peter Rabbit Peter Rabbit Old Jack’s Boat Hank Zipzer Newsround Octonauts
Top 10 Factual programmes
Day
Start
Viewers (Age 4-15)
Share (%)
Channel
Wed Wed Thu Mon Thu Mon Mon Tue Fri Sat
08.15 07.45 16.30 17.00 16.45 16.45 17.40 17.00 08.15 08.45
238,800 233,800 213,000 211,400 204,500 199,600 194,100 190,600 188,100 185,100
18.38 18.39 14.81 15.34 13.80 15.13 13.18 11.96 16.08 15.47
CBBC CBBC CBeebies CBeebies CBeebies CBeebies CBeebies CBBC CBBC CBeebies
Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Countryfile Antiques Roadshow The One Show MasterChef MasterChef The One Show The One Show The One Show The One Show Holiday Hit Squad
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sun Sun Mon Thu Wed Tue Thu Wed Fri Wed
19.00 20.00 19.00 21.00 21.00 19.00 19.00 19.00 19.00 20.00
6.24 4.84 4.50 4.48 4.33 4.32 4.16 4.04 3.86 3.50
32.22 21.83 22.06 20.85 19.35 21.65 21.56 19.75 20.46 16.44
BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1
➤ Newsround topped the pile by a slim margin of around 5,000 viewers, but the news show’s performance masked a weaker week for CBBC. The channel registered four entries compared with CBeebies’ six, which included two places for Peter Rabbit.
➤ MasterChef returned for an 11th series and served up two places for the BBC1. The channel completed a clean sweep in the factual line-up, with Countryfile taking top spot. Otherwise, The One Show registered its usual five entries.
Top 10 Drama programmes
Top 10 Entertainment programmes
Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Endeavour The Widower Casualty Holby City Shetland Law & Order: UK The Musketeers Silk New Tricks Midsomer Murders
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sun Mon Sat Tue Tue Wed Sun Mon Fri Tue
20.00 21.00 21.20 20.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 20.00
5.63 5.58 4.90 4.82 4.47 4.38 4.09 3.81 3.43 2.50
25.14 24.07 26.81 21.90 20.00 19.57 18.07 16.43 17.16 11.30
ITV ITV BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV
➤ Endeavour returned for its second series with 300,000 fewer viewers than last year’s debut, but still managed to top the table. Just behind the Inspector Morse prequel was The Widower, which grew its audience on last week and comfortably ahead of Monday night competitor Silk.
UP The Widower rises 100,000
DOWN Endeavour loses 300,000
UP Monday’s The One Show up 160,000
1 2 3 4 4 6 6 8 9 10
Blandings Dad’s Army Rev The Simpsons The Perfect Morecambe & Wise The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons W1A The Simpsons
Ant & Dec’s Sat Night Takeaway The Voice UK The National Lottery Live Big Star’s Little Star The Cube Surprise Surprise Mother’s Day... Room 101 Catchphrase Mother’s Day Special Pointless The Chase
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sat Sat Sat Wed Sat Sun Thu Sun Mon Thu
19.00 19.00 21.10 20.00 20.25 19.00 20.00 18.00 17.15 17.00
6.14 5.94 4.73 4.26 3.93 3.87 3.64 3.58 3.47 3.36
28.85 28.29 24.22 19.98 19.50 19.98 17.19 22.26 24.30 25.16
ITV BBC1 BBC1 ITV ITV ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV
➤ Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway pulled in its lowest audience of the series, but still managed to overcome its rivals in the entertainment line-up. The penultimate episode of The Voice UK was next in line, while Big Star’s Little Star returned with nearly 4.3 million.
