In the news this week:
Ofcom - From Light Touch To Happy Slapper?
This time last year, media analysts were complaining that industry regulator Ofcom was so light touch as to be virtually non-existent. But they surely couldn't say the same now. In the space of just a few weeks, Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards has managed to ruffle the feathers of just about every member of the UK broadcasting hierarchy.
First off, he mooted a Channel 4 merger. Next, he lent his weight to the idea of licence fee top-slicing. Now he has taken on the biggest issue of them all; the idea that BSkyB should share some of its premium content to prevent it having such a dominant position in the PayTV market.
Outlining Ofcom's position, Richards says Sky's dominant position "has a consequence for consumers in relation to choice and innovation”. He wants to limit the company's power by getting it to offer Premier League football and Hollywood movies to third parties at a reduced fee.
Sky, not surprisingly, is furious - with CEO Jeremy Darroch saying Ofcom has overstepped the mark. Calling the regulator's intervention "an unprecedented level of interference", he argued that "forcing Sky to sell its channels for less than their value is a subsidy for companies that have shown no appetite for investment in programmes. BT and Virgin Media do not deserve to be handed a reward at Sky's expense for their repeated failure to invest. It defies belief that Ofcom expects Sky to lower its wholesale prices to compensate for higher costs at less efficient platforms."
Sky's rivals have complained long and hard about its market dominance. But Sky has always countered by saying that its revenues are commensurate with the level of risk it has taken over the last 20 years. It says Ofcom's intervention is akin to 1970s-style industrial planning and warns that it will challenge Ofcom legally if proposed changes are imposed.
posted 3rd July, 2009
London Showcases Best Of New British Film
It's been a busy week for the British film business - with international movie buyers in town for the The London UK Film Focus, (June 29-July 2). All told, around 100 buyers made the trek to London - shrugging off the gloom of the recession to see what emerging British talent has to offer.
Hosted by the BFI, Film Focus is a four day event which is backed by Film London, the UK Film Council, the BFI, Film Export UK, UK Trade & Investment and the London Development Agency. Its purpose is to showcase both upcoming feature film releases and talent on the up.
This year's edition (the 6th) kicked off with a premiere of Nick Love’s soccer hooligan drama The Firm. Also in the line up was a premiere of Julian Fellowes’ latest project From Time To Time. The latter, which stars starring Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall and Dominic West, tells the story of 13 year-old Tolly - who unlocks a deeply-buried family secret when he discovers he can travel through time.
Film Focus isn't just about completed projects. Also on show were rushes from films currently in production. Among these, the pick of the bunch is Nick Moran's The Kid - a book adaptation which stars hot property Rupert Friend. The Kid tells the story of Kevin Lewis - who ended up in the criminal underworld after a tough London upbringing. Overcoming poverty, abuse and neglect, he ended up publishing a best-selling book in 2003. Ioan Gruffudd and Natascha McElhone star alongside Friend.
posted 3rd July, 2009
Obama and Tribal DDB Scoop Cannes Lions Awards
Not content with winning the US presidency, Barak Obama also emerged victorious at last week's Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Advertising/marcoms work for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign picked up both the Titanium Grand Prix and Integrated Grand Prix.
To win the Titanium award, a campaign must involve a breakthrough idea that is "provocative, challenges assumptions and points to a new direction". As for the integrated award, campaigns need to employ three or more media in a way that is "high standard and state-of-the-art".
Meanwhile, the other big prize - in the Film category - went to Tribal DDB Amsterdam for the Philips Interactive Film Carousel. Created by Tribal DDB and Stink Digital, Carousel is an interactive campaign which promotes Philips’ latest entrant into the television market, the CINEMA 21:9. The creative shows a frozen moment amid an epic cops and robbers shootout sequence that included clowns, explosions, a decimated hospital and much more.
Other award winners included DDB BRASIL (advertising agency of the year) and BBDO (network of the year). The Palme d’Or, given to the best production company, was awarded to PHENOMENA, Thailand. A special jury commendation was given to Believe Media in Los Angeles for its Wassup '08 "True Vote" ad. The advertiser of the year trophy was presented to Volkswagen for "continued inspiring and innovative marketing". Hartmut Seeger, international advertising director accepted the award.
