In the news this week:
Channel 4 Headlines Comedy And Drama This Autumn
Julian Bellamy, acting chief creative officer at Channel 4, has said that his network is poised to enter a period of "creativity and innovation." With C4's last ever series of Big Brother coming to a close, the channel said it would now be investing more heavily in comedy and drama.
Unveiling C4's autumn schedule, Bellamy picked out shows from comedians Morgana Robinson and Frankie Boyle as highlights. Impressionist Robinson makes her debut on C4 while Scottish stand-up Boyle, best known for his involvement in panel show Mock the Week, has also been handed a six-part sketch/stand-up series Tramadol Nights. Returning are comic hits Peep Show and The Inbetweeners.
In terms of drama, the big news is a four-part drama from This is England's iconic director Shane Meadows which picks up a few years down the line from the movie's story. Other dramas include an adaptation of William Boyd's novel Any Human Heart. There's also a new C4 fly-on-the-wall reality series called Seven Days In Notting Hill.
posted 31st August, 2010
BBC Chief Uses Edinburgh Speech To Challenge Sky
This time last year, Sky Chairman James Murdoch attacked the chilling power of the BBC in his MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. This year, it was the turn of BBC Director-General Mark Thompson - who responded with his own attack on Sky's market size.
Rejecting Murdoch's thesis, Thompson argued that Sky threatens to dwarf the BBC and its competitors. "A year ago, James Murdoch fretted aloud about the lamentable dominance of the BBC," he said. "He was able to do that only by leaving out Sky (which is) on its way to being the most dominant force in broadcast media in this country. If News Corporation's proposal to acquire all of the remaining share in Sky goes through, Sky will not just be Britain's biggest broadcaster, but a full part of a company which is also dominant in national newspapers." That, he concluded, would be "a concentration of cross-media ownership that would not be allowed in the United States or Australia".
In light of Sky's dominance, Thompson argued that the company should spend more of its subscription revenues on British programming. He also argued that Sky should be forced to pay ITV, Channel 4 and Five a fee for carrying their channels - something he called a "retransmission" charge. This money, he said, could be invested in original UK shows, counteracting the UK's ad revenue slump.
Thompson is not simply facing competition from Sky. He also has to deal with a new government which is determined to clip the corporation's wings. Also in Edinburgh this week was culture secretary Jeremy Hunt - who used an interview to say that cuts in the corporation's licence fee are still on the cards. Pointing to the fact that government departments are making deep cuts, he said "the BBC has to live on the same planet as everyone else."
Hunt says he is in favour of a strong BBC. But echoing Sky's concerns, he also stressed that he wanted the BBC to show a clearer understanding of its competitors' needs and put "red lines around its activities… we need, the BBC needs, competitors in the market to deliver high-quality content and TV. We need to know competitors will not be put out of business by a wall of licence fee money."
posted 31st August, 2010
Deloitte Unveils Pros And Cons Of Spot Ad Model
TV was the most memorable type of advertising in 2010 and had the greatest impact according to a report by Deloitte on behalf of the Edinburgh TV Festival.
James Bates, media partner said: "The UK’s appreciation of television advertising appears to remain robust. It is regarded as a top three advertising format by 56% of respondents, compared to 64% in 2009. Television was way ahead of newspapers (30%) and magazines (17%). Banner adverts polled poorly in both years (4%) and a new option for 2010, online video adverts, also underwhelmed (3%)."
When respondents were asked to think of the advertising campaign they considered to be most memorable in 2010, 52% ranked television highest followed by 10% for newspapers. Just over a third (36%) said they were most likely to pay attention to a traditional, 30 second ad, compared to 1% for a video ad before an online video clip.
James added: "Questions over the relevance of the traditional TV advert have been raised for years, yet when asked about their most favoured video format, respondents voted for the 30 second commercial. What TV does best – display and brand building - is what online struggles with."
Having said all this, Bates did highlight a couple of concerns. One is measurability. "While television generates billions of commercial impacts every day, it is hard to measure precisely how many of these are viewed."
There's also growing concern over the impact of PVRs. "Of viewers watching pre-recorded television via their PVR, 86% reported that they always fast forward through the adverts. Shorter advertising breaks (48%), more memorable ads (32%), and shorter ads (17%) were the top reasons that would encourage viewers to watch all the ads in a break. Less popular were ad breaks that focused on one theme."
posted 31st August, 2010
With a number of films in the pipeline for Pinewood, and 3D helping boost the business's facilities arm, chief executive Ivan Dunleavy says he expects overall revenues for the year to show "strong growth ahead of market expectations."
