Commercial Broadcasters Association COBA has heralded a “watershed moment” in the UK production sector.
In a study released Monday, COBA reveals an investment in the creation of home-grown television programmes by multichannel broadcasters has hit £1.1 billion a year, topping the £1 billion mark for the first time. The organisation says it underscores how newer channels are investing in domestic production as well as the traditional Public Service Broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five).
The study from Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates shows how financing into the UK production sector is coming not only from household names, but from specialist channels further down the EPG.
COBA’s newly appointed chair Heather Jones said: “This report signals the coming of age of the multichannel TV industry. It is not just about the record levels of spend; it is also about creative competition and plurality, giving opportunities to a greater array of voices than ever before. Along with the thriving UK production sector, the biggest beneficiaries are UK viewers – who now have an even better and broader choice of excellent British TV shows to watch than ever before.”
The majority of investment, £965 million during 2017, is on new so-called “first-run” UK content.
Investment in UK content by multichannel broadcasters has grown by 75% on 2011, yielding an increase in annual investment by multichannel broadcasters of £416 million. Investment in UK content by multichannel broadcasters has grown significantly faster than that of Public Service Broadcasters.