UP Law & Order: UK gains 1 million
DOWN Casualty down 710,000
UP Thursday’s MasterChef up 150,000
Top 10 Music & Arts programmes
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Sun Sat Mon Wed Sat Mon Tue Thu Wed Fri
18.05 19.30 22.00 18.00 20.00 18.00 18.00 18.00 22.00 18.00
2.27 1.76 1.58 1.43 1.43 1.35 1.30 1.29 1.26 1.22
14.53 8.19 8.61 8.17 6.63 7.61 7.43 7.73 7.04 7.49
BBC1 BBC2 BBC 2 C4 BBC2 C4 C4 C4 BBC2 C4
➤ The finale of period comedy drama Blandings ended with a series low of close to 2.3 million viewers. It still fought off competition from the return of Rev, which drew 1.6 million, and the second instalment of W1A. The Simpsons snapped up five places. next week Sport and current affairs www.broadcastnow.co.uk
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
DOWN Saturday Night Takeaway drops 260,000
Top 10 comedy programmes Title
Title
Title
1 1 1 1 5 6 7 8 9 10
A Very British Renaissance Top Of The Pops: 1977 – Big Hits Savion Glover – Happy Feet Darcey Bussell Dances Hollywood Robert Plant: By Myself Top Of The Pops: 1979 Fleetwood Mac: Don’t Stop What Do Artists Do All Day? A Very British Renaissance Chas & Dave: Last Orders
Day
Start
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
Channel
Fri Sun Tue Fri Fri Thu Fri Wed Tue Sat
21.30 22.45 22.00 19.30 21.00 19.30 23.30 20.00 23.20 22.50
1.19 0.65 0.51 0.46 0.46 0.30 0.29 0.28 0.26 0.24
6.52 6.32 2.93 2.20 2.29 1.46 4.03 1.37 4.15 2.08
BBC2 BBC2 BBC2 BBC4 BBC4 BBC4 BBC4 BBC4 BBC2 BBC4
➤ BBC2 show A Very British Renaissance was top of the pile, pulling in nearly double the audience of any rival. The channel had three other entries, but the spoils largely belonged to BBC4, which scooped six places with many music documentaries.
See over for demographic and digital focus 4 April 2014 | Broadcast | 35
Ratings Mon 24 Mar – Sun 30 Mar Demographic Focus Channels
Individuals Share (%)
Adults ABC1 Share (%)1
BBC1
22.14
ITV
15.83
Source: BARB
Adults ABC1 Profile (%)2
Adults 16-34 Share (%)1
26.82
49.13
13.40
14.07
36.06
12.06
Adults 16-34 Profile (%)2
Male Share (%)1
Male Profile (%)2
Female Share (%)1
Female Profile (%)2
10.42
22.24
45.58
22.06
54.42
13.12
12.55
35.96
18.56
64.04
BBC2
5.49
7.13
52.63
2.49
7.80
5.80
47.91
5.24
52.09
C4
5.33
5.46
41.58
7.27
23.48
5.09
43.30
5.53
56.69
C5
4.07
3.52
35.12
3.88
16.41
3.53
39.36
4.52
60.64
ITV2
2.46
2.21
36.34
4.70
32.82
1.88
34.55
2.95
65.46
ITV3
2.18
1.84
34.23
0.65
5.16
1.80
37.43
2.50
62.57
Sky Spts 1
1.89
2.43
52.27
2.67
24.41
2.88
69.17
1.06
30.83
E4
1.86
1.73
37.77
5.40
50.10
1.70
41.59
1.98
58.40
Film 4
1.48
1.18
32.45
1.69
19.68
1.78
54.82
1.22
45.20
BBC3
1.37
1.29
37.98
3.50
43.82
1.51
49.99
1.26
50.02
More 4
1.30
1.44
44.91
1.22
16.11
1.26
43.94
1.33
56.07
Dave
1.23
1.25
41.24
2.00
28.00
1.66
61.22
0.87
38.82
ITV4
1.00
0.86
35.10
0.86
14.84
1.39
63.44
0.67
36.56
5 USA
0.97
0.76
31.64
0.89
15.73
0.90
42.24
1.02
57.76
Sky 1
0.89
0.84
38.02
1.73
33.46
0.97
49.39
0.83
50.59
BBC4
0.81
1.12
55.86
0.40
8.53
1.02
57.20
0.64
42.80
Drama
0.70
0.59
34.18
0.23
5.70
0.69
44.95
0.70
55.04
Yesterday
0.67
0.58
35.33
0.17
4.45
0.90
61.21
0.48
38.84
42%
