Indie Survey 2012 by Media Business Insight

B Indie Survey 20I2

Charting the ups and downs of independent TV production in 2012

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Indies 2012

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Leader

Optimistic mood returns

Contents 04 Introduction Overseas sales and rising programming hours buoy indies 07 Main tables Full results for the 140 indies that completed our survey 14 Top 30s ‘True’ indies versus ‘owned’ indies 16 Top owners/consolidators Acquisitions drop as focus turns to international growth 18 Top suppliers Channel 4 ousts BBC to become indies’ ‘best broadcaster’ 26 Top 10 specialists Entertainment takes a hit but drama, factual and kids thrive 30 Nations and regions Commissioning provides boost but grumbles persist 32 Peer poll Left Bank takes the spoils with a string of quality dramas

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There’s renewed optimism in the air in this year’s Indie Survey. Last year, respondents were still dealing with the fallout of a more conservative, spend-averse commissioning culture engendered by the economic downturn. We’re not yet out of the doldrums – more than half of respondents reported budget cuts and, for almost one in 10, these cuts were more than 10%. But 77% Robin said 2011 was more successful than the previous year Parker and two-thirds ended it on a more confident note. For both ITV1 and Channel 4, it was their first full year without one of their signature brands: The Bill and Big Brother respectively. C4 opened the door to a broader range of indies, who responded by voting it the best broadcaster to deal with. It toppled the BBC, which fell out of favour significantly – perhaps as a result of DQF uncertainty or cuts? The loss of both brands had a knock-on effect on their respective producers, with Fremantle Media UK and Endemol both taking a dip. BB’s return to C5 will undoubtedly help. Conversely, the return of another hit – Primeval – put Impossible Pictures back on the map, more than tripling its turnover. Whether that show returns in its current form is not yet clear, but the company has licensed the brand for a Canadian spin-off, Primeval: New World. What also emerged this year is the true power of the international market: one in seven companies now earn more than half their turnover outside the UK, many of them cushioned by the support of a transatlantic owner. The pool of ‘true’ indies is shrinking – Bwark and Betty joined the big boys in 2011, while Leopard Films and Remedy joined forces as Argonon. Already in 2012 we’ve seen a flurry of activity around CPL, Renegade and Silver River. Nevertheless, ‘true’ indies are still a force to be reckoned with: the top 30 alone grew their turnover to £536m. And there’s still room for new entrants to make their mark: Nick Curwin and Magnus Temple’s The Garden has grown from start-up to established player, for example. A big thank you to everyone who took part and to About Corporate Finance, which cast an expert eye over our figures. We truly make every effort to include everyone and, for some, the time isn’t quite right or there are issues of market sensitivity. But as you’ll see from the table this year, getting involved really helps give a fuller picture of this thriving industry. ➤ Robin Parker, supplement editor

indie survey methodology An email questionnaire was sent out to more than 300 producers in February. They had to have had at least one piece of commissioned programming broadcast in the UK in 2011, and still be in business. Any omissions are therefore no longer trading, had no shows on air, or did not complete the survey. Companies are ranked based on their 2011 turnover or the most recent full year for which figures are available. Where turnovers are equal, the company with the most hours of production is ranked higher. We also polled companies that own indies. Some super-indies, broadcasters and studios opted not to break down the turnover of their individual subsidiaries. These are not listed in the main league table, but their turnovers are included within those of their owners. Individual broadcaster league tables ranking indies by volume and spend were supplied by the broadcasters themselves. While every care has been taken in compiling the tables, Broadcast relies on participants to supply accurate results and bears no responsibility for errors or omissions

Broadcast Editor Lisa Campbell Supplement Editor Robin Parker Production Editor Dominic Needham Group Art Director, Media Peter Gingell Contributors Ann-Marie Corvin, Alex Farber, Jake Kanter, Balihar Khalsa, Catherine Neilan, Will Strauss Senior Commercial Director, Media Alison Pitchford Senior Account Manager Jack Coleman Senior Account Manager Sonya Jacobs www.broadcastnow.co.uk

23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 3

Indies 2012 OVERVIEW LEAGUE TABLES

UK indies:

a bright picture emerges

As new entrant IMG grabs top spot, the majority of indies enjoyed a successful year, buoyed by overseas activity and a rise in original programming hours. Ann-Marie Corvin reports

4 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

GETTY IMAGES

he UK’s independent production sector, at a glance, resembles a scene from Primeval, with a dozen big beasts – the carnivorous consolidators – circling the true indies. But the results of this year’s Indie Survey have been skewed by an independently owned entrant of Tyrannosaurus proportions posting figures for the first time, one that employs more staff – 159 – than the five companies ranked beneath it combined. With revenues of £132.3m in 2011, IMG takes pole position in our table (ranked by turnover) and shows how having rights to produce key matches (Premier League, Football League for BBC and ESPN’s football coverage) and a healthy international trade can turn in a tidy profit of £8.4m. Only 29.5% of the sports outfit’s revenues (£39.2m) was generated from UK commissions, and while IMG is not a typical bread-and-butter producer, its reliance on the international market is indicative of a general trend. The combined turnover of all the indies was £1.83bn – up from a record low of £1.74bn last year (this includes turnover for Shed Media, which did not submit its individual companies’ figures). Factor in IMG’s 2010 turnover, which we requested, and it’s technically down from £1.85bn. But this year, Hit Entertainment, which traditionally enjoys a tussle with Fremantle Media UK (formerly Talkback Thames) at the top did not post numbers (see box). In conclusion, Hit and IMG are not far off like for like. Significantly, more than 20 indies in our table now earn more from business outside the UK than domestically. For example, UK commissions account for less than a third – 29% – of Studio Lambert’s turnover.

£536.35m Combined turnover of top 30 ‘true’ indies

Top of the league: football rights have earned IMG £8.4m profit

INDIE SNAPSHOT SUCCESSES AND CONCERNS Biggest concerns %

Indie confidence levels

Fastest risers %

Lower budgets/margin pressure

28.0

Impossible Pictures 30%

203.0

Fewer commissions

11.5

Magnum Media

182.5

Big indie competitive advantage

9.0

Firecracker Films

162.5

Securing returnable series

6.5

Monkey Kingdom

156.0

Broadcaster rights grab

5.0

Bwark

153.0

Lengthy commissioning process

5.0

Zig Zag

150.0

Maintaining quality

4.0

Screenchannel TV

146.0

Late payment/uneven cashflow

4.0

Gogglebox

135.5

Broadcaster risk aversion

4.0

Dartmouth Films

125.0

Broadcaster in-house production

4.0

The Garden

Disruptive influence of digital

4.0

Other

14.0

New

32.5%

67.5%

More confident than 2010 Less confident than 2010 Based on 83 responses

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This increasing international footprint is not only a result of better IP deals. For many, it is also facilitated by their consolidator owners, most of which have sizeable business interests in different territories. Will MacDonald, whose company Monkey Kingdom was bought 15 months ago by NBC Universal, reports that the company is embracing the direct lines to US broadcasters that its new parent has opened up. “It means I can take an idea to BBC1, ITV, Channel 4 or through one of the US networks,” he says. “We’ve made shows in the US before, but being part of NBCU has definitely widened our catchment.” This is all good news for the UK economy, argues Zodiak chief executive David Frank. “These consolidators are being driven from UK bases so the country is benefiting from it financially and creatively. UK producers now have access to a much broader range of creative executives and ideas,” he says. On the domestic front, two long-running programme brands came to an end and their absence has, in part, led to a drop in turnover. While Fremantle Media UK still ranks second in our table, its 15% dip in income to £123m suggests that last year – pre-restructure – the company had yet to fill the chasm created by The Bill’s cancellation. Similarly, while it’s not possible to calculate how much of a hit Remarkable Television took following the end of its C4 Big Brother contract (Endemol did not file Remarkable’s 2010’s figures) the super-indie’s overall revenues were down by almost 20% (£191.7m) in 2011.

Rising to the top While “the competitive advantage of big indies” was listed by our respondents as their third biggest concern, some of this year’s fastest risers are independently owned. Primeval producer Impossible Pictures led the way, with turnover rising 208% in 2011, which its owners put down to timing: “We had a year-long gap between series three of Primeval and series four and five,” explains managing director Jonathan Drake. “Last year, we not only had 13 hours of ‘new’ Primeval drama but also the start of production for the 12-hour series Sinbad (right) for Sky 1 and BBC Worldwide.” Many bigger companies would do well to look at the way Fresh One has diversified in the past two years with Roy www.broadcastnow.co.uk

£1.83bn Total global turnover

£968m Combined turnover of top 20 ‘owned’ indies

20,042 Total original hours

£536.4m Combined turnover of top 30 ‘true’ indies

9 Indies have worked in 3D in past year

25 Indies have produced ad-funded content in the past year

KIDS’ TV THE DIFFICULT MIDDLE MARKET Hit Entertainment – usually neck and neck with Fremantle Media UK in our league tables – is in the process of being sold to toy giant Mattel and declined to submit a report. This takes a potential £143.61m out of our final turnover figures, based on Hit’s 2010 figures. “There’s not much middle ground,” notes Billy Macqueen, co-founder of Darrall Macqueen, which scored a CBeebies hit in 2011 with Baby Jake (right). “On one hand, there are the small boutique players like us, and on the other, media companies such as Nickelodeon or Turner with vertically integrated brands including a broadcaster that can guarantee eyeballs.” Darrall Macqueen’s turnover dipped by 58% last year, with the company earning £1.7m – yet the kids’ producer made a respectable 46 original hours and enjoyed 238 repeat hours.

Ackerman at the helm, with turnover rising 48% in 2011. The company has shifted from being a ‘Jamie Oliver company’ into one with a range of genres, and commissions from most of the major broadcasters in the US. According to Ackerman, last year 80% of production turnover was from nonJamie shows compared with 45% in 2010. Current UK productions include drama (Spies Of Warsaw), entertainment and a raft of digital media projects. New indies on the block this year include The Garden (see Peer Poll, page 32). According to founder Nick Curwin, the market is moving much faster than it did in the early days of his previous company Dragonfly, which is now owned by Shine. “We’re growing fast and are still in the middle of that period of fast growth – the company will be quite a lot bigger again by this time next year. We’ve travelled much further in two years than we did at Dragonfly in six,” he says. Overall, ‘true’ indie companies are doing better than last year – this year’s top 30 generated a combined £536m compared with turnover of £494m in 2010 (with IMG’s £132m almost a likefor-like replacement for Hit’s £144m). Consolidator companies performing well include All3’s Objective Productions, whose turnover jumped 62% to £35m in 2011, and Gogglebox Entertainment, which has Sony as a majority investor and whose turnover

With no recommission for Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Inventions, Aardman was hit by a 4.3% drop in turnover despite continuing success with Shaun The Sheep and Timmy Time. Working in the kids’ TV market is a long play, says Macqueen: “To get programmes made, it has become essential to secure gap financing from other territories and this eats into IP rights.” He forecasts Baby Jake will produce a return on investment by 2014-15, “largely depending on the success in the US and/ or three major European/EMEA markets.”

jumped 136% to £6.12m last year, in part thanks to low-cost, high-volume afternoon quiz show Breakaway. The producer hit primetime in January 2012 with ITV1 gameshow The Exit List. Co-founder Mat Steiner says the company is about to embark on a “big surge in international activity”, so expect bigger leaps from the Cash Cab producer come 2013. Our respondents’ primary concerns focus on budgets, with most (52%) citing cuts of 1-10%. These concerns are played out in the topline figures, which suggest companies are now making more for less – or, at best, the same fee. There was a surge in original programming last year, which rose by 5,687 hours. An obvious way of cutting budgets is to employ fewer staff – and that’s exactly what the indie world has done. Despite this spike in original commissioning hours, staffing levels fell by 255 full-time staff. A big pressure to secure returnable series was also noted as a concern by 6.5% of respondents – some of whom said that little or no money was available for the development of new ideas, especially for longer-running series. However, broadly speaking, 2011 was better than 2010 for companies both big and small: 77% said it was more successful than the previous 12 months (up from 22% in the post-recession climate of 2010) and 67% said they ended the year more confident. 23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 5

速

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Indies 2012

Prepared with the assistance of About Corporate Finance, mergers and acquisitions experts in the global TV production sector See www.aboutcorpfin.com for more details

Top Independent companies 1-28 Indie

Turnover 2011 (£m)

Turnover 2010 (£m)

% change

Profit 2011 (£m)

Turnover from UK (£m)

% of total

Key shows

Original hours 2011

IMG Sports Media

132.30

114.1

15.95

8.40

39.20

29.50

Premier League; World’s Strongest Man

Fremantle Media UK (Fremantle Media)

123.00

145.00

-15.00

123.00

100.00

Remarkable (Endemol)

55.30

Kudos Film and TV (Shine)1

51.00

54.00

-5.50

Lime Pictures (All3Media)2

51.00

40.86

24.82

Company Pictures (All3Media)2

49.97

40.00

25.00

Avalon TV (Avalon)3

48.70

31.00

57.00

Shine TV (Shine Group)

47.00

43.40

8.00

Carnival Film & Television (NBC)

45.77

25.00

83.00

Tiger Aspect (Endemol)

43.44

47.80

-9.00

Initial (Endemol)

