UK television production sector revenues fell by 8.4% in 2023 after a decline in domestic commissions were compounded by a sharp decrease in commissions from linear broadcasters overseas.
Publishing its annual Census PACT, which represents the UK’s independent producers, said the £3.61 billion in revenues remained above above pre-pandemic levels.
PACT points to a number of factors for the drop including smaller commissioning budgets, a downturn in the advertising market and rising UK inflation, led to a decrease of £183 million in domestic TV revenues (8.3 per cent on 2022), but remained above £2 billion at £2.02 billion.
Total UK commissioning revenues decreased by 10.2 per cent from 2022, falling to £1.78 billion, primarily due to a 35.4 per cent decline in revenues earnt from multichannel commissions.
However, international digital commissions remained stable, declining by only £12 million in 2023 to £684 million. Revenue from international digital commissions accounted for 23.5 per cent of all primary TV rights revenues, as the UK continued to attract global streaming companies as a destination for high-value productions such as The Crown and Criminal Record.