Note: Cannes Lions is the largest gathering of worldwide advertising professionals and advertisers. More than 6,000 registered delegates from 94 countries attend this event to celebrate the best of creativity across all media mix, discuss industry issues and network with one another. Over 26,500 ads from all over the world are showcased and judged.
posted 3rd July, 2009
Endemol Clinches Deal With Manchester City
Endemol, best-known as producer of hit entertainment shows such as Big Brother and Deal or No Deal, has clinched a content creation deal with Manchester City.
The indie’s recently-launched sport division has been appointed to produce match day coverage, international coverage, sports entertainment programming and content blocks and web video for the team. The deal also includes newsletters and magazines, plus international syndication.
Endemol Sport, headed by former IMG executives Lawrence Duffy and Gregg Oldfield, was launched in January. Commenting on the company's appointment, Manchester City brand and marketing officer David Pullan said Endemol Sport would bring “a creative and innovative approach. Their presence in international markets and leadership in digital and social media places them in a strong position to help build the City brand and fan base.”
posted 3rd July, 2009
ABC1 Audience Deserts ITV1. Great Drama Needed.
That ITV1's ratings are in decline is no great surprise - since this is the inevitable upshot of digital fragmentation. But one of the most worrying aspects of its current performance is the lack of upmarket viewers it attracts.
While overall share of audience is 16%, ITV1's share of ABC1s was down to a dismal 13.6% last week. That won't go down well with the media buying agencies which expect affluent audiences as part of the overall channel profile.
ITV's strategy seems to be built around a) heavy investment in ITV1 weekend entertainment blockbusters like Britain's Got Talent and b) migrating upmarket viewers to digital channels ITV3 and ITV4. But this approach fails to take account of the creative interplay between up-market and mass-market audiences. Often it is shows which start out looking edgy or elitist that end up as mass-market hits. How different would ITV1 seem if it had something like The Office or The Apprentice in its weekday line-up?
ITV1's best chance of getting upmarket audiences back is through a combination of live Champion's League soccer and drama. However the problem with the latter is that it is vulnerable to time-shifting. Nevertheless, market analysts will watch ITV1's autumn ratings with great interest. Autumn is usually when ITV1 puts forward its strongest drama line-up. If this fails to reverse the slump in upmarket viewing share, ITV can expect flak from advertisers.
In a separate development, Greenlit Rights is taking on Twofour’s drama slate in a deal which sees Twofour’s head of drama, Jo Wright, moving across to Greenlit Rights as executive producer. Wright will continue to develop a slate of projects in association with Twofour. These include The Return of the Famous Five (working title), a mystery series about Enid Blyton’s Famous Five who come back together as adults to solve a murder. Others include a contemporary crime serial and a project about women in the modern RAF. In her new role, Wright will manage her existing slate in addition to developing ideas. She will work closely with Greenlit MD Jill Green to help grow the overall business.
posted 3rd July, 2009
Virgin 1 Commissions Doco From Shine North
Virgin 1 has commissioned a 60-minute documentary about a Newcastle-based ad agency where everyone works in the nude or in underwear. The show, produced by Shine North, is called The Naked Office. It looks at whether disrobing can improve communication and break down hierarchies.
Virgin Media TV head of commissions Mark Sammon may take the show to a series - though hasn't decided yet whether to strip it (ed: joke!). He is looking for 3-4 other similar series to air later this year (circa £110k per hour).
posted 3rd July, 2009
British Pathé Goes Solo, Does Deal With JCA
A few months ago, the famous British Pathé film archive was sold by The Daily Mail & General Trust to a group of private equity interests. It was then set up as an independent company. Now, the new owners of the British Pathé archive have signed a long term contract with digital media services group JCA. Under the terms of the deal, JCA will store all of British Pathé's physical and digital archive content.