40.20

Hours of repeats 2011

Full-time staff

2,748.0

519

The X Factor; BGT; Grand Designs; Celebrity Juice

350.0

140

100.00

Deal Or No Deal; Pointless; £m Drop Live

531.0

3,403.0

51.00

100.00

Spooks; Hustle; Law & Order: UK; The Hour

39.50

27.0

43.00

84.31

Hollyoaks; The Only Way Is Essex; Geordie Shore

198.0

352.0

279

37.75

75.55

Shameless; Wild At Heart; Skins

52.0

4.0

41.30

85.00

Harry Hill’s TV Burp; That Sunday Night Show

246.0

31.60

67.00

MasterChef; Merlin; The Biggest Loser

99.0

45.77

100.00

Downton Abbey; Whitechapel; Page 8

16.0

664.0

42.43

97.50

Benidorm; Mount Pleasant

94.0

4,487.0

40.20

100.00

Big Brother; Total Wipeout; I Can Cook

245.0

1,546.0

Educating Essex; Harry’s Arctic Heroes

94.5

122

75.0

500.0

Twofour

35.40

33.00

7.00

35.40

100.00

Objective Prods (All3Media)2

35.00

21.60

62.04

24.00

68.50

Derren Brown; The Cube; Fresh Meat

Optomen/One Potato Two Potato (All3M)2

32.00

29.10

9.97

12.00

37.50

Christmas Cookalong; Mary Queen Of Frocks

175.5

1,000.0+

Studio Lambert (All3Media)2

31.00

26.10

18.77

9.00

29.03

Undercover Boss; Four In A Bed; Fairy Jobmother

76.0

Hat Trick Productions

30.80

24.80

24.00

26.50

86.00

Episodes; Spy; HIGNFY; Dinner Date

56.0

95.0

Lion (All3Media)2

30.00

24.00

20.00

18.30

61.00

Horrible Histories; Edwardian Farm

172.0

230.0

120

RDF Television (Zodiak)

29.80

19.44

53.00

Secret Millionaire; Dickinson’s Real Deal

255.0

1,000.0+

146

Left Bank Pictures4

29.00

21.16

37.00

20.50

70.50

Strike Back; Mad Dogs; Zen; DCI Banks

20.5

21.0

Bentley Productions (All3Media)2

27.20

23.00

18.26

10.01

36.80

Midsomer Murders

18.0

294.0

Zeppotron (Endemol)

24.20

100.00

Would I Lie To You; Black Mirror; 10 O’Clock Live

79.0

382.0

North One TV (All3Media)2

24.00

22.60

6.19

18.00

75.00

The Gadget Show; Fifth Gear; Isle Of Man TT

146.0

100.0

Sunset + Vine (Tinopolis)

24.00

Grand National; Crufts; Americas Cup

894.0

Princess Productions (Shine)

23.00

25.00

-8.00

23.00

100.00

Got To Dance; The Wright Stuff

831.0

112.0

145

Leopard Films (Argonon)

21.80

15.00

45.33

4.00

18.35

Mentorn Media5 (Tinopolis)

21.00

Impossible Pictures

20.00

6.60

203.03

Maverick TV (All3Media)2

19.10

16.03

19.60

Aardman6

19.10

20.00

-4.50

Cash In The Attic; M Bourne’s Swan Lake 3D

190

Question Time; Katie: My Beautiful Friends

145.0

Primeval; James May’s Need To Know

37.0

40.0

19.10

100.00

Billy Connolly’s Route 66; The Model Agency

85.0

447.5

Shaun The Sheep; Timmy Time

13.0

100.0+

160

0.00

4.60

24.00

1 Kudos figure is provisional; 2 All3Media group companies are all 12 months to 31 August 2011; 3 Avalon group companies are all 12 months to 30 June 2011; Avalon TV includes 207 hours of radio; 4 Left Bank Pictures figures 12 months to 30 June 2011; 5 Mentorn Media includes sub-brands Folio and Daybreak Pictures 6 Provisional figure

The X Factor: Fremantle Media UK www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Mary Queen Of…: Optomen

Primeval: Impossible Pictures 23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 7

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Indies 2012

In association with

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media group

Top Independent companies 30-58 Indie

Turnover 2011 (£m)

Turnover 2010 (£m)

% change

Profit 2011 (£m)

Turnover from UK (£m)

% of total

Key shows

Original hours 2011

Hours of repeats 2011

Full-time staff

Open Mike Productions

18.04

15.00

20.00

12.27

68.00

Alan Carr: Chatty Man; Stand Up For The Week

60.0

Darlow Smithson (Endemol)

17.90

19.60

-8.50

4.40

24.50

The Eight-Limbed Boy; Children Of 9/11

30.0

1,157.0

IWC Media (Zodiak)7

15.30

12.46

23.00

Location, Location, Location; Ext’ Fishing

110.0

1,000.0+

Pulse Films

15.00

12.00

25.00

5.00

33.33

Louie Spence’s Showbusiness; Live And Lost

36.0

150.0

Red Production Company

15.00

10.0

50.00

15.00

100.00

Scott & Bailey; Exile; Bedlam

15.0

0.0

September Films (DCD Media)8

14.70

4.10

24.50

Penn & Teller: Fool Us; Bridezillas; Blast Lab

68.0

136.0

Rondo Media

14.40

11.40

26.00

14.40

100.00

Rownd A Rownd; The Indian Doctor; Sgorio

350.5

172.0

5.0

40.0

19.0

8.0

275.0

Bin Laden: Shoot To Kill; Rogue Sharks

Nutopia

14.00

7.60

84.00

1.00

7.14

Raw TV9

14.00

7.40

89.00

3.00

21.50

Tinopolis Wales (Tinopolis)

13.00

100.00

Fresh One Productions6

12.60

8.50

48.00

8.60

68.50

Showboaters; Jamie’s Great Britain

55.0

Big Talk Productions

12.60

10.53

19.50

12.00

95.00

Rev; Him & Her; Friday Night Dinner

24.0

108.0

Firecracker Films10

12.60

4.80

162.50

5.10

40.50

Big Fat Gypsy Weddings; A Very British Party

23.5

48.0

Zig Zag Productions

12.50

5.00

150.00

6.88

55.00

All About Amy; My Embarrassing Parents

32.0

54.0

The Foundation (Zodiak)

12.13

14.13

-14.00

Waybuloo; Postcode; Mister Maker

51.0

So Television11

12.00

9.00

33.33

1.30

12.0

100.00

Graham Norton Show; Sorry, I’ve Got No Head

34.5

34.5+

Pioneer Productions (Tinopolis)

12.00

9.00

33.33

Japan’s Tsunami: How it…; How Drugs Work

15.5

Mammoth Screen12

11.80

8.20

44.00

11.10

94.00

Monroe; Christopher And His Kind

7.5

5.0

Parthenon Entertainment

11.00

10.50

5.00

2.00

18.00

Mystery Files; Nordic Wild; Hope For Wildlife

30.0

80.0

Baby Cow

10.85

6.56

65.50

0.60

10.85

100.00

The Shadow Line; Ideal; Little Crackers

14.0

50.0+

Input Media

10.80

11.70

-7.50

-0.09

7.20

66.50

World Indoor Bowls Championships; FA Cup

2,509.0

128

CPL Productions (Red Arrow)13

10.70

10.20

5.00

10.20

95.50

A League Of Their Own; Wall Of Fame

51.0

291.0

Atlantic Productions

10.56

9.30

13.50

The Bachelor King 3D; The Wildest Dream

29.0

45.0

Monkey Kingdom (NBC Universal)

10.25

4.00

156.00

10.25

100.00

Made In Chelsea; Young Dumb & Living Off Mum

47.0

Bwark (Zodiak)14

10.13

4.00

153.00

Top Ten Moments; The Inbetweeners Movie

2.5

49.0

Off the Fence Productions

10.12

5.52

54.50

Stan Lee’s Super humans; Wildest India

35.0

50.0

Dragonfly (Shine Group)6

10.00

0.00

1.10

7.00

70.00

One Born Every Minute; World’s Toughest Truckers

32.0

Love Productions15

9.20

Great British Bake Off; Great British Weather

36.5

15.0

Food Hospital; Fabulous Baker Boys

51.0

Betty (Discovery)16

9.00

7.50

20.00

Locked Up Abroad; Neighbourhood Watched Wedi 7; Wedi 3

7 IWC Media includes sub-brands Lucky Day and Bullseye; 8 September Films figures 12 months to 31 Dec 2010; 9 Raw TV figures 12 months to 31 October 2011; 10 Firecracker Films figures 12 months to 30 April 2011; 11 So Television estimated figures 12 months to 31 July 2011; 12 Mammoth Screen figures 12 months to 31 October 2011; 13 CPL was bought by Red Arrow in March 2012; 14 Bwark became part of Zodiak in July 2011; figure reflects entire year; 15 Love Productions estimated 12 months to March 2012; 16 Betty bought (majority stake) by Discovery in November 2011

Bin Laden Shoot To Kill: Nutopia 8 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

Japan’s Tsunami: Pioneer

The Great British Bake-Off: Love Productions www.broadcastnow.co.uk

➤

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Indies 2012 Top Independent companies 59-113 Indie

Turnover 2011 (£m)

Turnover 2010 (£m)

% change

Profit 2011 (£m)

Turnover from UK (£m)

% of total

Key shows

Spun Gold

8.70

9.05

-4.00

0.50

8.40

96.50

Alan Titchmarsh Show; The Duke At 90

Somethin’ Else17

8.20

7.30

12.50

8.20

100.00

Latitude Festival; Gardeners’ Question Time

Touchpaper Television (Zodiak)

8.16

13.10

-37.50

Icon Films

6.70

5.62

19.22

1.90

Original hours 2011

Hours of repeats 2011

Full-time staff

150.0

3.0

4,000.0+

2.0

Being Human; SingleHanded; Coming Up

18.0

65.0

28.50

River Monsters; Desert Seas; The One Show

15.5

145.0

51.0

October Films

6.50

5.60

16.00

5.10

78.50

Secrets Of The Dead; Rude Tube; Cop Squad

Magnum Media18

6.50

2.30

182.50

6.25

96.00

Chris Moyles Quiz Night; Hit The Road Jack

16.0

Gogglebox Entertainment (Sony)19

6.12

2.60

135.50

0.40

5.75

94.00

Plain Jane; The Untold Tommy Cooper

28.5

Windfall Films

6.08

5.23

16.00

0.41

3.42

56.50

Inside Nature’s Giants; Dambusters

31.5

25.5

20.0

10.0

5.5

10.0

19.0

586.0

Keo Films20

5.90

5.60

5.50

0.40

5.90

100.00

Hugh’s Fish Fight; Terry Pratchett: Choosing…

Blast! Films21

5.80

5.18

12.00

0.39

5.60

96.50

Coppers; McQueen & I

DLT Entertainment

5.70

4.15

37.75

0.10

3.40

59.50

My Family

Tigress (Endemol)

5.57

5.13

8.50

3.89

70.00

Hippo: Nature’s Wild Feast; Croc Men

Cactus TV (All3Media)2

5.60

4.90

14.29

5.60

100.00

Saturday Kitchen; TV Book Club

112.0

37.5

Splash Media

5.50

6.10

-10.00

0.50

5.50

100.00

A Farmer’s Life for Me; Candy Cabs

47.00

217.0

Outline Productions22

5.30

5.21

1.50

4.65

88.00

Jo Frost: Extreme Parental Guidance

35.00

110.0+

Electric Sky

5.20

3.90

33.50

3.10

59.50

First Love; World’s Fattest Man

173.0

630.0

25.0

57.0

40.0

50.0

The Garden

5.00

4.50

90.00

24 Hours In A&E; Seven Dwarves

Thumbs Up Productions

5.00

3.00

66.67

4.75

95.00

Britain And Ireland’s Next Top Model

Hartswood Films

5.00

2.84

76.00

3.00

60.00

Coma Girl; [no new Sherlock aired in 2011]

0.5

4.5

Ruby Films

4.84

100.00

Case Histories; Double Lesson

6.5

1.5

Red House (Zodiak)

4.55

Cookery School; Help! My House Is Infested

68.5

128.0

Blink Films

4.50

3.50

28.50

3.50

77.50

Mummifying Alan; Driving Wars

30.0

40.0

True North Productions23

4.30

4.26

1.00

0.24

3.10

72.00

Dick & Dom Go Wild; To Build or Not to Build

105.0

507.0

Tern Television24

4.00

4.40

-9.00

3.50

87.50

Towns With Nicholas Crane; Fat Chance

52.5

Green Inc Film & TV

3.98

3.86

3.00

0.25

2.58

65.00

Ask Rhod Gilbert; Many Faces of…; Sketchy

260.0

255.0

Prospect (DCD Media)25

3.90

100.00

Shirley; Misbehaving Mums To Be

53.0

100.0

Rival Media

3.80

2.18

74.50

1.21

32.00

Rooftop Rainforest; Power Struggle

8.0

70.0

The Comedy Unit (Zodiak)

3.75

5.30

-29.00

22.5

31.5

Rab C Nesbitt; Limmy's Show

17 Somethin’ Else figures 12 months to 31 March 2011. Hours include 10 TV and 4,000+ radio; 18 Magnum Media figures 12 months to 30 September 2011; 19 Gogglebox figures 12 months to 31 March 2011; 20 Keo Films figures 12 months to 31 March 2011; 21 Blast Films figures are provisional 12 months to 31 January 2012; 22 Outline Productions figures 12 months to 30 April 2012; 23 True North figures 12 months to 31 March 2011; 24 Tern Television figures 12 months to 31 March 2011; 25 Prospect figures 12 months to 31 December 2010

Chris Moyles Quiz Night: Magnum Media 10 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

Hippo – Nature’s Wild Feast: Tigress

Shirley: Prospect www.broadcastnow.co.uk

In association with

compact

media group

Indie

Turnover 2011 (£m)

Turnover 2010 (£m)

% change

Profit 2011 (£m)

Turnover from UK (£m)

% of total

Key shows

Original hours 2011

Crook Productions

3.65

0.20

3.65

100.00

The Real Hustle; Movie Mistakes

Remedy Productions (Argonon)

3.60

3.50

0.03

3.60

100.00

Blakeway Productions (Ten Alps)

3.52

-0.37

2.95

83.50

Century TV

3.50

100.00

BBC MotoGP; Faldo Series Golf; James May’s Toy Stories; Man Lab

Hours of repeats 2011

Full-time staff

57.0

20.0

Freshly Squeezed; MTV Top 10s

1,500.0

4,668.0

Abused: Breaking The Silence

14.0

155.0

75.0

16.5

87.5

Plum Pictures

3.30

3.50

-5.50

3.30

100.00

World Media Rights26

3.30

2.18

66.00

Air Crash Confidential; Secret War

51.0

1,000.0

Telesgop Cyf

3.21

3.19

0.50

0.21

2.90

90.50

Wallis Simpson: The Secret Letters; Ffermio

60.0

12.0

Flame Television (Avalon)3

3.20

2.50

28.00

3.20

100.00

Heir Hunters; Don't Get Done Get Dom

53.0

60.0

100.0+

5.0

110.0

Reef Television

2.95

1.70

73.00

0.30

2.66

90.00

Britain’s Hidden Heritage; Dealers

Pacific

2.88

2.56

12.50

0.39

13.50

Home Cooking Made Easy; Barefoot Contessa

Presentable (Zodiak)