BBC2 comedy Rev snared more AB viewers than the Monday 10pm slot average. Typically, ABs account for 31% of BBC2’s slot audience. BBC2 had a 15% share of all AB viewers at the time – double the slot average. Almost half the audience – 47% – were over 65, double the 24% 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
More 4 cruises with canal trip BY stephen price
As nippers, we didn’t think twice about playing down railway embankments, in rivers and alongside canals. How we survived I’ll never know, but it may explain the involuntary feeling of ‘yikes’ that overwhelms me whenever I get close to canals or railways. Still, More 4 won’t care; it loves canals. Great Canal Journeys delivered its best audience this week: 800,000/3.5% was up on last week’s 600,000/3% and a hair’s breadth behind the launch on 10 March (810,000/3.5%). Three repeats added another 455,000. On Monday at 9pm, the second of BBC3’s Life And Death Row was a fraction behind launch with 910,000/4% (324,000/9% 16-34s). Repeats added 990,000. The best for ITV2 was The Only Way Is Essex on Wednesday at 10pm (900,000/5%). ITV3’s best was Midsomer Murders’ 1 million/5% on Thursday at 8pm – not miles behind ITV’s repeat of a (different) Midsomer on Tuesday at 8pm (2.5 million/11%). 36 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
Source: BARB
digital homes
Top 30 multichannel programmes Title
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 15 15 18 19 20 20 22 23 24 25 26 26 26 29 30
Live Ford Super Sunday Live Ford Football Special Live Ford Sat Night Football Live Ford Football Special Midsomer Murders Hollyoaks How I Met Your Mother Hollyoaks Life And Death Row The Only Way Is Essex Hollyoaks The Only Way Is Essex Hollyoaks Doc Martin Two Weeks’ Notice Great Canal Journeys Hollyoaks Celebrity Juice Breakfast The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang Theory Brooklyn Nine-Nine Live Ford Super Sunday Paul O’Grady: For The Love… The Big Bang Theory BBC News Sky Sports Classics Hair Paul O’Grady: For The Love…
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Day
Sun Tue Sat Wed Thu Mon Thu Thu Mon Wed Tue Sun Wed Sat Sun Mon Fri Thu Sat Thu Thu Mon Thu Sun Wed Tue Sat Sat Tue Wed
Start
15.30 19.00 17.00 19.30 20.00 19.00 20.30 19.00 21.00 22.00 19.00 22.00 19.00 20.25 20.00 21.00 19.00 22.30 8.00 20.00 18.30 18.30 21.00 12.30 21.00 18.30 9.00 17.00 22.00 21.30
Viewers (millions)
Share (%)
1.77 1.67 1.32 1.13 1.00 0.99 0.95 0.91 0.91 0.90 0.88 0.87 0.83 0.82 0.80 0.80 0.80 0.75 0.74 0.73 0.73 0.72 0.71 0.70 0.69 0.68 0.68 0.68 0.67 0.66
14.49 7.81 7.88 5.35 4.64 4.83 4.30 4.73 4.06 5.42 4.40 5.16 4.20 4.06 3.59 3.47 4.23 6.05 11.55 3.45 4.07 3.76 3.30 8.68 3.04 3.63 9.55 5.96 4.23 3.01
Channel
Sky Spts 1 Sky Spts 1 Sky Spts 1 Sky Spts 1 ITV3 E4 E4 E4 BBC 3 ITV2 E4 ITV2 E4 ITV3 ITV2 More 4 E4 ITV2 BBC News E4 E4 E4 E4 Sky Spts 1 ITV3 E4 BBC News Sky Spts 2 BBC 3 ITV3
Channels
Share (%)
BBC1 ITV BBC2 C4 C5 Total multichannel ITV2 ITV3 Sky Sports 1 E4 Film 4 BBC News BBC 3 CBeebies More 4 Dave Sky News ITV4
22.14 15.83 5.49 5.33 4.07 47.13 2.46 2.18 1.89 1.86 1.48 1.45 1.37 1.35 1.30 1.23 1.00 1.00
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
255k A low-key start for Norwegian drama Mammon, shy of More 4’s 9pm Friday slot average.
