The Stage

Bectu calls for ITV to invest £135m saving into drama

Published Tuesday 12 July 2005 at 14:05 by Liz Thomas

ITV should invest the £135 million saving in licences agreed by regulator Ofcom in high quality drama to win back flagging audiences, according to Bectu.

The union’s call for extra cash to be used to develop original programming follows the recent announcement by the industry watchdog that the annual cost of the network’s 12 licences to broadcast will be slashed from £215 million to £80 million this year. The figure will continue to fall in the run up to analogue switch-off in 2012. By then, ITV will be paying only £4 million.

A spokesman for Bectu said the windfall should be spent on distinctive, original productions in order to halt the continuing slump in viewing figures. He added: “Audiences can be won back by replacing unpopular cheap reality shows with the high quality dramas that characterised the channel’s output until a few years ago.”

Last month ITV1’s share of viewing fell to a record low of just 19%, a figure the broadcaster blames on the increasing prevalence of digital television. Almost 60% of UK households now have access to digital channels but the network has also come under fire for the quality of its programming in recent months.

The high-profile failure of series such as Celebrity Wrestling and Fat Families raised concerns about ITV’s over-reliance on reality shows and celebrity involvement in its productions

Chief executive Charles Allen has promised the savings will allow a greater commitment to new programmes with as much as an extra £1 billion set aside for the development of both its digital and analogue channels.