2.82

3.90

-27.50

Only Connect; Rhod Gilbert’s Work Exp

66.0

Brook Lapping Prods (Ten Alps)

2.74

0.02

2.24

82.00

9/11: The Day That Changed The World

5.0

Wild Rover Productions6

2.70

2.45

90.50

Secret Fortune; Take The Money & Run

23.0

18.0

100

Victory Television (Sony)27

2.52

0.20

2.52

100.00

8.0

15.0

101

Matchlight (DCD Media)28

2.50

2.10

19.00

2.30

92.00

See You In Court; Dangerous Driver's…

17.0

101

3DD Productions

2.50

2.00

25.00

0.01

0.50

20.00

Album Chart Show; Pop Profiles

100.0

300.0

103

Kindle Entertainment29

2.36

0.15

1.94

82.00

Leonardo; Big And Small

12.5

529.0

104

Pilot Film & Television

2.30

2.40

-4.00

0.40

17.50

Globe Trekker; World Café; Historic Walks

20.0

300.0

104

Green Bay

2.30

0.09

2.22

96.50

Burton Gyfrinach; The Lions – 40 Years On

9.0

106

Oxford Scientific Films (Boomerang+)30

2.02

2.48

-18.5

0.70

34.50

Fatal Attractions; Meerkats 3D

14.0

26.0

107

Denham Productions

2.00

0.49

1.67

83.30

Rick Stein’s Spain; The Hungry Sailors

31.0

45.0

108

Testimony Films

1.90

1.30

46.00

1.50

79.00

The British Woman On Death Row; Bomber Boys

14.0

10.0

108

Topical Television (Avalon)3

1.90

2.08

-8.50

1.90

100

Real Rescues; The One Show (features)

30.0

110

True Vision

1.80

2.10

-4.50

0.04

1.60

89.00

Poor Kids; Britain’s Sex Gangs; WarChild

7.0

2.0

110

Fulcrum31

1.80

1.50

20.00

0.48

26.50

Saxon Gold: New Secrets Revealed

2.0

10.0

110

Dartmouth Films

1.80

0.80

125.00

0.06

0.45

25.00

War You Don't See; The Kids Britain Doesn't…

4.0

113

Darrall Macqueen

1.70

4.12

-58.50

0.16

1.64

96.47

Baby Jake; Pet Squad; The Fluffy Club

46.0

238.0

113

Liberty Bell Productions (Avalon)3

1.70

4.00

-57.50

1.70

100.00

Songbook; Three Men Go To Scotland/Venice

19.0

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

26 World Media Rights figures 12 months to 31 March 2011; forecast same for year to March 2012; 27 Victory launched in June 2011. Figures represent cover six months to end 31 December 2011; 28 Matchlight figures (provisional) 12 months to 31 January 2012; 29 Kindle Entertainment figures 12 months to 31 March 2011; 30 Oxford Scientific Films figures 11 months to May 2011; subsequently bought by Boomerang Plus, which will be reflected next year; 31 Fulcrum figures 12 months to 31 March 2011

9/11 Day That Changed…: Brook Lapping www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Meerkats 3D: Oxford Scientific Films

Poor Kids: True Vision 23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 11

➤

Indies 2012 Top Independent companies 113-140 Indie

fountain Just assemble

Turnover 2011 (£m)

Turnover 2010 (£m)

% Change

Profit 2011 (£m)

113

Saltbeef Productions

1.70

0.58

116

Screenchannel Television32

1.60

0.65

146.00

116

Pett Productions

1.60

2.00

-20.00

0.10

116

FilmNova Sport Production

1.60

119

Back2Back Productions33

1.50

0.00

0.08

119

Touch Productions

1.50

121

Nine Lives Media

1.43

0.98

46.50

0.01

122

Bees Nees

1.30

0.08

123

UMTV

1.20

0.04

123

Lambent Productions

1.20

0.84

43.00

0.06

123

HCA

1.20

123

Seventh Art Productions

1.20

1.00

20.00

0.05

126

Vsquared TV

1.16

0.05

127

Ammonite34

1.10

0.46

129

Hardcash Productions

1.00

0.00

0.08

129

CTVC35

1.00

2.60

-61.50

*0.13

131

Dog House Media

0.90

0.03

132

Films of Record (Ten Alps)

0.86

-0.09

133

Big Wave Productions

0.81

0.11

134

Glasshead36

0.80

0.20

135

Lemonade Money

0.60

0.12

136

Rise Films/Rise Comedy37

0.45

0.50

-10.00

0.04

137

Televisionary38

0.26

0.47

-44.50

0.06

138

What Larks! Productions

0.24

0.06

139

Open Mind Productions

0.20

140

Grace Productions39

0.14

32 Screenchannel Television figures provisional 12 months to 30 March 2012; 33 Back2back Productions figures provisional 12 months to 30 March 2012; 34 Ammonite figures 12 months to 31 January 2011; 35 As CTVC is not-for-profit, this figure represents surplus; 36 Glasshead figures provisional 12 months to 31 March 2012; 37 Rise Films/Rise Comedy figures

Small Teen Bigger World: Nine Lives 12 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

Turno from U

Dale Farm The Eviction: Hard Cash www.broadcastnow.co.uk

011

In association with

compact

media group

Turnover from UK (£m)

% of total

Key shows

Original hours 2011

Hours of repeats 2011

Full-time staff

1.70

100.00

Friday Download; Christmas Download; King Of...

16.0

30.0

1.60

100.00

Fake Britain

17.0

3.0

1.60

100.00

Shooting Stars; The Angelos Neil Epithemiou Show

5.0

10.0

1.60

100.00

Bupa Great Manchester Run; British Gas Gt Salford Swim

18.0

1.35

90.00

Unofficial Royal Wedding; In Search Of Pippa Middleton

29.5

Taking On Tyson; Tattoo School; Pamper Parlour

8.0

10.0

Small Teen Bigger World; Sam And Evan – From Girls To Men

15.0

1.10

84.50

Celtic Connections; The Trad Music Awards; Grinn

27.0

56.0

0.80

66.50

Red Bull X-Fighters; The Hot Desk

9.0

40.0

1.20

100.00

Kids Behind Bars; Camera That Changed The World

7.0

1.12

100.00

Grimefighters; The Motorbike Show

25.0

40.0

1.00

83.00

The Boy Mir – Ten Years in Afghanistan; Leonardo Live

12.0

300.0

0.92

75.00

Tour De France; World Cup Track Cycling

92.0

23.0

0.02

2.00

Ice Man Autopsy (UK reversion); Nightstalkers

3.0

1.00

100.00

The Paedophile Hunters, Dale Farm: The Big Eviction

9.0

0.0

1.00

100.00

Ground Zero Mosque; Fix The Family; The Jesus Story

10.0

11.0

0.90

100.00

Jo Brand’s Big Splash

5.0

0.79

91.00

Panorama: Kids In Care; The Truth About Adoption

5.0

0.03

4.00

The Woman Who Swims With Killer Whales; Jaws

3.0

8.0

0.37

46.50

My Life; Bloodhoud SSC; Children Of The Riots

3.5

5.0

0.60

100.00

Alternative Xmas Message; 4Real; 4Plays; Life Of Rhyme

5.5

0.0

0.18

40.00

The Interrupters; Too Fast To Be A Woman

3.0

0.24

92.50

Ultimate Ulster; Hidden Paintings

6.0

5.0

0.24

100.00

Father Ray Comes Out; For Crying Out Loud

10.0

27.0

0.06

30.00

Numberjacks; The Shiny Show

25.0

120.0

0.10

71.50

My Brother The Islamist

1.0

3.0

• Space from 3,000 to 13,000sqft • HD fully integrated • 5.1 sound suite • Flexible and competitive rates • Audiences from 1 - 1001 • Outstanding catering and hospitality For more information: 020 8900 5800 | ftv.co.uk

12 months to 30 April 2012; 38 Televisionary figures 12 months to 31 August 2011; 39 Grace Productions figures 12 months to 31 August 2011

Panorama – Kids In Care: Films of Record www.broadcastnow.co.uk

23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 13

Indies 2012 ‘true’ indies Top 30 producers not owned by a larger group Indie

Turnover 2011 (£m)

Turnover 2010 (£m)

% change

Profit 2011 (£m)

Turnover from UK (£m)

% of total

Key shows

Original hours 2010

Hours of repeats 2010

Full-time staff

132.30

114.10

15.95

8.40

39.20

29.50

Premier Lge; World's Strongest Man

2,748.0

519

35.40

33.00

7.00

35.40

100.00

Educating Essex; Harry's Arctic Heroes

94.5

122

56.0

95.0

IMG Sports Media

Twofour

Hat Trick Productions

30.80

24.80

24.00

26.50

86.00

Have I Got News For You; Episodes

Left Bank Pictures1

29.00

21.16

37.00

20.50

70.50

Strike Back; Mad Dogs; Zen; DCI Banks

20.5

21.0

Primeval; James May's Need To Know

37.0

40.0

13.0

100.0+

160

Impossible Pictures

20.00

6.50

207.70

Aardman

19.10

20.00

-4.50

0.00

4.60

24.00

Shaun the Sheep; Timmy Time

Open Mike Productions

18.04

15.00

20.00

12.27

68.00

A Carr: Chatty Man; Stand Up For The Wk

60.0

Louie Spence's Showbusiness

36.0

150.0

Pulse Films

15.00

12.00

25.00

5.00

33.30

Red Production Company

15.00

10.00

50.00

15.00

100.00

Scott & Bailey; Exile; Bedlam

15.0

0.0

Rownd A Rownd; The Indian Doctor

350.5

172.0

Rondo Media

14.40

11.40

26.00

14.40

100.00

Nutopia

14.00

7.60

84.00

1.00

7.00

Bin Laden: Shoot to Kill; King Of Christmas

5.0

40.0

19.0

8.0

Raw TV2

14.00

7.40

89.00

3.00

21.50

Locked Up Abroad; Battlefront

Fresh One Productions3

12.60

8.50

48.00

8.60

68.50

Showboaters; Jamie's Great Britain

55.0

24.0

108.0

Big Talk Productions

12.60

10.53

19.50

12.00

95.00

Rev; Him & Her; Friday Night Dinner

Firecracker Films4

12.60

4.80

162.50

5.10

40.50

BFGW; A Very British Party

23.5

48.0

32.0

54.0

34.5

7.5

5.0

Zig Zag Productions

12.50

5.00

150.00

6.88

55.00

All About Amy; The Truth Behind

So Television5

12.00

9.00

33.50

1.30

11.00

The G Norton Show; Sorry I've Got No Head

Mammoth Screen

11.80

8.20

44.00

11.10

94.00

Monroe; Christopher And His Kind

Parthenon Entertainment

11.00

10.50

5.00

2.00

18.00

Mystery Files; Nordic Wild

30.0

80.0

Baby Cow

10.85

6.56

65.50

0.60

10.85

100.00

The Shadow Line; Ideal; Little Crackers

14.0

50.0+

2,509.0

128

World Indoor Bowls Championships

Input Media

10.80

11.70

-7.50

-0.09

7.20

66.50

Atlantic Productions

10.56

9.30

13.50

The Bachelor King 3D

51.0

291.0

Off the Fence Productions

S Lee’s Superhumans; Wildest India

29.0

45.0

Love Productions7

The Great British Bake Off

35.0

50.0

The Alan Titchmarsh Show

36.5

15.0

150.0

3.0

*4,000.0+

2.0

10.12

5.52

54.50

9.20

8.00

15.00

Spun Gold

8.70

9.05

-4.00

0.50

8.40

96.50

Somethin' Else8

8.20

7.30

12.50

8.20

100.00

Latitude Festival; Gardeners’ QT

Icon Films

6.70

5.62

19.22

1.90

28.50

River Monsters; Desert Seas

October Films

6.50

5.60

16.00

5.10

78.50

Secrets Of The Dead; Rude Tube

15.5

145.0

51.0

16.0

Magnum Media9

6.50

2.30

182.50

6.25

960.00

C Moyles Quiz Night; Hit The Road Jack

Windfall Films

6.08

5.23

16.00

0.41

3.42

56.50

Inside Nature’s Giants; Dambusters

1 Left Bank Pictures figures 12 months to 30 June 2011; 2 Raw TV figures 12 months to 31 October 2011; 3 Provisional figure 4 Firecracker Films figures 12 months to 30 April 2011; 5 So Television estimated figures 12 months to 31 July 2011; 6 Mammoth Screen figures 12 months to 31 October 2011; 7 Love Productions estimated 12 months to March 2012; 8 Somethin’ Else figures 12 months to 31 March 2011. Hours include 10 TV and 4,000+ radio; 9 Magnum Media figures 12 months to 30 September 2011

Episodes: Hat Trick 14 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

Friday Night Dinner: Big Talk

Big Fat Gypsy Weddings: Firecracker Films www.broadcastnow.co.uk

In association with

compact

media group

‘owned’ indies Top 30 producers owned by a larger group* Indie 1 2 3 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 18 20 21 22

Fremantle Media UK (Fremantle Remarkable (Endemol) Kudos Film and TV (Shine)* Lime Pictures (All3Media) Company Pictures (All3Media)

Turnover 2011 (£m)

Turnover 2010 (£m)

% change

Profit 2011 (£m)

Turnover from UK (£m)

% of total

123.00

145.00

-15.00

123.00

100.00

The X Factor; Britain's Got Talent

350.00

140

55.30

100.00

Deal Or No Deal; Pointless

531.00

3,403.0

39.50

27.00

Avalon TV (Avalon)* Shine TV (Shine Group) Carnival Film & Television (NBC) Tiger Aspect (Endemol) Initial (Endemol) Objective Productions (All3M) Optomen/One Potato Two Potato (All3M) Studio Lambert (All3Media) Lion (All3Media) RDF Television (Zodiak) Bentley Productions (All3Media) Zeppotron (Endemol) Sunset + Vine (Tinopolis) North One TV (All3Media) Princess Productions (Shine) Leopard Films (Argonon) Mentorn Media (Tinopolis)*

Key shows

Original hours 2010

51.00

54.00

-5.50

51.00

100.00

51.00

40.86

24.82

Hollyoaks; The Only Way is Essex

198.0

352.0

279

Shameless; Wild At Heart; Skins

52.0

4.0

246.0

99.0

160.0

664.0

50.00

40.00

25.00

48.70

31.00

57.00

41.30

85.00

Harry Hill’s TV Burp; Not Going Out

47.00

43.40

8.00

31.60

67.00

MasterChef; Merlin; The Biggest Loser

45.77

25.00

83.00

45.77

100.00

43.44

47.80

-9.00

42.43

97.50

40.20

35.00

21.60

Downton Abbey; Whitechapel Benidorm; Mount Pleasant

24.00

68.50

Derren Brown: The Experiments

75.00

500.0

Christmas Cookalong; Mary Queen Of Frocks

175.5

1,000.0

32.00

29.10

9.97

12.00

37.50

31.00

26.10

18.77

Undercover Boss; Four in a Bed

76.0

172.0

230.0

255.0

1,000.0+

146

30.00

24.00

20.00

Horrible Histories; Edwardian Farm

29.80

19.44

53.00

Secret Millionaire; Obs Compulsive Hoarder

27.00

23.00

18.26

Midsomer Murders

18.0

294.0

24.20

100.00

8 Out Of 10 Cats; Would I Lie To You

79.0

382.0

Grand National; Cricket Highlights

894.0

Gadget Show; Fifth Gear; Isle Of Man TT

146.0

100.0

23.00

100.00

Got To Dance; The Wright Stuff

831.0

112.0

145

Missing; Is Oral Sex Safe?

