The View from Inside.

The State We’re In.

What do the following amazing shows have in common? The Mormons are Coming, Mysteries of the Pyramids with Dara Ó Briain, The Secret Life of 4- and 5-Year Old’s and Dickinson’s Real Deal?

No, it’s not that they all offer to reveal the truth behind some of the world’s weirdest people, it’s that they all come from production companies who have closed their doors in the last year.

TV is broken. At least that is the view from the ground. Scores of good people who have made their living from years of entertaining, interesting, and making you laugh are looking at a medium that not only gave them their livelihood but also their very identity and jumping very quickly out of the burning building.

You might think that’s hyperbole, but in a recent survey conducted by Bectu (the Union for people who work in film, TV, and broadcasting), they found that 50% of TV freelancers were currently out of work. TV is more or less entirely run by freelancers, so that is a hell of a lot of the workforce.

Unsurprisingly enough, that was followed hot on the heels by the “Looking Glass” survey, conducted by The Film and TV Charity (an oasis of calm and help in a desert of indifference) which found that 35% of respondents described their mental health as poor, and a correlation between joblessness and poor mental health. And the Cherry on the top of this particular s**t Sundae – 64% have considered leaving the industry over the last 12 months.

I’m a freelancer, like most factual TV drones, and I am of a decent experience, having worked on programmes in several genres across most of the major channels. (Except ITV. For some reason, who have proven resistant to my charms!) And I will have worked for only 5 months when the financial year ends in April. And I’m one of the lucky ones. It’s not sustainable, and it’s hard not to feel like the industry that I have given half my life to, is rapidly sinking.

So, what has happened? Why are the creatives leaving the TV industry in their droves, and how is that filtering through to the screen? Essentially, the answer is EVERYTHING. I don’t have the time in this article to unpack every single reason but… In a handy list form – here are some of the anecdotal reasons for this malaise.

• COVID – After Covid proved how much we all love a screen – TV channels went MAD for new content. The year 2021-2022 saw more new programming than had ever been made before. But that came at a cost. After this boom, channels found that they had tonnes of new programmes, so stacked them on the shelf. Meaning… no work for the likes of me!
• Viewing Figures. – The big one. People just aren’t watching TV in the numbers they used to. Time was, when a show launched on Channel 4 with 2-3 million, it was no big deal, a strong showing that would maybe earn a recommission, but by no means a done deal. Nowadays, that is considered a factual hit for ITV! Streamers, YouTube, Insta, Tik-Tok and a myriad of things have entered the “Attention economy” and whereas TV used to be the premium cultural driver of conversation – it no longer is. And less eyeballs mean less advertising, which means less new programmes. So, less work for the likes of me!
• Cost – Everything has gone up, from fuel to food to wages, to equipment, everything costs more – and do you know what? Budgets have stayed the same, or been asked to do more, plus, ya know, “The Talent” does still need that extra holiday home in the exclusive part of Ibiza paid for…

What does it mean on screen?

On the surface, as a viewer, maybe nothing? Like a lot of people, I have subscriptions to Amazon Disney Plus, Now TV, Apple TV and Netflix… now that I’ve written that down – It looks like I have a similar relationship to streamers as Imelda Marcos does with kitten heels. And Obviously, I dutifully pay my TV license (largely to annoy GB News contributors) so, of an evening, I can scroll for hours and hours and hours, paralysed by indecision about what to watch, until I’ve either scrolled for the approx. duration of your average rom-com, or just put on Aliens for the 15th time… So, on the surface, there is plenty for you to watch… But, scratch the surface, and it’s not all that British… the beautiful thing about streaming is that it opens up our eyes to a literal world of content, the sad thing is, that slightly squeezes out the volume of British TV needed to keep the workforce …

In my opinion, it also doesn’t encourage new programmes all that much. When Netflix can buy dramas that were mega successful, or moderately successful to the British audience when they came out, that’s a cheap way of getting eyeballs. Sure, the companies may invest those royalties in development, but there’s no comparison in the amount of spend on development compared to actually going to series.

Which brings us all back to the old Daddy–Terrestrial TV. The place where we all came from, the place where we always thought we’d see out our days, before being sent to “retired to a farm” (or work on Countryfile – one of the two) Well – depending on which press release you read – it is apparently in rude health! Just as much spending as 2019 cries channel 4, whilst at the same time as they make 250 roles redundant.

London, UK – 5th April 2014: The outside of a BBC building in central London. The British Broadcasting Corporation also know as the BBC is a public service broadcasting in England

And finally good old Auntie. The BBC has the unenviable task of providing something for everyone, whilst having everyone on their dick. Their commissions have been getting smaller, and less of them – I genuinely can’t remember whether it was W1A or Tim Davie (Big Chief of the Beeb) who said we’ve got to do Less… better. It kind of makes sense – if you squint at it – but is still hardly the ringing endorsement of rude health for Creative Britain. Most people who have worked in TV will have worked for the BBC at some point, and we all feel like we’ll be back to the Mothership before too long. But sadly – they are just not making enough to bail everyone out. And the streamers aren’t making up the shortfall.

What does that mean for people who create the programmes?

TV has always had an ageing problem, with only 1 in 5 people working in being over 50, compared to a 1 in 3 average across all industries so it’s always had its fair share of people in their 40s/50s who decide the stress, long hours, job insecurity, general personal insecurity and just plain hassle isn’t worth it any more. But this is accelerating… A good friend and I recently listed all the people who were on the same “First job in TV” with us in 2007. We were shocked to realise that only 3 or 4 of about 25 people were still actively making TV.

I was listening to the Rest is Entertainment this week – I do like Richard Osman, he’s obviously a titan of the industry and has forgotten more about TV than I’ll ever know. And he more or less forecast that broadcast is dead, no one under 25 is watching it. And that content is still happening and we will just all have to go and make stuff on YouTube. And I just found it all glibly depressing. There are millions of people who don’t want to scroll endlessly, who like to happen upon a new programme because the box was on! Who actually watch daytime TV. If we want it to live, we have to be the difference. Watch the Adverts. Pay your license fee. Choose to watch stuff through the big old box that you point your furniture at, rather than your laptop. You will miss it all that lovely British linear content when all you have to choose from is Love is Blind 48, Below Deck Grand Union Canal and Celebrity Traitors 17 (Feat. Davro and Louie Spence…)