The transfer signals the end of a long-standing relationship between British Pathé and ITN - which used to distributed the 3500 hour archive (90,000 stories dating back to 1897). Now, if you want to use the archive you need to contact the company's London HQ on 0207 665 8340 or info@britishpathe.com. Explaining the rationale for going it alone, British Pathé chief executive Alastair White said: “We see this as a major development in re-establishing the unique and individual identity of British Pathé. Every one of the new team is experienced in the footage licensing business and is passionate about British Pathé. We are looking forward to working with one of the world’s most influential archives and managing a seamless transition.”
In a separate archive story, Associated Press has unearthed a "treasure trove" of historical footage which it says provides new perspectives on events from the 1960s and 1970s. AP's library subsidiary, AP Archive, is making the footage available in high definition. “The range and quality of what we’re finding in this lost archive is breathtaking,” said AP’s director of international archives, Alwyn Lindsey. “For filmmakers, the archive is a treasure chest of fresh footage that’s readily available in HD. No longer do they have to rely on the same shots that may have been used by other producers dozens, or even hundreds, of times before.”
According to AP Archive, 20,000 film cans containing 3,500 hours of footage have been lying dormant for decades in the London bunker from which Dwight Eisenhower directed the D-Day landings. The content includes colour footage of key political figures from the era including a young Yasser Arafat, Libya’s Colonel Gadhafi immediately after taking power, Richard Nixon with Nicolae Ceausescu, Fidel Castro meeting Latin American and Eastern European leaders, and a young Saddam Hussein in Paris. Jane Fonda’s controversial visit to North Vietnam is also included.
posted 3rd July, 2009
Special Feature: The Quay To Britain's Digital Future? - A Profile of Salford's MediaCityUK
If Dubai or Singapore said they were building a state-of-the-art media city, you just know it would be presented as evidence of Asia's enterprising and innovative spirit.
So perhaps it's time we started talking up the £500 million media complex which is currently taking shape at our very own Salford Quays in Manchester. Due to go live in 2011, MediaCityUK promises to revolutionise the way film and television are produced in this country.
Until now, the project's scale of ambition has been overshadowed by the fact that the BBC is moving 2500 of its workforce there. So instead of focusing on the strategic vision for the overall site, there has been an ongoing debate about which London-based staff will move North and what incentive packages they will get.
But the reality is that there's much more to MediaCityUk than the BBC. "The BBC is an anchor tenant and very important to us," says MediaCityUK chairman Bryan Gray. "But this is much more than a BBC relocation story. It's about the creation of the largest purpose-built media community in Europe. Our goal is to create a unique working environment where creative people can concentrate on being creative while we take care of non-core activities such as technology and infrastructure."
"We" is Peel Group - the £7 billion property development giant which is building MediaCityUK through a dedicated division called Peel Media. Despite the fact that much of Europe is paralysed by the recession, Peel seems to be carving its way through choppy economic waters with sublime ease: "Currently we have 2000 construction workers on site," says Gray, "pushing the project forward everyday. It's actually pretty hard to comprehend until you've seen it yourself."
Still, for those who haven't yet managed to make it beyond the M25, Gray does a pretty good job of painting a picture: "Eventually, MediaCityUK will be a 200-acre site which is expected to create 15,000 jobs," he explains. "But for now we are focusing on phase one - which is 36 acres of production offices, studios, retail sites, hotels, entertainment venues, leisure outlets, apartments, a public area, a piazza and a tram link into Manchester."
This list of elements may sound like a shopping list. But it is actually pretty important when it comes to understanding Peel's vision for MediaCityUK: "We are not building an industrial park," says Gray. "We are building a media city where people can live and work."
To this end, it is located in a part of the city where large volumes of people already visit, says Gray. "It's close to The Lowry Gallery and the Imperial War Museum North - which means it is not at all isolated." Likewise, the transport link into Manchester means there will be a living connection between Salford Quays and the city: "We want members of the public to have free access to as many areas as possible. The studio block will have an open centre where visitors can have direct experience of radio and TV productions taking place. This centre will have an all-weather space for audiences invited to shows, with facilities such as cafes and information points."