145.0

Question Time; Fish Town

85.0

448.0

30.0

1,157.0

24.00

22.60

6.19

23.00

25.00

-8.00

21.80

15.00

21.00

45.33

4.00

18.35

19.10

100.00

Darlow Smithson (Endemol)

17.90

19.60

-8.50

1.75

4.40

24.50

The Eight-Limbed Boy; Children of 9/11

62.04

1,546.0

100.00

19.60

245.0

40.20

16.03

19.10

September Films (DCD Media)* Tinopolis Wales (Tinopolis) The Foundation (Zodiak) Pioneer Productions (Tinopolis) CPL Productions (Red Arrow)

4,487.0

Maverick TV

94.0

Big Brother; Celebrity Big Brother

IWC Media (Zodiak)

Full-time staff

Spooks; Hustle; Law & Order:UK

Billy Connolly’s Route 66; The Model Agency

Hours of repeats 2010

110.0

1,000.0+

68.0

136.0

275.0

23.00

Location, Location Location

4.10

24.50

Penn & Teller: Fool Us; Bridezillas

13 .00

Wedi 7; Wedi 3

51.0

12.13

14.13

-14 .00

Waybuloo; Postcode; Mister Maker

15.5

Japan’s Tsunami: How it Happened

47.0

A League Of Their Own; Wall Of Fame

51.0

291.0

15.30

12.46

14.70

12 .00

9 .00

33.30

10.70

10.20

5.00

10.20

95.50

*Not all owners chose to break down subsidiary data

The Biggest Loser: Shine TV www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Four In A Bed: Studio Lambert (All3Media)

A League Of Their Own: CPL (Red Arrow) 23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 15

Indies 2012 Top owners/ConsolidaTors

lean times for super-indies Acquisitions were thin on the ground last year as the UK’s largest indie owners focused on reducing debt and growing their international turnover. Ann-Marie Corvin reports

nce again, All3Media tops the consolidator list, with a 16% jump in UK turnover to £278.2m in 2011. The Shameless and Undercover Boss producer also increased its international turnover by £65m to £465m thanks to the success of Studio Lambert and Objective in the US – a territory in which turnover rose by 142%, according to the group’s managing director of international production Wayne Garvie. He says an international drive is “core to the future” of All3, with further brands such as Maverick and Lime also pitching ideas aimed at the international market. Owner/consolidators’ UK turnover rose by 6.3% last year to £1.18bn, while global turnover amounted to £2.92bn. But it’s not exactly been a stellar year for the big players. Comparing like for like, a combined turnover rise of 6.3% is far smaller than 2010’s surge of 23.3% – especially when you factor in new mid-sized entrant Argonon, which brings an extra £3.6m to the table. Instead of jumping on the acquisition trail, many consolidators in our table were preoccupied with debt legacies, long-running franchises coming to an end and, in some cases, both. Ten Alps took the biggest hit on turnover, down 24% to £19.5m after the government cancelled its £10m Teachers TV contract last April – two years earlier than planned. Fremantle was also down 15% following the cancellation of The Bill. In its wake, chief executive Sara Geater undertook a radical group restructure, reorganising key brands such as the The X Factor and Grand Designs under a series of self-governing labels. Chief executive Tim Hincks argues that Endemol’s earlier diversification plan helped the group cushion the blow caused by the end of its Channel 4 Big Brother contract, which reduced UK turnover by almost 20%. With killer formats such as The Million Pound Drop – which to date has sold into more than 30 territories 16 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

6.3%

Combined turnover rise, compared with 23.3% last year

Horrible Histories: a Lion Television (All3Media) production; below: Bwark’s (Zodiak) The Inbetweeners

in the space of a year and BB lives on on Channel 5 – the Dutch giant is still the undisputed king of international formats and our leading global earner, generating £1.14bn internationally. Yet the company is currently frozen by debt, a legacy of its 2006 leverage buyout, when its new owners pushed £3bn onto Endemol’s balance sheet. Hincks says: “The debt situation is clearly unsustainable. It’s now being sorted with a very clear timetable of where we are headed. We still manage to make shows we believe in.” All3 is another company whose main focus is on improving efficiencies and reducing its debts. Major shareholder Permira called off its sale in the autumn with reports blaming its eyewatering £750m price tag. Claiming it to be the best year in trading history, All3 cut its debt last year by £28m to £226m. Zodiak Media Group chief executive David Frank observes: “When over-leveraged borrow-

‘When borrowing is too high, the focus is on servicing the debts rather than growing the business’ Tim Hincks, Endemol

ings are too high, companies generally have a tough time because the focus is on servicing the debts rather than growing the business.” And he should know. Fresh out of a year-long financial restructure that consolidated all its debts in a handful of Paris banks, Frank says acquisitions and expansion are no longer Zodiak’s main priorities. “We retain these ambitions, but the main focus is on creativity and increasing the range of new formats we produce as a group.” Lorraine Ruckstuhl, head of Barclays’ mid-market team for technology, media and telecoms, questions whether consolidators can do any more consolidating. “Have the superindies got to saturation point?” she asks. “With the level of debt they need to service, is it possible for them to keep on buying?” The only big buy last year was Zodiak’s acquisition of Bwark. But it is not just debt that is slowing the acquisition trail. Many of the main contenders have already been bought and just four of the top 20 indies are independently owned: IMG, Twofour, Hat Trick and Left www.broadcastnow.co.uk

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Top owners/Consolidators 1-12 Company

UK turnover 2011 (£m)

UK turnover 2010 (£m)

Change (%)

Pre-tax profit (£m)

Global turnover (£m)

Amount from UK (%)

UK subsidiaries

All3Media

278.20

240.00

16.0

465.00

60.0

North One, Bentley Productions, Cactus TV, All3Media International, Optomen, One Potato Two Potato, Lion Television, Company Pictures, Lime Pictures, ARG, Maverick Television, Objective Productions, Studio Lambert, Illumina

Endemol

191.70

237.56

-19.5

1,137

16.9

Tiger Aspect Darlow Smithson, Remarkable, Initial, Zeppotron, Tigress

Zodiak Media (DeAgostini)

143.20

100.69

42.2

480.00

30.0

RDF Television, IWC Media, Touchpaper, Bwark, Presentable, The Foundation, Red House, The Comedy Unit

Shine Group (Fox)

133.00

0.0

507.00

26.0

Shine TV, Princess Productions, Kudos Film & Television, Dragonfly, Brown Eyed Boy

Fremantle Media UK (RTL)

123.00

145.00

-15.2

Tinopolis

76.00

72.00

5.5

10.00

76.00

100.0

NBCU1

56.02

33.50

67.2

Avalon Entertainment2

49.50

39.00

27.0

55.50

89.0

Avalon Television, Flame Television, Liberty Bell, Topical Television, Tinderbox Television

Shed Media Group3 (Warner Bros)

48.38

56.90

-15.0

112.42

43.0

Shed Productions, Shed Media Scotland, Wall to Wall, Ricochet, Twenty Twenty, Watershed Television, Yalli Productions

Boomerang+

26.93

21.41

26.0

1.02

26.93

100.0

Boomerang+, Indus Films, Fflic, Oxford Scientific Films, Alfresco, Apollo, Bulb Films

DCD Media4

22.73

1.80

48.40

47.0

September Films, Prospect, Prospect Cymru, Matchlight, West Park Pictures

Ten Alps5

19.20

25.30

-24.0

0.71

19.50

90.0

Brook Lapping Productions, Blakeway Productions, Films of Record, Below the Radar

Sony1

9.74

Argonon

8.00

10.00

-0.2

25.80

14.5

Thames, Talkback, Retort, Boundless Mentorn Media, Sunset + Vine, Daybreak Pictures, Folio, Pioneer Productions, Tinopolis Wales Carnival, Monkey Kingdom, Chocolate Media

Victory, Gogglebox (both majority shares)

Leopard Films, Remedy

1 NBCU and Sony figures represent combined turnovers of UK subsidiaries as both declined to disclose a consolidated revenue number in 2011; 2 Avalon year to 30 June 2011; 3 Shed Media Group figure for year to 31 December 2010 (previous figure is to 31 December 2009); 4 DCD Media figure for year to 31 December 2010; 5 Ten Alps year to 31 March 2011

Bank Pictures (in which BBC Worldwide has a minority stake). Other well performing production houses are opting to go it alone for the time being. Pulse Films, whose turnover rose 25% to £15m in 2011, looked at either selling up or growing through acquisition. “We seriously explored it,” admits Pulse managing director Thomas Benski. “However, we don’t see corporate development as a priority. If you focus on the talent, opportunities will always present themselves.” However, this March brought a flurry of activity. Sony, a relative newcomer to the UK production scene, whose majority-owned indies had a combined UK turnover of £9.7m in 2011, bought a majority stake in Silver River earlier this month, while ProSieben-owned Red Arrow (not listed in www.broadcastnow.co.uk

our table) confirmed its majority stake in entertainment outfit CPL. New mid-sized player Argonon – a union between Leopard and Remedy – is also scouting for companies as part of a plan to build up a turnover of £100m within five years. Chief executive James Burstall says acquisitions are likely to focus first on the UK and then progress to the US. “We’ll look at companies that extend beyond a normal TV offering – gaming and mobile companies – and, in America, companies that are good at retaining IP.” Burstall adds that Argonon will soon face more mid-sized competition: “This year you’ll see new groups earning between £5-10m coming through the ranks,” he predicts. By this time next year, this table could look very different.

M&A activity 2011-2012 May 2011 n

Leopard and Remedy join forces to create mid-sized super-indie Argonon

July 2011 n

Zodiak Media Group buys The Inbetweeners producer Bwark

November 2011 n

Discovery buys Betty

February 2012 n

Warner Bros takes a 50% stake in Renegade Pictures

March 2012 Sony Pictures Television takes a majority stake in Silver River n Red Arrow takes a majority stake in CPL n

23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 17

Indies 2012 top suppliers

all change:

shift in indie perceptions

Channel 4’s attempt to diversify its supplier base helped oust the BBC as ‘best broadcaster’, while Sky overtook ITV thanks to its UK investment – and many smaller indies broke through

t’s amazing the impact that ending the Beeb in top place. Respondents a big show can have on both a admired its “quick and precise decibroadcaster’s supplier base and sion-making”, with some thanking the on producers’ feelings towards the new leadership for giving them a foot channel involved. in the door. C4 still has its fair share of And it’s become commonplace to critics, of course – its biggest crimes qualify indies’ ranking of being “arrogance” and acting broadcasters with the like a “smug old boys’ club”. proviso that the BBC Some doors clearly still always tops the best and need to be broken down. worst lists due to the There’s little change in Respondents who do not want sheer volume of its BBC suppliers, just a changes to the output. But this year, slight shufﬂing of the deck Terms of Trade things have changed: of a top 10 that, by hours at freed from Big Brother, least, all come from bigger Channel 4 has made a great groups. Breaking through by noise about reaching out to new value is So Television – thanks to a suppliers up and down the country – full year of Graham Norton’s Friday and Endemol’s hours on the main night BBC1 show. Meanwhile, the swift channel are down from 777 to 442. axing of The Whole 19 Yards took The move has shifted perceptions of Endemol out of ITV’s top 10; in came the channel, which has leapfrogged Objective for The Cube and Carnival Films. Sky’s investment in UK production won it praise and helped it jump buDGeT ChanGeS ahead of ITV in producers’ estimations. % BB’s arrival has brought some love for Increase 1 Channel 5 and had a knock-on effect Same 33 on the schedule: not just Initial, but -1-10% 52 Ricochet, which brought The Bachelor to the UK in a post-BB slot, make it into -11-20% 12 the top 10. A full year of BB should -21-50% 2 shake things up further. Based on 112 responses

56%

‘Freed from big brother, Channel 4 has made a great noise about reaching out to new suppliers’

beST broaDCaSTer (% Share) 2011

2010

Channel 4

35.0

25.7

BBC

21.0

41.4

Sky group

16.0

13.1

ITV

13.0

11.8

UKTV

4.5

Channel 5

3.5

Discovery

3.5

History

2.5

S4C

1.0

Based on 82 responses

WorST broaDCaSTer (% Share) 2011

2010

BBC

30.5

36.0

ITV

19.5

5.4

Channel 4

19.5

18.2

Channel 5

10.5

16.9

Sky group

7.5

5.4

Nat Geo

5.5

UKTV

2.5

ALL

2.5

Other

3.5

Based on 82 responses

33%

The Graham Norton Show: So Television 18 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

