UK broadcasters face significant financial hurdles in producing high-end dramas as costs rise and streaming services dominate the market. The BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 are increasingly priced out of creating premium content, forcing industry leaders to accept pay cuts. The British Film Institute reported a 25% drop in spending on premium TV shows costing over £1 million per hour, the lowest since 2015. Industry veterans believe adaptation is needed to overcome the current financial strain, while others warn of a tipping point in the sustainability of the production model.
Last month, Peter Kosminsky, the director of Wolf Hall, said he, its star Mark Rylance, and others all had to accept a significant reduction to their pay to get a second series of the acclaimed BBC drama made because no streamer would agree to co-fund it.
The financial challenges facing the UK's domestic broadcasters were laid bare...when figures from the British Film Institute revealed that the amount they spent on premium TV shows costing at least 1m an hour to make plunged last year by a quarter to the lowest level since 2015.
Lindsay Salt, the BBC's director of drama, said late last year that there were multiple shows it wanted to make but could not afford. We need co-production at the BBC, she said. We can't afford to fully fund shows.
Jane Featherstone, a co-founder of Sister, has said the industry is at a tipping point and that the sustainability of the high-end TV production model for UK broadcasters is now in question.
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