It was easier in the old days – if a show was good enough, families in their millions watched it from their living rooms. But as choice, channels and platforms mushroomed, finding an audience for a programme became more complicated. The fight to be heard now requires broadcasters to break out to digital platforms, mobile devices and new audiences – who increasingly receive their recommendations from social media.
This RTS webinar examines how TV viewing has changed in lockdown, what has been working and why, and how broadcasters will sustain their resurgence in an age of streaming.
This RTS webinar investigates how consumers are responding to all this choice, what drives their choice, and investigates how both legacy TV and video brands are tackling the new world and expand their tool kits to stand out find audiences.
Moderator Boyd Hilton, Entertainment Director, Heat and Deputy Editor, Pilot TV Magazine, is joined by Selma Turajlic, Co-founder and Co-CEO, Little Dot Studios, Zaid Al-Qassab, Chief Marketing Officer, Channel 4, and Rob Campbell, Head of Strategy, R/GA EMEA.
“The biggest issue when we started gearing up to re-start production about six weeks ago was fear,” said John Whiston, who as ITV’s managing director of continuing drama is responsible for running flagship soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
He said that production staff and talent needed reassuring after being isolated at home watching news coverage of the pandemic every night for weeks.
Fran Unsworth, Director of News and Current Affairs at the BBC, joins Stewart Purvis CBE in conversation.
Another week, another huge challenge for BBC News, as it strives to navigate a path between its commitment to impartiality, the clear moral cause behind the movement, and covering the protests in all their complexity.
"Our reporting of the protests at the weekend made it quite clear that the day in London ended in some violence. What weight do you give that? It’s down to editorial judgement on the day," explained Fran Unsworth, in conversation with Stewart Purvis for the RTS.
An RTS panel predicted that in future audiences were likely to see more property programmes encouraging homeowners to improve their existing homes than series that help people to move home.
“Perhaps it’s less about how to make money from your property than actually to find a home you want to live in for in the long term,” said Kitty Walshe, co-managing director of Remarkable, the production company responsible for such shows as Your Home Made Perfect, The House that £100k Built and Restoration Home.
Bursary alumni Suzanne Pearson and Florence Watson – part of the inaugural 2014 cohort of the scheme, who both graduated in 2017 – offered tips on how to get a foot in the door of the industry at the end of May. From producing soap script bibles to advice on maintaining a work-life-balance on 18-hour shooting days, they left no stone unturned.
Sixty eight per cent of those who voted predicted that the streaming giant would continue to gain from the crisis.
Conversely, Channel 4 risked being the biggest loser.
However, there was a consensus that all UK broadcasters would survive the pandemic and that independent producers were most vulnerable as the economic downturn accelerates.
Screenwriter Sally Wainwright talks to Lucinda Hicks, COO of Endemol Shine UK, about her career so far, Gentleman Jack series two and life in lockdown.