The Bachelor: Ricochet

The Cube: Objective Productions www.broadcastnow.co.uk

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BBC Could do Better ➤ bbC Top SupplierS (by hourS)

Hours

Key shows

IMG Sports Media Endemol Ent

336 153

Snooker; Darts; The Football League Show Pointless; Total Wipeout; Roar

Lion Television

139

Royal Upstairs Downstairs; Young Soldiers

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sunset + Vine Fremantle Media UK 12 Yard Productions Leopard Films Shine TV Mentorn Indus Films

129 127 100 87 83 80 77

Horse Racing; Cricket World Cup Escape To The Country; The Apprentice Perfection; Who Dares Wins Cash In The Attic; Filthy Rotten Scoundrels MasterChef; Most Annoying People Question Time; The Big Questions Stuck On Sheep Mountain; Bruce Parry Arctic

➤ bbC Top SupplierS (by SpenD)

Total Wipeout: Endemol

he BBC normally finds itself squarely in the middle of our survey, typically both the most praised and most criticised broadcaster. But this year, there has been a shift in the production community’s opinion of the broadcaster – it’s now only the most criticised. Many of the complaints are perennial – too much red tape or too slow in decision-making, alongside claims about commissioners’ arrogance or poor communication skills. However, some new concerns have emerged, perhaps borne out of the BBC’s changed financial circumstances. Funding, particularly in drama, is cited as a problem, while investment into multiplatform is seen as too low a priority. But it’s not as straightforward as the BBC getting worse; it’s a case of performance relative to its rivals. With Channel 4 winning over indies after a concerted drive to speak to more suppliers, and Sky increasing spend, the BBC needs to make sure it doesn’t rest on its laurels. The BBC continues to work with the largest number of suppliers within the broadcasting food chain. The total figure for 2011 dropped by 10 on the previous year to 295. There are new names among the

Company

1 2

BBC’s top 10 suppliers by hours. Lion has crept up a place to third and Sunset + Vine has jumped four positions, while Fremantle Media UK has dropped two places and Mentorn four. The corporation is unable to share its actual spend before Ofcom has approved its figures, though its response (see below) indicates indies’ share is up. Once again, there is little change, particularly in the top spots, which are taken by Fremantle Media UK, Kudos and Shine for the second year in a row. However, there are some new faces. Company Pictures secured eighth position, benefiting from BBC1 series Inspector George Gently, BBC2’s high-end drama The Shadow Line (a co-pro with Baby Cow, below) and BBC4’s adaptation of the DH Lawrence novel Women In Love, while So Television, producer of The Graham Norton Show and Sorry, I’ve Got No Head, enters at nine. Last year’s number four, Tiger Aspect, and number 10, Mentorn, are knocked out as a result. As sports account for the existence of three suppliers in the top 10 – IMG, Sunset + Vine and Indus – it’s possible there will be more change next year as DQF begins to affect the BBC’s sports rights.

Company

Key shows

1 2

Fremantle Media UK Kudos Film & TV

The Sinking Of The Laconia; QI Outcasts; Spooks; The Hour

Shine TV

Merlin; The Magicians; History Cold Case

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Shed Productions Endemol Wall to Wall Lion Television Company Pictures So Television 12 Yard Productions

Garrow's Law; Sugartown; Waterloo Road Restoration Home; Don't Scare the Hare; I Can Cook New Tricks; Who Do You Think You Are; That’s Britain Homes Under The Hammer; Horrible Histories Inspector George Gently; The Shadow Line Sorry, I’ve Got No Head; The Graham Norton Show Eggheads; In It To Win It; Perfection Source: BBC

what the indies say pros “Move to Salford has given new impetus – it is taking a fresh approach to collaboration and new models of working” “Generally a sensible, mature attitude towards relationships”

“Most professional, organised and tolerant”

Cons “Wastes time through long decision-making chains at all levels” “Lack of risk across multiplatform commissioning and a drawn-out, bureaucratic process in its delivery”

“Easy to get lost in the system”

“Extremely supportive during production and post-broadcast”

“Inconsistent and drawn-out processes for both commissioning and business affairs”

BroadCaster response

Helen Blenkinsop Head of network supply, BBC

“In a year when indies won more of our business than ever, it is clear there is still more we can do. We spent a lot of last year on DQF, fighting to find ways to minimise the impact of savings on our audience, and our suppliers. Hopefully, the end result will be that we are simpler and speedier to work with. Given that we commission nearly 300 indies, it’s not surprising we get the full range of feedback. But we always strive to do better.” ➤

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 19

Indies 2012 top suppliers itV QuiCk deCisions ➤ iTV Top SupplierS (by hourS) Company

Hours

Key shows

1 2

Fremantle Media UK RDF Television

181 145

The X Factor; Britain’s Got Talent; Celeb Juice Dickinson’s Real Deal; Sing If You Can

Spun Gold

107

The Alan Titchmarsh Show; Love Your Garden

4 5 6 7 8 9 9

Hat Trick Lime Pictures Can Associates Cactus TV Objective Prods Avalon TV Carnival

38 24 23 22 19 18 18

Dinner Date; Case Sensitive The Only Way Is Essex Kerry Catona – The Next Chapter Ten Mile Menu The Cube Harry Hill’s TV Burp; That Sunday Night Show Downton Abbey

➤ iTV Top SupplierS (by SpenD)

The Only Way Is Essex: Lime Pictures

TV held its spend with the indie sector last year at £250-260m, with the broadcaster remaining cautious due to poor visibility over future advertising revenues. If there are anecdotal concerns that ITV is pushing more of its commissioning in-house to help revive ITV Studios, they are not borne out in the survey results. It spent 48% of its programming budget with the independent sector last year, only a small decline on 2010’s figure of 49%. However, the dip does represent a continuing trend: in 2009, commissions were worth 52% of ITV’s content budget. A total of 73 indies clinched work with the UK’s biggest freeto-air commercial broadcaster in 2011 across its portfolio of channels. Again, this was fractionally down on the previous year, when ITV worked with 74 partners. Fremantle Media-owned Talkback Thames – now Fremantle Media UK – remained ITV’s biggest supplier by spend and number of hours. It has topped both categories for three consecutive years and its consistency is impressive, given The Bill’s absence from the schedule.

ITV broke out its spend with Endemol’s group of companies for the first time and Tiger Aspect was the only subsidiary that featured – despite Secret Diary Of A Call Girl ending last year. RDF overtook Spun Gold in number of hours on air, boosted by Saturday night ent show Sing If You Can. But the Zodiak Media Group company was only ITV’s sixth biggest supplier by spend. Lime Pictures was a notable new entrant in top suppliers by hours, riding high on the back of the success of ITV2’s The Only Way Is Essex, along with Objective Productions – which has established The Cube on ITV1 – and Cactus TV. Avalon TV rocketed from 10th to third in the spend category on the back of Adrian Chiles chat vehicle That Sunday Night Show (below). But there is still work to do with the indies. ITV was considered the second worst broadcaster to work with, leapfrogging Channel 5. Its perceived lack of respect for the Terms of Trade remained a thorny issue for some indies, but many praised the broadcaster’s clarity of vision on content ideas and speedy decision-making.

20 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

Company

Key shows

1 2

Fremantle Media UK Bentley Productions

The X Factor; Britain's Got Talent; Celebrity Juice Midsomer Murders

Avalon TV

Harry Hill’s TV Burp; That Sunday Night Show

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Carnival Film & TV Tiger Aspect RDF Television Kudos Film & TV Company Pictures Buffalo Gallowgate

Downton Abbey Benidorm; Joanna Lumley – A Greek Odyssey Dickinson’s Real Deal; Sing If You Can; Secret Dealers Law & Order: UK Wild At Heart Doc Martin Ant And Dec’s Push the Button Source: ITV

what the indies say pros “Swift and clear commissioning and business affairs” “It has simple deals and sticks to them” “Clear, quick responses. Decent and lovely to work with – and smart” “No dithering – commissioners let you know if they like an idea or not”

Cons “Wants to make as much as possible in-house” “No longer a level playing field” “Its decision to ignore the Terms of Trade is shameful” “It always feels like a closed shop” “Seems to rewrite the rule book according to its own agenda”

BroadCaster response

Peter Fincham Director of television

“It’s good news that for the second year running we have been rated highly for our swift decisions and clarity around commissioning. Our programming goal going forward is the same as it has always been: we want the best ideas from the best suppliers. It really is as simple as that.”

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CHANNEL 4 DIVERSE APPROACH ➤ C4 TOP SUPPLIERS (BY HOURS) Company

Hours

Key shows

1 2

Endemol Highflyer Productions

442 234

Deal Or No Deal; Million Pound Drop Channel Four Racing

Lime Pictures

129

Hollyoaks

4 4 6 7 8 9 9

Remedy Productions Sunset + Vine S+V/IMG [co-pro] Red House RDF Television Cactus TV Studio Lambert

119 104 75 64 61 55 55

Freshly Squeezed; Shockwaves NME Awards NFL; Pokerstars.com Daegu Games World Athletics; Paralympics Cookery School; Help! My House Is Falling Down The Renovation Game; Shipwrecked Drop Down Menu; Fern Four/Three In A Bed; Undercover Boss

➤C4 TOP SUPPLIERS (BY SPEND)

10 O’Clock Live: Endemol (Zeppotron)

hannel 4 chief creative officer Jay Hunt has made diversifying C4’s supplier base a priority in her first year at the broadcaster. Initiatives such as seed-funding development project The Alpha Fund have helped the broadcaster to be seen around the country. Yet not much has changed at the top level of supply: its top four contributors in terms of hours remain the same year on year: Endemol (listed here as a group), Highflyer Productions, Lime Pictures and Remedy Productions. However, this lack of change is not reflected in the feedback from producers, who have ranked C4 as the best broadcaster to work with over the past year – overtaking the BBC. Producers praised its approach to multiplatform commissioning – accepted as miles ahead of its PSB rivals – quick decision-making and willingness to take risks. Engaging new suppliers is clearly happening at C4 – it worked with an estimated 250 indies in 2011 – but familiar names dominate the top tiers. Even though Big Brother is no longer on C4, super-indie Endemol topped its supplier list for spend, as well as hours. Deal Or No

Deal, Million Pound Drop and 10 O’Clock Live kept Endemol top, but the number of hours it produced for the main channel fell from 777 to 442. Red House TV’s Help! My House Is Falling Down and All3Media’s Cactus daytime shows Fern and Drop Down Menu helped the companies clock up the hours to get them on the biggest supplier list. Meanwhile, Jamie Oliver’s Fresh One Productions (below), Shine’s Princess Productions and All3Media’s Studio Lambert were the new entrants on the biggest spend list. The change in approach to dealing with suppliers has clearly been noted by indies, but C4 has still been ranked as joint second worst broadcaster to work with. Criticisms include a lack of clarity around the creative direction of the broadcaster and a tendency to micro-manage programmes. Some of the criticism appears to be based on the department changes in recent months: C4 is still without a drama head four months on from Camilla Campbell’s departure and one indie said the department “needs to get its mojo back”.

Company

Key shows

1 2

Endemol Lime Pictures

Deal Or No Deal; Million Pound Drop; 10 O'Clock Live Hollyoaks

Company Television

Shameless; Skins

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Objective Productions Daybreak Pictures Open Mike Productions Fresh One Productions Princess Productions Maverick Television Studio Lambert

Fresh Meat; Derren Brown: The Experiments; Pete vs Life The Promise; Sirens Alan Carr: Chatty Man; Stand Up For The Week Jamie's Dream School; Street Dance Famous And Fearless; Lily Allen From Rags To Riches Embarrassing Bodies; The Model Agency Four/Three In A Bed; Undercover Boss Source: C4

WHAT THE INDIES SAY PROS “Very open and specific with feedback. Very encouraging for new talent and towards smaller companies” “Quick decisions and supportive commissioners. In nonlinear, it’s innovative, wellfunded and focused” “It feels less editorially restricted and its budgets reflect the programmes it commissions”

CONS “The level of interference and micro-management is counter-productive” “We don’t understand its mindset any more” “There is no functioning drama department and there seems to be a lack of confidence or clear vision of what it, or more precisely what Jay, is looking for”

BROADCASTER RESPONSE

Jay Hunt Chief creative officer, C4

“When I arrived, I said I wanted Channel 4 to be the best place for indies to do business. I am thrilled there are signs of real progress. We have worked hard over the past year to diversify our supply base. Including digital agencies, we worked with 400 companies in 2011, twice as many as in 2010, and we’ve met face to face with more than 300 indies. We want C4 to be the natural home for great writers, producers and creatives.” ➤

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 21

Indies 2012

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top suppliers Channel 5 making progress

hannel 5 has clawed back some goodwill from the indie community after a more settled 2011, bolstered by a huge rise in the number of hours of content produced and the expansion of its pool of suppliers. In last year’s survey, no single respondent rated it as their favourite broadcaster to deal with. After a more stable year, in which it held on to the same commissioning team, it won over 3.5%. Progress, at least. Meanwhile, 10% named it the worst broadcaster, down from 17%.

Endemol UK was the big winner on the supply side, with the Initial-produced Big Brother propelling it from outside of the top 10 to C5’s second largest supplier, with 181 hours. The number of hours produced by top supplier Princess Productions nearly doubled as The Wright Show and Live With Gabby accounted for 610 hours across the year. But Sunset + Vine slipped to third place after its Europa Cup Football and England cricket highlights were slashed in half. As well as more BB, indies will soon be fighting with a new entrant: C5 Productions. This could get interesting.

what the Indies say

➤ Channel 5 Top Suppliers (by Hours)

Broadcaster response

PROS “Quick answers.

