The Stage

Thompson: US-friendly shows are future of TV drama

Published Tuesday 31 August 2010 at 14:16 by Matthew Hemley

BBC director general Mark Thompson has warned that the future of quality UK television drama will depend on producers “thinking harder” about how they fund the content they want to make.

Thompson was speaking at a question and answer session at this year’s television festival, following his delivery of the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture, during which he warned that the total pot of money available to invest in original TV production in the UK is “shrinking”.

He said that while he does not want to see producers having to spend more time on trying to gather funding than they do on creative work, there needs to be “more inventiveness about bringing money from multiple sources” if drama production is to thrive in the UK.

To protect drama, Thompson also said both independent drama companies and producers working for the BBC’s in-house production arm need to think more about making dramas that can sell around the world.

The director general claimed there has been a “growth in appetite” from cable channels in the USA for UK dramas and added that audiences in the UK are more open to seeing dramas that include both American and British actors, which in turn makes them more sellable.

He said: “UK audiences are much more comfortable now with the idea of outstanding programming which has got some quality of global casting or setting. They are much more familiar with and enjoy American drama.

“The idea that there are cultural problems with making drama that could work in the UK, but also work in the US and other markets, is much less [plausible]. We are going to have to do it if we are to go on making the volume of drama we would like to make.”

In his MacTaggart lecture Thompson warned that the pot of money available for investing in original UK content has fallen from £2.9 billion in 2004 to £2.6 billion today - a reduction of £300 million.

He said the decline in investment is happening because the broadcasters who have “traditionally been the biggest investors in original British TV” - beyond the BBC - are “fishing in a stagnant or declining pool of advertising”.

Thompson said Sky alone could close this gap and added that the broadcaster’s investment in original content “is just not enough”.

He said: “Sky is not the enemy of quality British television - it’s an important provider of it. But when it comes to investing in original British production, it’s a different picture. It’s great they are announcing a few more drama commissions. But it’s time Sky pulled its weight by investing much, much more in British talent and British content.”

In his speech, Thompson also revealed that the BBC is looking to reduce “top-talent pay a good deal further”, which he acknowledged could see the BBC losing talent as a result.

Later in the festival, he also defended the BBC’s decision not to reveal the pay of individual talent working for the BBC.

“If people think [revealing pay details] will lead to the BBC having better presenters or getting presenters at lower prices, they are very badly mistaken,” he said.