In terms of the BBC's presence on site, its 2500 staff will occupy three mixed-use buildings by 2011 (office space, production facilities and a studio block). These will house BBC Sport, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Future Media and Technology, BBC Children’s (including CBeebies and CBBC channels), BBC Formal Learning and the BBC staff currently based at Oxford Road in Manchester.
This will inevitably be a focal point of activity, says Gray. However companies without BBC links are more than welcome to come onboard, says Gray: "Our message is that this site is open to any business in the digital or media space. Whether you're in film, TV, commercials, new media, UK-based or international, there's room."
Also important to the mix is education: "Our second anchor tenant is the University of Salford," says Gray. "It is creating a higher education centre which will open in time for autumn 2011. This will include a broadcast zone, digital media zone, virtual laboratory, digital performance space and spaces for use in academic teaching, project-based learning and user-centred design and innovation. The beauty of all this is that we can create real linkages between education and employers - proving our industries with the young talent they need."
So much for the bigger vision. What will the site consist of in terms of industry-specific infrastructure? "Well the big news this month is that we have signed up Ascent Media Group as our third anchor tenant to provide a range of services from the operation of our state-of-the-art HD studio complex to global media distribution. Ascent already serves film studios, independent producers, game developers, ad agencies and other content producers - so their reputation precedes them.”
In terms of its studio offering, MediaCityUK is already active thanks to The Pie Factory, an onsite JV with Andy Sumner of well-established Manchester-based post-production company Sumner’s. In recent times, The Pie Factory has been home to productions such as Sunshine, The Royle Family Christmas Special, The Street and Drop Dead Gorgeous - not to mention commercial and photoshoots for the likes of Nike, Disney, Iceland, Magnet Kitchens, Aldi and Chicago Town Pizza. At the same time, the studio is home to tenants such as Lemon Casting, Purple Crew, Visual Impact and Just Shoots.
In due course, says Gray, The Pie Factory will be replaced by one of the largest HD studios in Europe (12,500 sq ft). This will be a state-of-the-art complex comprising seven HD TV studios and two audio studios (one dedicated to the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra).
There will also be a technical block including sound and vision control rooms, post facilities, CTA, dressing rooms, make-up, workshops, set storage and green rooms. However Gray is keen to stress that no-one is compelled to use the Peel Media facilities: "Our vision is to bring together connected organisations in one place, buying and selling each other’s services. But this entire concept is also about delivering flexibility. Companies on site can use their own services if they want to. Equally, companies off-site can take advantage of what we offer. Whether you're based in Newcastle, York or Burnley, we believe MediaCityUK could play a role in the way you connect with companies in other parts of the world."
The scheduled opening in 2011 is not far away now. So are there any signs that organisations outside the anchor tenants are getting interested? "Well the success of The Pie Factory is encouraging," says Gray. "But the truth is we haven't been doing a hard sell - because we want companies to discover MediaCityUK for themselves then decide if it is right for their business. That said, a number of serious players are desperately keen to come."
One clear positive for MediaCityUK is the wealth of support it gets from the North West region. At a political level, the site is supported by the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company and Salford City Council. In addition, a deal has just been done which will see North West Vision and Media move HQ from Oxford Road.
It's also important to keep in mind that the North West is already a hive of creative activity. Commercial broadcaster ITV looks to be on the verge of making Salford Quays its HQ in the North - though this has it to be confirmed. Even if it didn't join in, Peel's own figures suggest that employment in the digital and creative industries in the region stands at around 320,000 across 31,000 businesses. Once the site is complete, it expects to deliver £200 million in additional net value each year.
But what about commercial organisations from other parts of the UK? For instance, does Gray expect companies to relocate from London? "I think we could offer them a cost-effective alternative," he says. "But I don't see companies relocating entirely. Instead, I'd expect some of them to open up a new outlet. There are certainly many who regard it as important to be here."
And even for companies which decide that MediaCityUK doesn't have anything to offer them commercially, it might still be worth making that trip to Salford. After all (with due respect to Pinewood's expansion plans), the UK is not likely to see such an ambitious media construction project occur again for quite a few years.
posted 26th June, 2009