It meets your expectations” CONS “No agreed templates” “Unsure what its business terms are. Budgets are too small. Commissioners are unable to make decisions” “Very difficult business-wise – and doesn’t have a clue in digital”

Celebrity Big Brother: Initial

Jeff Ford Director of programmes, Channel 5 “C5 goes from strength to strength, riding on the successes of our original commissions and acquisitions. Our promise is to deliver more great, upbeat content that celebrates British life. With an in-house production team up and running, we have a platform to keep C5 top of mind”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 10

Company

Hours

Key shows

Princess Productions Initial Sunset + Vine North One Ricochet Twofour Raw Cut Television Bigger Pictures* Tiger Aspect RDF Media

610 181 77 49 31 24 20 17 17 16

The Wright Stuff, Vanessa Show Big Brother, Celebrity Big Brother Europa Cup Football, Cricket Highlights The Gadget Show, Fifth Gear The Bachelor, Cowboy Builders The Hotel Inspector, Most Shocking Lives Police Interceptors Ice Road Truckers, Oil Riggers Paul Merton In…, The Removal Men Emergency Bikers, Stansted Airport

*Trading as Pint Size Pictures

Source: Channel 5

Sky Group popularity gain

ky is on track to hit its targeted £600m annual spend by 2014, having grown its spend year on year by 70% to £128m. In line with this growth, it worked with 110 indies in 2011, almost double 2010’s 58. External companies now produce almost 40% of its output. But the good news is there’s more to come. This trend will have to be maintained, with spend doubling for the next two years, if its UK investment target is to be met.

Mount Pleasant: Tiger Aspect

➤ Sky Group* Top Suppliers (by Hours) Company

1 2 3 4 5 6 6 7 9 10

Hours

Princess Prods Pulse Films Tiger Aspect CPL Left Bank October Films Thumbs Up Maverick TV Mentorn Pricey Media

32 22 16 15 14 13 13 11 10 9

what the Indies say

Broadcaster response

PROS “It knows what it wants, who its audience are and how to target them. It pays on time and is supportive of creative while understanding production issues”

Stuart Murphy Director of programmes, Sky 1, 2 and 3 “We’re pleased indies have recognised the progress we’ve made. This year, investment in original content exceeded investment in acquired content for the first time. It’s great our bid to broaden our supply base and expand our original programming is being supported.”

Key shows

Got to Dance, Diversity, Chris & Wes Louie Spence’s Showbusiness,A Different Breed Mount Pleasant, Ross Kemp, Little Crackers A League Of Their Own, Wall of Fame Strike Back, Mad Dogs Cop Squad, Great Treehouse Britain And Ireland's Next Top Model Safebreakers, Next Door Nightmares Fishtown Katie; Signed By Katie Price

*Including former Virgin Channels

However, the number of hours of content ordered has fallen, hit by the axing of Crackit’s daily chat show Angela And Friends and Antix’s Most Haunted. Both indies slipped out of its list of top suppliers, replaced by Pulse and Tiger Aspect. Princess rose to the top despite producing fewer hours than last year. Sky also increased in popularity, named by 16% of respondents as their favourite broadcaster, up from 13% in 2011.

CONS “Endless maybes, no

development. Never actually says ‘no’. Cash flow and budget terms unattractive”

Source: Sky Group

➤ 22 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

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top suppliers UKTV change of focus A focus on bigger and noisier shows for its entertainment channels rather than high-volume, low-cost programming resulted in UKTV spending £62.5m on content in 2011. It worked with 30 indies, up from 21 in 2010. Despite this shift in output, underlined by shows such as The TA And The Taliban and Jo Brand’s Big Splash, Optomen remained its biggest supplier by volume. However, the 105 hours the indie produced, mainly for Good Food, was down on the 400 hours supplied in 2010.

what the Indies say

Phil McIntyre Entertainment was the standout new arrival after coproducing Dave’s One Night Stand and its own breakout hit Dynamo: Magician Impossible. Due to the loss of the World Rally Championships, which previously aired on Dave, North One TV dropped out of the top 10 suppliers, while UKTV’s first product-placement deal, signed with Friends Reunited-owner Brightsolid for Yesterday genealogy series Find My Past, catapulted Lion TV up the table. UKTV expects to invest £75m in 2012, with a focus on Good Food, Gold, Home and Watch.

➤ UKTV Top Suppliers (by Hours)

Broadcaster response

PROS “It needs small

indies because of budgets we can manage” “It knows its audience really well, so it gives clear direction and fantastic support to a project” CONS “It has unrealistic

ambition for the budgets it has available”

Dynamo: Magician Impossible: Phil McIntyre Entertainment

Jane Rogerson Director of commissioning, UKTV “Last year we had standout successes in every genre and an award-winning breakout hit in entertainment with Dynamo. We’re incredibly grateful to the producers and talent who surprise and delight us with the quality of the shows.”

1 2 3 4 5 6 6 6 6 6

Company

Hours

Key shows

Optomen RDF TV Twofour Splash Media Phil McIntyre Ent Amigo TV Lion TV October Films Tern TV True North

105 20 16 15 14 10 10 10 10 10

Valentine Warner Coast to Coast; Perfect; Monster Munchies; If It's Broke, Fix It Choccywoccydoodah; The TA And The Taliban James Martin's Mediterranean; Fantasy Homes Dynamo: Magician Impossible Dave's One Night Stand Find My Past My Flat Pack Homes The New Reclaimers What the Neighbours Did Source: UKTV

Discovery All change

changeable year for Discovery in which a UKbased international programming hub was set up as a potential client for suppliers alongside its ongoing UK output. Wag TV leapt to the top of the supplier list thanks to the recommission of X Machines, while Darlow Smithson dropped to third after its output fell to less than half of 2010’s hours. Long-running series from Attaboy and Icon

How Do They Do It: Wag TV

➤ Discovery Top Suppliers (by Hours) Company

1 2 2 4 5 6 6 7 9 10

Hours

Wag TV 30 Raw TV 19 Darlow Smithson 17 Icon Films 16.5 Attaboy 15 Maverick TV 13 Renegade Pics 13 Windfall Films 12 Tigress 11.5 Dragonfly 11

what the Indies say

Key shows

X Machines; How Do They Do It Gold Rush Infested; Megaquake: Hour That Shook Japan River Monsters Wheeler Dealers My Naked Secret Safari Park Adventure Monster Moves; Meet the Elephant Man Alone in the Wild; Beautiful Freaks... World's Toughest Trucker

PRO “It really communicates well” CON “The commissioning

process”

Films cemented their position as key suppliers. Maverick’s medical ob doc My Naked Secret helped propel it onto the list. Bullseye, Pioneer, True North and Dangerous were edged out by Renegade, Windfall and Dragonfly Films. Female lifestyle brand TLC has been earmarked for increased investment. Nutopia, while not making the list, was singled out for the scale of its How We Invented The World series.

Broadcaster response Julian Bellamy Creative director, Discovery Networks Intl “We are investing more money and hours in UK-originated content. An increasing number are being commissioned for our female lifestyle brand TLC, and for our factual flagship brand Discovery. We look forward to working with more indies in the months to come.”

Source: Discovery

24 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

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Indies 2012 GENRE LEAGUE TABLES

The year of the comeback After a gloomy 2010, drama, factual, fact ent, sports and children’s all recovered to post healthier figures – but Big Brother’s move hit entertainment. Will Strauss reports

Hollyoaks: Lime Pictures

DRAMA

This is a fairly healthy increase, not least when you consider the loss of ITV1’s The Bill. One consequence of this is that the producer formerly known as Talkback Thames made just eight hours of drama in 2011, a quarter of 2010’s figures – The Bill ended mid-year – and a tenth of 2009’s 79 hours. As the number of drama producers differs year on year, it is worth also taking into account the average number of hours produced. That worked out at 18.5 hours of drama last year, significantly up on 14 hours in 2010. So, all round, it was a much better year.

HEALTHY COURSE Last year’s survey showed that 2010 was all doom and gloom in the drama market, with programming hours halved and all companies in the top 10 making less telly than in 2009. Thankfully, in 2011, things looked a little brighter. Helped in part by extra hours on BBC2, plus C4 spending some of its Big Brother surplus on drama, when pooled together the output of the 23 drama producers in the survey totalled 445.5 hours. In 2010, that figure was 349.5 hours.

➤ TOP 10 DRAMA PRODUCERS

ENTERTAINMENT SLOWDOWN Channel 4 axing Big Brother was always going to have an impact on the

Indie Survey in some way. And so it comes to pass that the most remarkable thing about the entertainment genre is Remarkable Television. The Endemol-owned company retains its position as the second biggest supplier of entertainment programming in the UK despite losing almost 1,300 hours of TV, most of them from Big Brother and its various live shows, feeds from the house and spin-off shows. However, all is not lost, because fellow Endemol company Initial has picked up the baton and now produces Big Brother for Channel 5 (below), albeit with fewer hours. As a result, Initial moves from ninth to third in a supplier table that has a strong Endemol spine this year with 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Would I Lie To You? producer Zeppotron at number eight . Remarkable itself maintains its lofty position thanks to the success of the C4 shows Million Pound Drop and Deal Or No Deal, plus BBC quiz show Pointless, which has recently been commissioned for another 158 x 45-minute series. Putting BB to one side, the combined entertain-

➤ TOP 10 ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCERS

Company

Hours (’11)

Lime Pictures

136.0

140.5

Company Pictures

52.0

41.0

Shed Productions/ Shed Scotland

36.0

–

Kudos

32.0

35.0

Spooks; Hustle; Law & Order:UK

Left Bank

20.5

24.0

Impossible Pictures

20.0

–

Touchpaper

18.0

Bentley Productions

Carnival

10 Red

Who were the winners? Hollyoaks producer Lime Pictures still leads the way but Company Pictures is the big success story year on year, consolidating second place with 11 extra hours in a roster that includes Shameless, Wild At Heart, Skins, George Gently and The Shadow Line. Red Production Company also did well (see Nations and Regions, page 30), while Shed makes a welcome return at number three after a year in the ‘figures included in parent company results’ wilderness. As far as comings and goings are concerned, Impossible Pictures is a new entry at six, thanks to 20 hours that included 13 episodes of Primeval, while Tiger Aspect drops out of the Top 10 completely, having made only four hours of drama – 14 less than in the previous year when it still had Secret Diary Of A Call Girl.

Hours (’10)

Key shows

Company

Hours (’11)

Hollyoaks; House of Anubis

Remedy

1,000.0

Hours (’10)

Key shows

Shameless; Wild At Heart; Skins

Remarkable

430.0

Waterloo Road

Initial

223.0

61.0 Big Brother; Celebrity Big Brother

Fremantle Media UK

208.0

162.0 The X Factor; BGT; Celebrity Juice

Strike Back; Mad Dogs; DCI Banks

Princess

160.0

195.5 Got to Dance; The Wright Stuff

Primeval

Rondo Media

139.0

71.0 Llangollen Int’l Musical Eisteddfod

14.0

Being Human; Single-Handed

3DD

100.0

50.0 Album Chart Show; Pop Profiles

18.0

16.0

Midsomer Murders

Zeppotron

58.0

– 8 out of 10 Cats; Would I Lie To You

16.0

22.0

Downton Abbey; Whitechapel; Page 8

Open Mike

50.0

– A Carr: Chatty Man; Stand Up For The Week

15.0

5.5

Scott & Bailey; Exile; Bedlam

Monkey

40.0

– Home For The Holidays

700.0 Freshly Squeezed; MTV Top 40s *1,718.0 Deal Or No Deal; Pointless; £m Drop

*Remarkable’s 2010 entertainment figures differ from the figures printed in last year’s survey, due to some classification issues. The indie’s overall 2010 total remains the same.

26 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

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FACTUAL ENTERTAINMENT GROWTH BOOST

Freshly Squeezed: Remedy Productions

ment figures do not make for good reading. The 42 companies that made entertainment shows in 2011 pooled just 2,855 hours, compared with 6,457 in 2010. If you’re wondering where almost 3,500 hours went, look no further than ETV, the producer of Gala TV. With the bingo channel now an online-only offering, the entertainment table is bereft of 2,900 hours of content. Add in the additional hours of Big Brother that would’ve aired on C4 and E4 in previous years and you have the reason for that deficit. So, what of the rest? Well, the rest did OK. Fremantle Media UK (née Talkback Thames), with its supersized formats The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, upped its hours, as did 3DD and Rondo. But the big winner was Remedy Productions. The Argonon group company reaches the entertainment summit for the first time thanks to 300 extra hours that includes music shows for MTV and C4’s Freshly Squeezed.