Concern over falling profits had previously led to calls for chairman Michael Grade to resign. Investment fund Crystal Amber, which owns 27% of the company, called for Grade to step down after profits fell to £1.53m for the six months to June, down from £1.66m a year ago.
However, Pinewood says some companies have delayed filming, which means revenues should pick up in the second half of 2010.
In recent weeks, Pinewood has made much play of its versatility. While best known for franchises like Harry Potter, it points out that Stephen Frears' Tamara Drewe was partly shot at Pinewood. Also going through Pinewood recently was horror film Basement, the first feature film from Paperknife Ltd - a tenant company at Pinewood.
Paul Baker, sales director at Pinewood Studios, said that such films show the range of Pinewood's offering: "Pinewood has been extremely successful in attracting large US productions to its studios and we are proud to be associated with films such as Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Martin Scorsese's Hugo Cabret which are both currently filming with us. However, we also have a strong heritage of supporting and working with home grown talent. We work with films of all sizes and budgets and it is this flexibility that has, in part, led to our success."
posted 31st August, 2010
Amsterdam Gets Ready For IBC Invasion
In just a week's time, Amsterdam will again play host to IBC, one of the key dates in the calendar for the global electronic media industry. With around 45,000 people due to attend, IBC has already said that demand is so strong this year that is has had to open up new exhibition space - an upbeat message which will be welcomed by the industry.
In terms of IBC's conference programme which runs alongside the trading and exhibition activity, there's a big emphasis on sport this year - a recognition of the number of major events which have happened in 2010 and the pivotal role they play in the advance of production technology.
The big event for European audiences was The FIFA World Cup from South Africa. But no less significant from a global perspective was the Winter Olympics in Vancouver - which attracted a huge audience in North America. With that in mind, it's fitting that there should be a special sport day at IBC2010 (with four sessions on Saturday, Sept. 11.
As part of the programme, Manolo Romero, managing director of Olympic Broadcast Services, will give a keynote speech and show clips of great Olympic moments. Following his presentation Roger Mosey, who is in charge of the BBC’s plans for the 2012 games in London, will talk about the innovations he is planning for interactive, multi-platform coverage. Subsequently, Peter Angell - director of production and programming for Host Broadcast Services - will talk about his experiences of shooting and delivering stereo 3D at The 2010 World Cup - while a follow-up panel will look at the commercial prospects for 3D sports.
Commenting on the programme, Michael Lumley, chair of the IBC2010 conference committee, said: "Television and live sport were made for each other, and the need to engage audiences has driven many of the technical innovations in our industry. We must give sport the weight it deserves."
posted 31st August, 2010
McGill Quits EIFF Artistic Director Role
Hannah McGill is quitting her role as artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival in order to pursue other creative challenges. She took up the role in 2006 and oversaw her first festival in 2007. Along the way, she moved the EIFF from August to June and pushed for it to be a platform for new, independent British film-making talent.
Commenting on her departure she said: "I love EIFF and have been privileged to be a part of it. I'm very proud of what the team achieved during my time as artistic director, and I take away a great many happy memories."
posted 31st August, 2010
YouTube UK Launches Free Movie Downloads
In the latest attempt by YouTube to turn itself into a mainstream media player, the company has announced a new UK-based movie service that will be free to users.
Based around deals with Sony Pictures and Blinkbox, YouTube will make around 400 titles available for free and on-demand via www.youtube.com/movies. Titles on offer include films like Night of the Living Dead, Clan Of The Cave Bear, Hotel New Hampshire and Bollywood titles.
Explaining the rationale, YouTube head of video partnerships Donagh O'Malley said: "This is one of many efforts to ensure people can find all the different kinds of video they want to see, from citizen journalism reports to full-length films and TV shows. We hope film lovers enjoy the titles in this library, whether catching up on a mainstream hit or delving into the archive of classic films."
The deal with Blinkbox is interesting - since Blinkbox usually charges for the rental of movies on its site. The rationale seems to be about reaching new audiences - though there is also an ad revenue share component. "YouTube's audience is immense and this tie-up allows us to reach film fans and potential users outside of our usual audience," said Blinkbox chief executive Michael Comish.
posted 31st August, 2010