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 (000s) Share (all homes) %
Broadcaster/ Producer*
Live Ford Super Sunday Live Ford Football Special Live Ford Saturday Night Football Live Ford Football Special Live Ford Super Sunday Sky Sports Classics Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Live Malaysian F1 Grand Prix Live Manchester United V Aston Villa Criminal Minds ICC World Twenty20 Stella Live Icc World Twenty20 Cricket The Walking Dead Modern Family Hawaii Five-0 Ford Football Special Elementary The Simpsons Bones Not Going Out Storage Hunters The Simpsons New Tricks Not Going Out The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons Live ICC World Twenty20 Cricket The Simpsons The Simpsons Arrow The Simpsons The Simpsons NCIS: LA The Simpsons Sheriff Callie’s Wild West Gillette Soccer Saturday The Simpsons Sheriff Callie’s Wild West Daniel Sturridge: Loving Every Minute NCIS Believe The Simpsons Sofia The First The Simpsons Storage Hunters Malaysian F1 GP Qualifying QI XL
Sun Tue Sat Wed Sun Sat Tue Tue Sun Sat Mon Thu Fri Sat Mon Mon Sun Tue Tue Wed Wed Fri Fri Wed Thu Fri Sun Mon Thu Thu Mon Thu Thu Sun Thu Sun Mon Tue Sat Tue Tue Sun Fri Thu Tue Tue Fri Fri Sat Tue
15.30 19.00 17.00 19.30 12.30 17.00 20.00 20.30 8.00 12.00 21.00 17.00 21.00 13.00 21.00 20.30 21.00 22.15 21.00 18.30 21.00 21.00 20.30 19.00 21.00 21.40 20.00 18.30 19.00 13.00 19.00 19.30 20.00 20.30 18.30 22.00 19.30 17.20 12.00 18.30 17.35 18.30 21.00 21.00 19.00 17.50 18.30 20.00 7.00 21.00
1,772,900 1,671,800 1,315,900 1,127,500 695,400 679,500 617,700 597,900 574,200 569,700 514,300 481,700 461,600 450,600 431,600 429,000 423,500 406,200 404,600 400,000 393,600 367,800 366,300 363,100 361,000 360,300 356,600 348,900 347,900 341,800 339,700 334,900 333,800 333,300 332,000 331,900 326,700 326,400 320,700 319,800 318,600 316,400 315,000 314,700 312,900 309,300 302,500 301,500 300,400 299,600
Sky Sports 1 Sky Sports 1 Sky Sports 1 Sky Sports 1 Sky Sports 1 Sky Sports 2 Dave/T Group Dave/T Group Sky Sports F1 BT Sport 1 Sky Living Sky Sports 2 Sky 1/Tidy Productions Sky Sports 2 Fox Sky 1 Sky 1 Sky Sports 1 Sky Living Sky 1 Sky Living Dave/Avalon Dave/T Group Sky 1 Drama Dave/Avalon Sky 1 Sky 1 Sky 1 Sky Sports 2 Sky 1 Sky 1 Sky 1 Sky 1 Sky 1 Sky 1 Sky 1 Disney Junior Sky Sports News Sky 1 Disney Junior Sky Sports 1 Fox Watch Sky 1 Disney Junior Sky 1 Dave/T Group Sky Sports F1 Dave/Talkback
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
Farage v Clegg: European Debate www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Criminal Minds
14.49 7.81 7.88 5.35 8.68 5.96 2.85 2.68 7.66 7.84 2.22 3.93 2.31 5.40 1.86 1.85 1.87 2.96 1.81 2.18 1.76 1.81 1.67 1.83 1.76 1.97 1.65 1.83 1.80 4.61 1.66 1.66 1.54 1.47 1.86 2.04 1.51 2.42 3.66 1.70 2.16 1.90 1.58 1.46 1.57 1.87 1.73 1.43 5.23 1.34
574k Total audience, across four showings, of new US drama Believe on Watch
One to Believe in for Watch BY stephen price
Apparently, director JJ Abrams might be casting unknowns for his new Star Wars film. It may be too late for me to open the batting for England, but if I quickly bung on an old dressing gown, dash up to Pinewood and wield a painted broom handle about the place, I reckon I could be in. In the meantime, busy Abrams found time to develop a new TV series, Believe, which Watch began this week. Elsewhere, stretching believing to breaking point, Nigel Farage debated with Nick Clegg. That’s enough to desiccate the soul, but Sky News will be delighted that they did. Believe, Watch’s latest US network show from NBC, launched on Thursday at 9pm with 315,000/1.5%. The best of the four repeats was Friday’s 119,000/0.6% at 8pm. Grimm, Watch’s previous successful NBC import, launched in February 2012 with 447,000/1.8%. Sky News’ coverage of LBC Radio’s Farage v Clegg debate averaged 219,000/1.1% from 6pm for an hour. That is considerably more than the 6-7pm weekday slot on Sky News this year, which so far averages 80,000/0.4%. The best non-sport performer of the week was Dave’s Storage Hunters on Tuesday at 8pm (618,000/2.9%). Sky Living’s Criminal Minds on Monday at 9pm was next with 514,000/2.2%, its best of the year so far. 4 April 2014 | Broadcast | 37
Ratings Mon 17 Mar – Sun 23 Mar
All BARB ratings supplied by: Attentional
Consolidated Ratings
Slot swap pays for Gogglebox BY Stephen Price
My Dad had a phrase he usually blurted out from behind the newspaper: “What’s on the idiots’ lantern tonight then?” It was probably Minder or The Onedin Line, or even The Clangers. I don’t think the word ‘gogglebox’ featured in his TV lexicon, but I’m sure he’d have approved. He might even have put down The Times to watch the show now hogging, rather successfully, that moniker. Elsewhere, Line Of Duty reached a crescendo in plot and ratings, BBC4’s subtitled slot barged on and ITV will be delighted with its true yarn of widowerhood.