FACTUAL

ON THE RISE After a tumultuous 2010 when overall programming hours fell, factual production looks to have stabilised and, if anything, pushed on in 2011. Between them, 50 companies made 934 hours of factual shows last year, an average of 19 per indie. That was a decent increase on 2010, when 62 companies made 822.5 hours, an average of 13.2. Although that means that fewer indies now make factual programmes (or less factual indies submit their results), it looks like significant progress. There’s stability too, with six companies retaining their places, including Optomen, which still delivers the biggest volume of factual despite losing 50 hours year on year. One of the big success stories is True North. The Leeds-based company trebled its factual output on the back of shows such as To Build Or Not To Build, Britain’s

➤ TOP 10 FACTUAL PRODUCERS

These are some results to warm the cockles of the heart. Factual entertainment is the shining light in this year’s survey, growing significantly year on year – thanks mainly to Princess Productions – and continuing to be one of TV’s more dynamic genres. Here are the numbers: 39 companies produced 1,883 hours of fact ent in 2011 – 115 more hours than their 48 counterparts did a year earlier. That results in an average of 48 hours in 2011 vs 36 hours in 2010. That’s a decent bit of growth right there. The Top 10 is responsible for more than half the hours – 2010’s league leaders produced just 968 hours, while 2011’s made 1,347. That growth is almost entirely down to Princess Productions, the number one supplier Toughest Cops and What The Neighbours Did. As a result, it has become the fourth biggest factual supplier in the country. Of the new entries, Tinopolis Wales is straight in at number two thanks to the magazine shows Wedi 3 and Wedi 7 for S4C, while IWC Media and Twofour make welcome returns. One indicator of a genre’s strength is the threshold to get into

of fact ent programming for the second year running. Its 671 hours are more than double last year’s total thanks to its roster of C5 chat shows, which last year included The Wright Stuff (below) plus The Vanessa Show – which ran until June 2011 – and The Wright Stuff Extra/Live With Gabby, which replaced it. With Thumbs Up and Tiger Aspect dropping out, there are a couple of interesting new companies in the top 10. Maverick Television is a new entry at number five thanks to 35 hours that includes The Model Agency and various things to do with Embarrassing Bodies. Another new entry, Zodiakowned Red House, is at four on the back of C4 home improvement shows such as Help! My House is Falling Down. the Top 10. In 2011 the barrier was 25 hours, up from 21 in 2010. That didn’t stop The Garden, which takes its place among the leading suppliers for the first time thanks to shows such as 24 Hours In A&E and Seven Dwarves. It’s a great debut for a company only founded in 2010 and, judging by the Peer Poll (page 32), and the re-order of 24 Hours In A&E, a top 10 place looks assured for 2012. ➤

➤ TOP 10 FACTUAL ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCERS Company

Hours (’11)

Hours (’10)

Mary Queen Of Shops

Princess

671.0

322.5

Wedi 7; Wedi 3

Leopard Films

150.0

190.0

33.0

Secret Millionaire; OC Hoarder

Fremantle Media UK

130.0

–

The Apprentice; Grand Designs

41.0

16.0

To Build Or Not To Build; Stormchaser

35.0

–

Educating Essex; Harry's Arctic Heroes

Red House

128.0

–

Cookery School; Help! My House…

IWC

33.5

–

Location, Location Location

Cactus

82.0

83.0

Parthenon

30.0

35.0

Mystery Files; Nordic Wild

Maverick

75.0

–

Darlow Smithson

30.0

25.0

The Eight-Limbed Boy; Children of 9/11

Remarkable

54.0

*62.0

Gok’s Clothes Roadshow

Keo Films

25.5

24.0

Hugh’s Fish Fight; T Pratchett: Choosing…

Shine TV

53.0

33.0

MasterChef; Biggest Loser

The Garden

25.0

24 Hours In A&E; Seven Dwarves

North One

52.0

48.0

Gadget Show; Fifth Gear

Lion

25.0

–

Edwardian Farm; The Space Trail

Electric Sky

42.0

57.0

First Love; World’s Fattest Man

Company

Hours (’11)

Hours (’10)

Optomen

175.5

226.0

Tinopolis Wales

150.0

–

RDF TV

50.0

True North

Twofour

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Key shows

Something For The Weekend Missing; Cash In The Attic

Saturday Kitchen; TV Book Club B Connolly’s Route 66; Model Agency

23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 27

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Independent

and well connected

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Indies 2012 GENRE LEAGUE TABLES CHILDREN’S ROBUST FIGURES

Crufts: Sunset + Vine

programming last year to reach 2,509 hours. It’s a remarkable turnaround for Input, a company that was hit hard by the demise of Setanta Sports. To return to the levels of production seen before the Irish broadcaster went bust, Input has added, among other things, coverage of the World Indoor Bowls Championships for BBC2 and even more European football coverage for Uefa. With IMG and Input dominating affairs, it may not come as a massive surprise to learn that not many independent sports producers submitted results. In fact, it was just eight, and that despite 2011 being the year before the Olympics arrives in London. Notable absentees include Indus and various other Boomerang subsidiaries, which weren’t able to pull their information together in time, and Zodiak-owned Presentable, a company that is in transition as it tries to move away from making poker-related shows.

SPORT

DOMINANT DUO Proving that it’s not just the Scottish and Spanish football leagues that are two-horse races, the 2011 sport table is very much dominated by its two major players. Between them, IMG Sports Media and Input Media account for 5,248 of the 6,549 hours of sports coverage in 2011. That’s a not insignificant 80% of the total.

‘It’s a remarkable turnaround for Input, which was hit hard by the demise of Setanta’ IMG didn’t provide figures in 2010, which makes it tough to prove definitively whether this duopoly is a new or continuing trend, but Input Media certainly seems to be closing the gap on its rival, having added 1,300 hours of

➤ TOP 10 SPORT PRODUCERS Company

Hours (’11)

Mister Maker: The Foundation

With some significant animation firms missing in action – notably Hit Entertainment and Astley Baker Davies, which didn’t provide figures – the momentum is almost entirely maintained by Wales’ Boomerang, a company that more than doubled its hours to 413, mainly on the back of Stwnsh and Cyw tenders for S4C. To illustrate the changing landscape, look no further than the new entries in the Top 10. Companies such as Remarkable and True North, which make Roar and Dick And Dom Go Wild respectively for CBBC, illustrate that kids’ TV is not just about stop-frame and cartoons. And there are small, boutique indies there as well, such as Numberjacks producer Open Mind and Saltbeef, which makes Friday Download. and in doing so upped its hours to more than 150. Sunset + Vine grew slightly, from 856 hours to 894. It’ll be interesting to see what this year’s Paralympics coverage for C4 does to its figures next year – and to those of co-producer IMG.

There are new entries, though, such as Century TV. A specialist in anything that involves two wheels, the Shepperton and West Belfastbased company benefited from winning a contract to provide the BBC with coverage of the Moto GP,

➤ TOP 10 CHILDREN’S PRODUCERS

Hours (’10)

IMG Sports

2,739.0

Input Media

2,509.0

1,204.0

Sunset+Vine

894.0

856.0

Century TV

156.0

Rondo

140.0

121.0

North One

74.0

78.0

FilmNova

33.0

Telesgop Cyf

4.0

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

It’s a funny old time to be a children’s TV producer. Not only is the number of commissioning broadcasters in the UK continuing to fall, but licensing – the golden goose of children’s TV – is now so over-saturated with companies trying to come up with the next Peppa Pig or Bob The Builder that it’s almost impossible to get a look in. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, apparently no one buys DVDs any more and the animation sector is fighting against the cheap labour and hefty tax breaks that are available on foreign shores. Yet, against this backdrop, CBeebies and CBBC are celebrating a decade on air, and there are now more British companies making kids’ TV and the overall number of programming hours remains robust. The 28 companies that responded in 2011 made a combined 767 hours of programming for children, up from 513 hours made by just 19 firms last year. If you look at an average figure, that’s more than 27 hours each, a very slight increase on 2010 and a significant one versus 17 in 2009.

Key shows

Company

Boomerang

2 3

Hours (’11) Hours (’10) Key shows

413.0

241

Stwnshi; Cyw

The Foundation

51.0

45.0

Waybuloo; Postcode; Mister Maker

Darrall Macqueen

46.0

57.0

Remarkable

38.0

–

Roar

BBC MotoGP; Faldo Series Golf

Open Mind

25.0

–

Numberjacks; The Shiny Show

Sgorio

True North

20.0

–

Dick & Dom Go Wild

Rondo

16.0

43.0

Rownd A Rownd

Lime Pictures

15.0

–

House Of Anubis

Initial

15.0

37.0

Saltbeef

14.0

–

Premier League; World’s Strongest Man World Indoor Bowls Championships Grand National; Cricket Highlights

Isle of Man TT Great Manchester Run; Great Salford Swim World Rally Championships Highlights

Baby Jake; Pet Squad; The Fluffy Club

I Can Cook Friday Download; Christmas Download

23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 29

Indies 2012 NatioNs aNd regioNs

reasons to be cheerful The commissioning renaissance, the impact of quotas and some great shows contributed to a strong performance in the nations and regions. But Will Strauss finds there are still grumbles

espite increases in both turnover and programming hours, not everything was rosy in the gardens of the UK’s nations and regions indies in 2011. But before we get to the grumbles, let’s kick off with the positives, of which there are plenty. The total number of hours produced by nations and regions indies in 2011 was up by 16% year on year to 2,441 hours. On average, that means each indie made 62.5 hours in 2011; in 2010, that figure was 54. By all accounts, this increase was due, in equal measure, to a more generous commissioning regime following the credit crunch, a concerted effort by broadcasters to hit either mandatory or imposed quotas, and some strongly performing shows. As a consequence of these extra hours, combined out-of-London revenues were also up, touching £300m for the first time, some £38m (14.5%) more than was garnered in 2010 – even though fewer out-of-London indies responded to the survey, and even without Boomerang Plus breaking down its companies’ individual figures (see the Boomerang group details on page 17).

Maintaining headcount So with money and hours on the rise, that just leaves headcount. If taken at face value, this looks to have fallen significantly from 1,940 in 2010 to 1,217. However, this is just one example of numbers not telling the whole story as 2010’s figures included around 450 people who work on Aardman’s film projects and the 160 people employed by Boomerang. Taking that into account, staff numbers are pretty constant outside London. “There was certainly no cull,” explains Nigel Pickard, chief executive of Zodiak MEAA/UK Family and Kids, which incorporates Maidstone-based children’s TV producer The Foundation. “Our figures may lag slightly because some of our shows take nine months to make. The real impact of 30 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

‘The real impact of the recession might not be seen in this survey until next year’ Nigel Pickard, Zodiak

“We’ve seen good growth this year, the recession might not be seen in this largely driven by our breadth of prosurvey until next year.” duction,” says managing director Sean The Waybuloo producer made more Marley, who notes that success in the telly in 2011 and actually increased US has been a huge plus for the headcount but its revenues fell by company. “It’s unusual for America to £72m. That’s partly down to the “ebb take children’s drama direct from the and flow of the commissioning process”, says Pickard, who also points UK and that deal has kickstarted a lot of other US activity. This market will be to the company being in a transitional a big priority for us moving forward.” period, adding animated programBut don’t be fooled into thinking ming to its roster of live-action shows. that being a nations and regions-based Despite The Foundation’s minor indie gives you a licence to print blip, a lot of out-of-London growth money. As an example, it is interesting can be found elsewhere in the Top 10, to note that only one of the top 20 with seven companies enjoying yearfastest growing companies in the UK on-year increases. as a whole came from outside of The fastest growing of these, and London, and that was Red, which in fact the fastest growing out-ofsneaks in at number 20. London indie of all, was ManOut-of-London indies chester’s Red Production are less optimistic than Company, whose protheir capital-based peers. gramming hours tripled While the split for the from five to 15, with Average number of hours produced by whole indie community revenues leaping 50%. nations and regions was roughly 70/30 in the Managing director indies in 2011 optimists’ favour, for outAndrew Critchley of-London indies, optimists acknowledges the landhad a more cautious 53% share scape has changed in recent – despite a significant majority times. “It’s quite simple,” he says. saying 2011 was better than 2010. “There were more drama commisGrumbles include super-indie domsions last year, whereas a year or two inance, slow decision-making at the back there was a reduction.” broadcasters and reducing volume Things are looking good for Red in and value of commissions. One Bris2012 too, with 33 hours coming up tol-based factual indie boss also sugbetween now and the summer includgested “a lack of broadcaster-approved ing Bedlam series two (6 x 60 creative talent in the regions” as a minutes) for Sky Living, Hit And Miss reason to worry. (6 x 60 minutes) for Sky Atlantic and More evidence of unrest can be The Fuse (4 x 60 minutes) for BBC. found at the boutique end of the table. Although not among the fastest Brighton’s Seventh Art did 20% better growing, league leader Lime Pictures also had a stonking year, increasing rev- year on year, with revenues increasing to £1.2m, but founder Phil Grabsky is enues by 25% on the back of 39 hours more TV – not least in shaping the ‘con- not reaching for the champagne. “We did better in 2011 but that structed reality’ genre via the runaway doesn’t reflect a healthier environment success of The Only Way Is Essex. for cultural or social docs,” he says. Where smaller companies could “The situation is worse. We did better point to extra domestic commissions because we were rewarded for good for their increases, Lime’s revenue shows and thus repeat commissions includes international success with and sheer hard work – plus our tenthe Nickelodeon kids’ drama House Of year Afghan project completed, with Anubis and increased revenues from non-traditional sources such as licens- many broadcasters paying balances as a result.” ing and merchandising.

