Reed Hastings, CEO of online entertainment service Netflix, has confirmed the company will invest in local content when it enters the French market in September. Speaking on Netflix’s Q2 earnings call, Hastings said the company was not seeking to dodge any obligations to fund local productions or pay relevant taxes. “We’re not really trying to […]
The highly-anticipated live broadcast from the O2 of the final ever performance of the Monty Python Live (mostly): One Down Five to Go stage show, proved a ratings smash-hit for UKTV channel Gold on July 20th with over 700,000 individuals tuning in, making it the highest ever rating commission for Gold (live viewing), and staying […]
BSkyB has made another significant investment in UK content with the acquisition of a 70 per cent stake in Love Productions, one of the UK’s leading independent production companies. The investment forms part of Sky’s strategy to grow a broad, international content business spanning broadcasting, production and distribution. Love Productions is a UK-based independent production […]
Miranda Hart and David Walliams, two of Britain’s best known comedic talents, have teamed up with renowned TV producer Jo Sargent to form King Bert Productions and develop new mainstream comedy and comedy entertainment content for broadcasters, whilst also looking to foster new talent for the genre. BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, […]
Microsoft has confirmed it is shutting down its Xbox Entertainment Studios – the company responsible for making original content for its Xbox Live subscribers. The planned Halo TV series will, however, remain unaffected. The news follows the announcement that Microsoft is to cut 18,000 jobs over the next six months, marking the biggest cutbacks in […]
The UK’s independent television production sector is now worth more than £3billion to the British economy – quadruple the sector’s value only nine years ago. An annual report published by Pact, the indie sector’s trade association, shows how the sector has grown year-on-year. International earnings grew by 12 per cent to £939million in 2013. This […]
RTL has called it a day on its production joint-venture with India’s Reliance Broadcast Networks. The end result of the joint-venture was the Big RTL Thrill dubbed channel, and in which Reliance bought out total control in April this year. RTL has now seemingly exited the India market. Reliance is currently seeking a variation in […]
Europe’s economic pressures have badly affected TV production in countries like France, Spain and Italy. A recent report from IHS Technology which specifically focused on France, says that the country’s ad market, already extremely fragile and having been in decline now for three years, is set to contract another 1 per cent this year and […]
The UK’s Creative Industries have come together in their largest-ever collaboration, and successfully levered public investment to match their own contribution to support skills and talent development and ensure their continuous growth and global competitiveness. This investment is the successful result of a bid to the second round of the Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP2), which […]
Speaking at the ‘Future of the Licence Fee’ seminar at City University in London, Tony Hall, Director-General of the BBC, has outlined plans for the Corporation to adopt a mantra of ‘compete or compare’, including raising the possibility of major changes to BBC in-house production. He also announced a desire to extend competition where it […]