BBC2: Line Of Duty The second series of BBC2’s Line Of Duty ended on 19 March at 9pm with a live audience of
Source: BARB
3 million/13%. After more than 1.1 million recorded and watched, the final episode gathered together 4.1 million/15%; the best ever for the drama. Not bad, considering this series began with its worst ever: 2.7 million/9% on 12 February. Though this series’ average of 3.4 million/12% is dwarfed by series one’s 3.8 million/15%, the way it gathered steam with each week might just mean that series three will have real momentum.
Channel 4: Gogglebox Channel 4’s Gogglebox has slipped into Friday’s shop-window 9pm slot from its previous 10pm Wednesday berth with a dismis sive waft of its hanky. After three consolidated episodes, it is averaging 3.4 million/13%, up from last autumn’s average of 2.2 million/11%. The latest episode to consolidate achieved 3.2 million/12% after more than 860,000 recorded and watched. This is the lowest of this run, but it did have BBC1’s
Sport Relief to contend with. The show’s best ever is 7 March’s 3.5 million/14%.
BBC4: Inspector De Luca On 22 September at 9pm, BBC4 launched Inspector De Luca, set in 1938 fascist Italy, with a live rating of 722,000/3.8%. It was enhanced by 317,000 to deliver a final rating of 1 million/5%. The best of Luca’s contemporary compatriot Inspector Montalbano was 1.1 million/5% in November last year. The highest of the 9pm Saturday league remains The Bridge on 1 February: 1.6 million/6.5%.
ITV: The Widower
Total audience for BBC2 comedy W1A after 920,000 watched via PVR
ITV’s true story drama The Widower was the most recorded show of the week. The first episode of the three-parter began with 5.6 million/24% in overnight ratings. After more than 1.5 million recorded and watched, that ballooned to 7.2 million/25%. Episode two on 24 March did even better: 7.4 million/26% after adding almost 1.8 million.
Top 30 Consolidated Ratings: ranked by gain
1 2 3 4 5 6 6 8 9 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 21 23 24 25 25 27 28 29 30
2.5m UP Casualty up 490,000 DOWN Law & Order: UK down 500,000
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Title
Day
Start
Viewers (m) (all homes)
Share %
Gain (m)
Gain %
The Widower Law & Order: UK Shetland Mr Selfridge Silk Line Of Duty The Musketeers Coronation Street Casualty Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway The Voice UK W1A Gogglebox Coronation Street The Mentalist EastEnders The Voice UK Results Coronation Street EastEnders Turks & Caicos Inside Rolls-Royce The Following One Born Every Minute Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Top Gear Elementary Coronation Street The Only Way Is Essex Stella Criminal Minds
Mon Wed Tue Sun Mon Wed Sun Fri Sat Sat Sat Wed Fri Fri Tue Tue Sat Wed Mon Thu Thu Tue Mon Fri Mon Tue Mon Sun Fri Mon
21.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 20.30 21.25 19.00 18.45 22.00 21.00 19.30 21.00 19.30 20.50 19.30 20.00 21.00 21.00. 22.00 21.00 20.00 19.00 21.00 20.30 22.00 21.00 21.00
7.15 4.86 6.16 6.33 5.10 4.12 5.25 7.11 6.59 7.68 7.14 2.47 3.16 8.11 2.03 7.99 6.65 8.86 8.02 3.01 3.31 0.86 2.83 1.90 2.00 1.16 9.05 1.55 1.07 1.01
25.12 17.64 23.78 24.10 18.22 15.04 20.10 26.40 29.38 29.50 28.66 11.94 11.97 34.49 7.73 35.07 27.94 39.15 32.77 13.00 13.09 4.80 10.11 7.41 8.95 4.40 34.97 8.40 4.09 3.59
1.50 1.39 1.31 1.25 1.20 1.14 1.14 0.98 0.97 0.97 0.94 0.92 0.87 0.85 0.82 0.78 0.77 0.73 0.72 0.72 0.71 0.71 0.70 0.69 0.67 0.67 0.64 0.63 0.62 0.61
26.70 40.00 26.90 24.60 30.70 38.40 27.80 15.90 17.20 14.40 15.20 59.50 37.70 11.80 67.20 10.80 13.10 9.00 9.90 31.40 27.40 467.50 32.70 57.20 50.90 136.40 7.60 67.90 137.90 153.20
