UK broadcasters BBC, BT Sport, Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV, Sky and UKTV will no longer accept the delivery of programmes on videotape as of October 1, 2017, the DPP has announced.
The move represents the end of the use of videotape in UK programme making and the universal adoption of the DPP’s common file delivery specification AS-11 DPP.
“The introduction two years ago of standardised file delivery has been a huge success,” says DPP Managing Director Mark Harrison. “And today’s announcement completes that journey by clarifying there will now only be one UK delivery format: AS-11 DPP.”
Standardised file delivery began on October 1, 2014, when all UK broadcasters adopted a common specification established by the DPP, in collaboration with the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA). Since that time, over 25,000 programmes have been delivered as AS-11 DPP files.
Remaining tape delivery is typically related to programmes originally commissioned on tape, or to programmes being delivered close to transmission.
New guidance will be released to the industry in an updated version of the DPP Producers Guide to File Delivery, to be published next year.
The DPP is a Membership-based, not-for-profit company, founded by shareholders ITV, BBC and Channel 4.
