Broadcast
Tax
subsidies, a new challenger to Sky, further foreign scoops for UK
indies and the disintermediation of broadcasters energised the market
in 2012. Adrian Pennington examines the top five deals.
Drama
producers are licking their lips, and animation houses still sighing
with relief, after months of lobbying for tax breaks paid off in
April. Modelled on the existing cash rebate of up to 25% for fi lm
productions, from next April, producers of drama with budgets of £1m
an hour or more will qualify for a new scheme estimated to bring in
at least £350m and to boost the wider creative economy to the tune
of £1bn.
The
incentive is expected to lead to more US producers, such as HBO,
Starz and Showtime, producing TV drama in the UK, and productions on
the scale of Merlin, Strike Back and Parade’s Endbeing shot
domestically rather than in tax-advantageous locales like Hungary,
South Africa and Belgium.
Animation
producers have suffered as investment has been syphoned off to Canada
or Ireland for years, but what seems to have swayed chancellor George
Osborne was the prospect of losing the nation’s favourite –
Aardman – overseas. “We want to keep Wallace & Gromit exactly
where they are,” he said when unveiling the tax regime.
Former
Aardman head of broadcast and development Miles Bullough says the tax
credit will be “transformational”.
“We
have seen a decline on British TV of home-produced animation and we
now have a shot at reversing that trend,” he says.
SONY
BUYS LEFT BANK
Sony
Pictures Television (SPT) continued to build up its UK portfolio
under president of international production Andrea Wong. In February,
it added Silver River Productions for an undisclosed sum, to sit with
existing majority stakes in Gogglebox Entertainment and Victory
Television. Then in August, it sealed the £40m takeover of Left Bank
Pictures.
SPT
plans to turn the Mad Dogs producer into a global scripted
powerhouse, sending chief executives Andy Harries and Marigo Kehoe to
the US to discuss opportunities with the studio’s key creatives,
such as The Shield creator Shawn Ryan.
With
assistance from its new parent, Left Bank also dipped its toes into
3D for the first time, making a Little Crackers short for Sky.
Original long-form 3D drama is now a possibility with Sony’s
financial clout and vested interest in the format.
Not
that the US studio has finished its buying spree. Having lured Wayne
Garvie from All3Media in June to head up international production as
chief creative officer, Wong told Broadcast: “We continue to be
acquisitive and want to round out our portfolio of companies. We look
for strong entrepreneurial creative leadership.”
BT
SPENDS £1BN ON SPORT
The
ramifications of BT Vision’s dramatic entry into the top tier of
live football last June will reach far beyond next season.
Subscribers will be offered 38 live Premier League matches from
2013-16, including almost half the games between top sides such as
Manchester United and Chelsea, as part of a three-year deal worth
£738m.
Aside
from knocking out ESPN’s domestic soccer interest, BT has pockets
deep enough (revenues £19bn, profits £2bn) to mount the first
serious challenge to Sky’s sport supremacy since it won its first
Premier League rights deal in 1992. From studio and production
facilities at the Olympic Park media centre, at least two dedicated
channels will present coverage of the Premier League, alongside top
football leagues in Italy, France, Brazil and the US.
Premiership
Rugby, including a flagship successor to the Heineken Cup (pending
the agreement of the clubs), is the fruit of a £152m four-pact that
brought BT’s total 2012 rights deals to £1bn. It will distribute
Eurosport channels covering tennis, cycling and snooker.
IMG
Worldwide and Sunset + Vine are understood to be on the final
shortlist for the Premier League production contract, worth up to
£130m.
BT
chief executive Marc Watson aims to boost the pay-TV platform’s
existing 750,000-strong customer base and has spoken of his desire to
maximise the benefi ts of BT’s “super fast” broadband pipes,
hinting at greater interactivity. But Ultra-HD shouldn’t be ruled
out either.
INDIES
EMBRACE YOUTUBE
UK
producers hailed YouTube’s investment in original content as a new
era for content creators. Having invited pitches for a slice of a
£10m pot at the beginning of the year, the Google-owned
video-sharing platform unveiled 60 niche European channels in
October, a third of them owned and controlled by UK indies.
Among
those receiving up to £600,000 for year one development are BBC
Worldwide, Hat Trick, Liberty Bell, ITN Productions, Bullseye and
All3Media. All3M commercial director Andy Taylor says: “It’s
changing how we operate. By owning a channel, we don’t just get a
fee from broadcasters – we can generate value from what’s being
created.”
The
winners face challenges around marketing, scheduling and audience
enjoyment, with some, like Bullseye, teaming up with digital
specialists – in its case, Diagonal View. The prospect of extending
the reach of their content in the living room on the ever-widening
base of connected TVs has energised indies.
YouTube
intends to recoup advance funding via ad revenues, although global
head of content Robert Kyncl has hinted that subscription models are
under consideration.
SKY
IN PLATFORM PUSH
Sky’s
two strategic tech investments this year prepare it for a world where
technology and media firms increasingly compete, and points to the
future of delivering pay-TV online.
In
January, the broadcaster took a 10% equity stake in Zeebox, the
second-screen experience and synchronised ad inventory devised by BBC
iPlayer developer Anthony Rose. Worth £10m, the funding helped
Zeebox roll out in Australia and the US – backed by Comcast and NBC
Universal – while Sky integrated Zeebox’s social media
functionality into Sky+ and Sky Go apps. The platform will enable Sky
to run ads simultaneously on TV and on the companion app, and to
introduce e-commerce.
In
July, Sky and News Corp were among investors injecting $45m (£28.8m)
into Roku, maker of products for streaming video to TV sets. For
£6.5m, Sky got its Now TV streaming video service, including
pay-as-you-go movies, available on Roku boxes in the UK, to help
counter competition.
The
move also sparked suggestions that Sky could use Roku, on which News
Corp already has apps including Fox News and X Factor, as a foothold
for distribution in the US market.
A
YEAR IN DEALS
March
Talent
agency James Grant Group acquires Ant and Dec production outfit
Gallowgate Holdings for an undisclosed sum, following the death in
late 2011 of former MD Ed Forsdick
April
Shed
Media Group takes a majority stake in Renegade Pictures for a
reported £5m. Properties such as BBC3’s Don’t Tell The Bride are
now distributed by Shed-owner Warner Bros
May
ProSiebenSat.1-owned
Red Arrow Entertainment Group buys Nerd TV from Charlie Parsons
Creative following the earlier buyout of CPL Productions. In August,
Red Arrow splashes out £57.6m on US indie Left/Right, bringing the
total number of production brands under its wing to 17
July
BSkyB
buys Parthenon Media Group for £16m, renaming it Sky Vision, to
support international distribution of its original commissions, into
which it will pump £600m a year by 2014
November
Investment
company The Chernin Group takes a 25% stake in online video provider
Base79 for more than £6m
Tinopolis
buys Big Fat Gypsy Weddings producer Firecracker Films for an
estimated £25m
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