Broadcaster ITV ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC2 BBC1 ITV BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC2 C4 ITV C5 BBC1 BBC1 ITV BBC1 BBC2 C4 Sky Atlantic C4 C4 BBC2 Sky Living ITV ITV2 SKY1 Sky Living
Figures include HD and +1 where applicable
38 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
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All A twitter Can’t believe Switzerland not all over this – “Germany goes Cuckoo for BBC3 comedy” via @Broadcastnow @campbellglennie (Campbell Glennie) Director, Talent Schemes, Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival
#Gogglebox truly is amazing TV – not only comedic but moving and demonstrates how impactful TV shows are on our everyday lives.
Bulkley: auditioning for Strictly?
A Brucie bonus for Kate Hero of the hour at the Broad casting Press Guild Awards was Broadcast columnist Kate Bulkley who, fearing that Bruce Forsyth might derail the event when he launched into one anecdote too far, waltzed on to the stage, imploring the Strictly host for a dance. Or was this her audition? Either way, were it not for Kate, Off Cuts fears Brucie would still be up there.
Another day, another awards do for Educating Yorkshire’s Jonny Mitchell, who swapped air kisses with Olivia Colman when he bunked off his day job at Thornhill school to attend the BPGs. He and maths teacher Matthew Burton have bagged £90,000 in public appearance fees to date – all of it going back into the school’s coffers. “You could get three teachers for that,” he told Broadcast. Plus a bigger awards cabinet.
Thornhill kids find fame Meanwhile, Gary Barlow has picked Thornhill’s school choir to back him for two nights at Sheffield Arena off the back of their National Television Awards performance. And latte-loving Ryan, Mr Mitchell tells us, has got himself an agent and landed roles in two movies. “We’ll see him winning a Bafta in two years,” he predicts.
@_pinkeyelashes (Leila Monks) MD, Antidote Media
I’m buying shares in smoke machine makers in case Musketeers gets a second season. @brooligan (Stephen Gallagher) Writer, Crusoe
Apparently I was an answer on Pointless. I haven’t seen it so I don’t know if that is a bad thing. It sounds like it must be. @ReeceShearsmith (Reece Shearsmith) Writer/actor
Here we were thinking that Mark Thompson’s heading up The New York Times, when it turns out he hasn’t left the BBC at all. An eagle-eyed reader admits having to rewind a couple of times to convince himself that this isn’t the former DG doing his public service bit on-screen. Unless…
And Finally ... Sandi Toksvig TV Presenter
What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told? That I’ve never told a big lie. What TV channel would you most like to launch? One where no one is allowed to say: “And now, sport.” Which TV or radio programme would you resuscitate? No. 73, a live kids show I did in the 1980s. I’ve rarely had more fun. Other than that, Call My Bluff. It is surely one of the all-time great gameshows. Who would you least like to share a taxi with? Genghis Khan. I believe he was very self-centred. Who would you be on Stars In Their Eyes? Mae West. If you could perpetuate a myth about yourself, what would it be? I once danced Coppélia for the Russian ballet. How do you get your own way? I don’t. Have you recently taken up anything? Boxing. It is splendid and makes me feel chipper. ➤ Sandi Toksvig hosts C4’s Fifteen To One
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40 | Broadcast | 4 April 2014
01/04/2014 17:03
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