62.5

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regional indies top 40 Comapany

Locations

Turnover 2011 (£m)

Turnover 2010 (£m)

Change (%)

Pre-tax profit Turnover from (£m) UK (£m)

% of total

Key shows

Lime Pictures (All3Media)

Liverpool

51.00

40.86

24.82

–

43.00

84.31

Hollyoaks; Anubis; TOWIE; Geordie Shore

Twofour

Plymouth

35.40

33.00

7.00

–

35.40

100.00

Educating Essex; Harry's Arctic Heroes

Maverick TV

Billy Connolly Route 66; Model Agency

Aardman

Open Mike Productions

IWC Media (Zodiak)

Red Production Company

Rondo Media

Tinopolis Wales (Tinopolis)

Birmingham

19.10

16.03

19.60

–

19.10

100.00

Bristol

19.10

20.00

-4.50

4.60

24.00

Shaun the Sheep; Timmy Time

Manchester

18.04

15.00

20.00

–

12.27

68.00

Chatty Man; Stand Up For The Week

Glasgow

15.30

12.46

23.00

–

Manchester

15.00

10.00

50.00

–

15.00

100.00

Scott & Bailey; Exile; Bedlam Rownd a Rownd; The Indian Doctor

Location, Location...; Extreme Fishing

Cardiff

14.40

11.40

26.00

–

14.40

100.00

Llanelli, Wales

13.00

–

13.00

100.00

The Foundation (Zodiak)

Maidstone, Kent

12.13

14.13

-14.00

–

Parthenon Entertainment

Chorleywood/Bristol

11.00

10.50

5.00

2.00

18.00

Mystery Files; Nordic Wild; Wild Amazon

Off the Fence Productions

Bristol

10.12

–

5.52

54.50

Stan Lee's Superhumans; Wildest India

Icon Films

Bristol

6.70

5.62

–

1.90

28.50

River Monsters; Desert Seas; One Show

Tigress (Endemol)

Bristol

5.57

5.13

8.50

–

3.89

70.00

Elephant: Life After Death; Monty Hall

Brighton

5.20

3.90

33.50

–

3.10

59.50

First Love; World's Fattest Man

Leeds

4.30

4.26

1.00

0.24

3.10

72.00

Dick & Dom; Go Wild; Britain's Toughest Cops

Aberdeen/Gl’gow/Belfast

4.00

4.40

-9.00

–

3.50

87.50

Towns with Nicholas Crane; Fat Chance

Electric Sky

True North Productions1

Tern Television2

Green Inc

Belfast/Dublin

3.98

3.86

3.00

0.25

2.58

65.00

The Comedy Unit (Zodiak)

Glasgow

3.75

5.30

-29.00

–

Telesgop Cyf

Swansea

3.21

3.19

0.50

0.21

2.90

90.50

Wedi 7; Wedi 3 Waybuloo; Postcode; Mister Maker

Ask Rhod Gilbert; Many Faces Of; Sketchy Rab C Nesbitt; Limmy's Show Wallis Simpson: The Secret Letters

Presentable (Zodiak)

Cardiff

2.82

3.90

-27.50

–

Wild Rover Productions3

Belfast

2.70

–

2.45

90.50

Secret Fortune; Take The Money & Run

Matchlight (DCD Media)

Glasgow

2.50

2.10

19.00

–

2.30

92.00

See You in Court, Dangerous Driver's School

Green Bay

Denham Productions

Testimony Films

Topical Television (Avalon) 4

Pett Productions

FilmNova Sport Production

Back2Back Productions

Touch Productions

Only Connect; Rhod Gilbert Work Experience

Cardiff

2.30

–

0.09

2.22

96.50

Burton Gyfrinach; The Lions – 40 Years On

Plymouth

2.00

–

0.49

1.67

83.30

Rick Stein's Spain; The Hungry Sailors The British Woman On Death Row

Bristol

1.90

1.30

46.00

–

1.50

79.00

Southampton

1.90

2.08

-8.50

–

1.90

100.00

Real Rescues; The One Show features

Surrey

1.60

2.00

-20.00

0.10

1.60

100.00

Shooting Stars; Angelos Epithemiou Show

Newcastle

1.60

–

1.60

100.00

Bupa Great Manchester Run

Brighton

1.50

0.00

–

1.35

0.90

Bath

1.50

–

Taking on Tyson; Tattoo School Small Teen, Bigger World

The Unofficial Royal Wedding

Nine Lives Media

Stockport

1.43

0.98

46.50

0.01

–

Bees Nees

Glasgow

1.30

–

0.08

1.10

84.50

Lambent Productions

Brighton

1.20

0.84

43.00

0.06

1.20

100.00

Brighton

1.20

1.00

20.00

0.05

1.00

83.00

The Boy Mir - Ten Years in Afghanistan

Claygate, Surrey

1.16

–

0.05

0.92

75.00

Tour de France; World Cup Track Cycling

Seventh Art Productions

Vsquared TV

Ammonite

Big Wave Productions

Televisionary

Grace Productions6

Celtic Connections; Trad Music Awards Kids Behind Bars

Bristol

1.10

–

0.46

0.02

2.00

Nightstalkers; Hunt for the Giant Squid

Chichester

0.81

–

0.110

0.03

4.00

The Woman Who Swims With Killer Whales

Ivybridge, Devon

0.26

0.47

-44.50

0.06

0.24

92.50

Ultimate Ulster; Hidden Paintings

Yeovil

0.14

–

0.10

71.50

My Brother The Islamist

1 True North figures 12 months to 31 March 2011; 2 Tern Television figures 12 months to 31 March 2011; 3 Provisional figure; 4 All Avalon group companies are 12 months to 30 June 2011; Avalon TV includes 207 hours of radio; 5 Back2back Productions figures provisional 12 months to 30 March 2012; 6 Grace Productions figures 12 months to 31 August 2011

Educating Essex: Twofour www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Ask Rhod Gilbert: Green Inc

My Brother The Islamist: Grace Productions 23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 31

Indies 2012 PEER POLL

Triumph for quality drama A stunning year for Left Bank helps the Mad Dogs producer knock perennial favourites Kudos and Wall to Wall into second place with a string of popular drama series for BBC, ITV and Sky CREAM OF THE CROP Company

LEFT BANK PICTURES

Votes

Left Bank

Kudos

Wall To Wall

Keo

Objective

Baby Cow

Sunset + Vine

Carnival

The Garden

Blast!

Hartswood

BEST OF THE REST True Vision “It has kept the faith and made money” Testimony “Small but

perfectly formed”

Lime Pictures “A great year – it created

a new genre”

Windfall Films “Inspirational and

innovative”

Firecracker Films “Creative and innovative programming” Company “Continued, sustained

successes”

Optomen “Pleasant people aligned to

great business acumen”

Fremantle Media UK “International

gold standard content maker”

Twofour “Cleverly developed as a company by broadening its output” Big Talk “An amazing slate of scripted

work”

Plum Pictures “Its shows are always intelligent and fun” Red Productions “For not cashing in” Green Inc “Great ambition and an excellent range of programmes”

32 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

Mad Dogs

Zen might be no more, but Left Bank has been riding high in 2011, leapfrogging drama rivals Kudos and Company Pictures – which slips out of our top 10 – thanks to some bold, internationally focused dramas for the BBC, ITV and Sky. Broadcast’s 2011 Independent Producer of the Year certainly kept up the momentum over the course of the year. Tying up with Cinemax and HBO has turned Sky 1’s Strike Back (below) into a truly international drama and the three-way partnership is continuing for a third series in 2012. Meanwhile, Mad Dogs has proved a venerable brand for Sky 1, with audiences of more than 1.5 million – half of them from catch-up viewing. A third series is now in the offing, with its all-star cast all signed up. Meanwhile, Wallander remains a prestige brand for BBC1 and DCI Banks has become a dependable detective for ITV1. This combined portfolio is a benchmark for “popular, innovative and quality drama programming,” said one peer. “Its got the Midas touch,” another reflected, praising the consistency of its output. For

‘Left Bank has leapfrogged its rivals thanks to some bold, internationally focused dramas for BBC, ITV and Sky’ its status – less than five years old and independent, though with a minority stake from BBC Worldwide – it “punches well above its weight,” they added. It’s certainly doing that with its next project: a big-budget international miniseries based on Nelson Mandela’s autobiographical Conversations With Myself, which it is producing with Out of Africa Entertainment and Blue Ice Films. Left Bank is in advanced development, with no broadcaster yet attached, though it is sure to be a hot ticket on the international market. On a smaller scale, though with no less kudos, Left Bank is teaming up with Octagon Films and Victoria Wood on a biopic of pianist Joyce Hatto for BBC1. Expect a top 10 placing again next year. www.broadcastnow.co.uk

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“Nice guys can win,” said one producer of the indie still best known for Life On Mars and Spooks. Well, not always. Spooks bowed out on a high, but the typically high-concept Outcasts had a troubled birth and was pulled out of the Monday 9pm slot to a Sunday night backwater after shedding viewers. And early in 2012, ITV1’s Eternal Law proved a similarly tough sell. But Kudos lent its sheen to one of the most talked-about programmes of 2011, The Hour, which became the first returning BBC2 drama series in years.

Kudos has lost two bankers in Spooks and Hustle this year but a third, Law & Order: UK, remains on screen – indeed, it went head to head with Hustle earlier this year. The demise of the two big Kudos brands will leave huge gaps to fill. But as the Shine-owned drama producer has proven time and again, success can come from some of the most unexpected places. Kudos may have slipped from its number one placing last year, but to one rival, it “repeatedly produces the best drama”.

OBJECTIVE PRODUCTIONS

Peer Poll perennial Objective’s performance is best described by one rival that declared: “It has brilliantly managed to demonstrate that a company can grow organically in the TV sector.” In 2011, it unleashed Fresh Meat, a potentially risky project for Channel 4 that, despite the guiding hand of Peep Show creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, relied on a largely unknown cast and featured contributions from up-and-coming writers. Moreover, it sits in that trickiest of hybrid genres: comedy drama. As word of mouth grew, it became apparent that something special had arrived and it was duly recognised in awards season. Meanwhile, Peep Show and The Cube soldiered on and Derren Brown took his stunts to the next level in The Experiments. Peers were impressed by the volume of its “cool and contemporary” output.

WALL TO WALL

“It has always made quality programming and has done since indies were invented,” one peer said of the New Tricks producer, which has kept its position year on year. The BBC1 drama (right) remains a ratings weapon capable of destroying all in its path as it heads into 2012 with a two-series order that takes it up to series 10. But that’s not even the biggest news: the Shed Media Group indie, benefiting from its backing from Warner Brothers, is branching out into pure entertainment, bringing US talent show The Voice to BBC1 on Saturday nights. In popular factual, That’s Britain! has joined Long Lost Family and Turn Back Time – The High Street on its roster. What characterises its work across these genres is

KUDOS

simple, according to one rival: “It makes intelligent and well-crafted shows.” Another describes its work as “consistently strong and innovative”. But it’s Wall To Wall’s longevity that wins it the most respect. “There’s much to admire as it’s a tough industry and to stand the test of time is a huge testament to the drive and energy of the founders and their key team,” said one respondent, while another noted its ability to retain talented staff has helped it to “constantly renew its offer”.

KEO FILMS

Keo produced two of the most talked-about documentaries of 2011. Hugh’s Fish Fight and Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die (through Keo North) could not have been more different, but both were driven by presenters with passion and integrity, who handled complex and controversial subjects. Each took both talent and audience out of their comfort zones. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s campaign to end fish waste went to the highest level, with the European Fisheries Commission proposing a radical change in disposal laws. Pratchett’s exploration of euthanasia, featuring an assisted suicide on screen, inevitably had its critics, but won huge plaudits for Pratchett’s humanity and quiet sensitivity. “Its films have a recognisable voice; they’re www.broadcastnow.co.uk

brilliant programmes that are well conceived and superbly executed,” one respondent noted. Another singled out how Keo constantly “manages to do innovative programmes with key talent”.

Terry Prachett: Choosing To Die

Fresh Meat

BABY COW

Another great year for Steve Coogan and Henry Normal’s company, building on its staging of Chekhov Shorts for Sky Arts and BBC2 comedy travelogue The Trip in late 2010. Alan Partridge resurfaced online and launched the Foster’s Funny strand with MidMorning Matters, there were two more entries for Sky 1’s Little Crackers strand, and its established relationship with Marion and Geoff creator Hugo Blick took a sharp left turn when it coproduced BBC2 drama series The Shadow Line. Comedy and drama producers alike praised its relationships with “great talent” and its “constant innovation and consistency in the comedy genre”. And as a beneficiary of Sky’s new comedy cashflow, with no less than three series in development, 2012 is looking good too.

Mid-Morning Matters 23 March 2012 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 33

➤

Indies 2012

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PEER POLL 6=

SUNSET + VINE

The Tinopolis-owned sports veteran remains the standard bearer for live event coverage, to the envy and frustration of its peers. “It seems to get in on deals we’re not aware of,” said one sports producer, while another noted: “It has a dominant position in high-end sport production that makes it a clear choice for commissioners.” Several respondents were in awe of its high-end production values. Its coverage of Crufts is now a staple of the new-look More 4, and 2012 presents the challenge of co-producing Channel 4’s Paralympics output with IMG Sports Media.

Aviva Premiership Rugby Final

BLAST! FILMS

Blast! Films’ Channel 4 series Coppers has earned its stripes as a cut above the usual access doc: candid, often shocking, interviews with police about their work, with a keen directorial and editorial eye that plays with audience sympathies towards both sides of the law. It’s a prime example of what one producer called the “inspiring and creative programming” at the heart of Blast!. It was nowhere to be seen in 2011, but earned its place in this year’s survey with its quick turnaround of the Alexander McQueen film for C4 McQueen And I, and BBC3’s The Truth About Child Brides. For 2012, it looks like it is continuing the emergency services theme. Confessions Of A Nurse has just run on More 4 and coming up on C4 is Three Nines, which follows ambulance, police and fire crews in Blackpool.

CARNIVAL

What’s left to say about Downton Abbey? Audiences of more than 11 million and the final laugh in the Christmas ratings battle with EastEnders thanks to catch-up, more awards than the cast probably know what to do with and international sales that have helped it to nearly double its turnover. Critic’s quibbles about accuracy, anachronisms, innuendo and confusion over the passage of time aside, it re-energised Sunday

10=

night viewing for British viewers and wowed US audiences, picking up no less than four Emmy Awards. NBC Universal-owned Carnival deserves a place “for Downton Abbey alone”, declared one peer. But, of course, there are more strings to Carnival’s bow: a surprisingly robust returning ITV1 franchise in the high-concept Whitechapel and more than 4 million viewers for Page Eight, BBC2’s one-off spy drama from David Hare.

THE GARDEN

The new kid on the block has already outgrown its founders’ former home in the estimations of its peers. Hitting the ground running with the acclaimed and ambitious Channel 4 hospital ob doc series 24 Hours In A&E – a winning example of what one producer called the “well-crafted fixed documentary formats” that made their name at Dragonfly – Nick Curwin and Magnus Temple swiftly expanded their team and continued to make talkedabout TV with C4’s Seven Dwarves and BBC4 factual series Perfume. Big, bold commissions all – and next up is its first drama, BBC4’s Hotel Taliban. As one rival put it: “They’re doing it again.” 34 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 March 2012

24 Hours In A&E

Coppers

10=

HARTSWOOD FILMS

It’s rare that a producer can almost double its turnover in a year in which its only TX output is a 30-minute comedy pilot (C4’s Coma Girl). But Hartswood’s flagship series Sherlock is no ordinary show. It’s the envy of every other drama producer, with peers describing it as “genre-defying”, “wonderful” and “genius”. Series one grabbed the nation in the summer of 2010 and its return on New Year’s Day 2012 took it to the next level. Sherlock has followed Hartswood’s earlier hit Coupling in going global. BBC Worldwide’s annual review for 2010/11 put it in the top five exports after just three feature-length episodes. Hartswood had been going through a quiet period before Sherlock and the indie’s placing here reflects the industry’s warm feeling towards a company that’s playing the long game.

Sherlock www.broadcastnow.co.uk

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