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LEADER Quiet after the storm

After the ructions of 2014, the past year has been a period of comparative stability for the indie sector, a market that has levelled out at around £2.3bn. Here we present some of the fruits of that activity, such as the fi rst turnover fi gure for the combined Endemol Shine behemoth. What you won’t see, alas, is a fi gure for Zodiak, which is in a quiet period as it prepares to merge with Banijay; nor a clear refl ection of Twofour’s activity, as ITV Studios opts not to break out its operating companies’ individual revenues. 09 14 ITVS as a whole now generates revenues of more than £1bn; small wonder, then, that many indies fear what a commercial BBC Productions will do to the market. Drama is on a roll, with the top fi ve indies specialising in the genre growing their combined revenues by a third. Our highest new entry, Indian Summers producer New Pictures, symbolises drama’s swaggering global ambition right now: an international cast, a sumptuous budget, transatlantic partners and a 10-hour order secured from a spec script – and now a second series. Small wonder the producer was quickly snapped up by a resurgent All3Media, which also picked up Call The Midwife producer Neal Street Productions and is preparing to recharge Company Pictures. Elsewhere, young producers such as Plimsoll Productions and Knicker- bockerglory come bearing good news, buoyed by supersized factual orders. But the survey also shows how indies are clouded by the “state of suspended anticipation” identifi ed by Channel 4 chief executive David 16 36 Abraham, as the government asks tough questions of the future of our public service broadcasters. Our indies are not shy about pointing out the foibles and frustrations of dealing with their customers, but they’re sure as hell not going to let them become neutered, homogenised or stripped CONTENTS back without a fi ght.

04 INTRODUCTION International appetite for drama boosts scripted indies Robin Parker 09 MAIN TABLES Editor, Indie Survey Full results for the 152 indies that completed the survey

14 TRUE INDIES With thanks to Audio Network for sponsoring this year’s survey. The top 30 companies unaffi liated to any larger group For further information visit 15 FASTEST RISERS audionetwork.com The seven fastest-growing indies with turnovers below £20m 16 TOP OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS Endemol Shine Group tops table with fi rst combined results INDIE SURVEY METHODOLOGY 22 TRENDS An email questionnaire was sent biggest UK turnover is ranked Advisory fi rm Prospero examines the outlook for ‘true’ indies out to more than 300 producers higher. Our thanks to About in January. To qualify, they had to Corporate Finance for casting an 24 BROADCASTERS have had at least one piece of expert eye over these fi gures. Government meddling in the industry is the big issue for indies commissioned programming We also polled companies that broadcast in the UK in 2015, and own indies. Some opted not to 26 TOP SUPPLIERS still be in business. Any omissions break down the turnover of their Broadcasters’ top 10 suppliers by hours and spend are therefore no longer trading, had individual subsidiaries, which are 32 NATIONS & REGIONS no shows on air last year, or did not not listed in the main league table, Hours and turnover fall at out-of-London indies complete the survey. but their turnovers are included Companies are ranked based on within those of their owners. 35 ONES TO WATCH their 2015 turnover or the most Individual broadcaster league The 10 indies making their mark with a slew of recent commissions recent full year for which fi gures are tables, ranking indies by volume available. Where turnovers are and spend, were supplied by the 36 PEER POLL equal, the company with the broadcasters themselves. Which indies have most impressed their peers this year?

Broadcast Editor Chris Curtis Supplement Editor Robin Parker Production Editor Dominic Needham Art Editor Abi Hardwick Contributors Neil Midgley, Will Strauss, Andy Fry Managing Director, MBI Alison Pitchford Sales Manager Talia Levine Account Director Bindu Jolly broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 3 Indies 2016

OVERVIEW LEAGUE TABLES Drama indies take centre stage Insatiable overseas appetite for English-language drama and the consequent ﬂ ow of international money into UK production were the big themes of 2015, writes Neil Midgley

ritain’s independent TV production sector is a fi nancial puzzle: INDIE CONFIDENCE LEVELS % Ban industry that appeals to ever more M&A buyers, but which (overall) 56% has stayed the same size. Takeover activity continued apace in 2015, with Twofour, Neal Street and New Pictures all under new ownership. Yet the total turnover of reporting indies was £2.25bn – exactly the 44% same as the previous year. Like for like (looking at just the companies that submitted entries in both years), the total is More confi dent than a year ago £2.07bn. Some indies chose not to take Less confi dent than a year ago part this year, including the Twofour companies that now report to ITV. Indian Summers (New Pictures) Based on 67 responses Some takeover activity was, of Right: Downton Abbey (Carnival Films) course, driven by companies that are so large, they defi ne the wider market- AVERAGE place. Deep-pocketed ITV snapped Street Productions, as well as BUDGET CHANGE up Twofour for an initial payment of Charlie Pattinson’s New Pictures. 1% £55m (and an eye-watering fi nal Not only are both indies 9% 44% price, over six years, of up to £280m). drama specialists, but both are With its revenues breaking £1bn for reporting buoyant turnover 46% the fi rst time in 2015, ITV Studios is fi gures in this year’s survey: now the dominant force in British Neal Street is up 25% to £50m commercial TV production – bigger and New Pictures is the highest than half the indie sector put together. new entry with £15.9m. Their biggest Other deals refl ected the tectonic shows – Neal Street’s Call The Midwife shifts in the programmes that viewers and Penny Dreadful and New Pictures’ want to see, not only in the UK but The Missing and Indian Summers – are around the world. All3Media bought all UK/US co-productions. We have a No change 2014’s second-biggest true indie, Neal All3Media’s results refl ect two big hit brand in Fall of less than 10% trends: the apparently insatiable appe- Fall of 10-20% Downton Increase of 10-20% INDIE BIGGEST CONCERNS tite of TV buyers around the world for English-language drama, and the con- Abbey, so Based on 80 responses Concern % sequent fl ow of international money most of our Securing commissions/ 16.5 into British drama production. appetite for genre revenue is a WAS 2015 A LESS Lack of funds/budget 13 Dramatic growth SUCCESSFUL YEAR THAN 2014? Consolidation/competition from result of 13 The top fi ve dedicated drama indies bigger producers global Defi cit funding/rights/terms of trade 12 in our survey (Carnival, Left Bank, Kudos, Neal Street and Bentley) grew 69% 31% Competition from in-house production 10.5 distribution their combined turnover buy a third, Recruiting/retaining staff 7 from a collective total of £242.2m in GARETH NEAME Pipeline cashfl ow 7 2014 to £322.8m in 2015. CARNIVAL FILMS C4 privatisation 6 Compare that with the top fi ve BBC3 going online 4 non-drama indies in the table (IMG, Future of BBC after charter renewal 3.5 Avalon, Thames, Lime – which has Regional bias/issues 3.5 diverged from drama into constructed Challenge from digital/ 2.5 reality in recent years – and Sunset+ keeping up with tech Vine), which were up by just 3.8% col- Risk aversion 2.5 lectively (to £468.8m from £451.5m in No Yes Based on 86 responses 2014). And that was mostly thanks to a Based on 69 responses standout performance from Avalon.

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Television, grew its revenues by 48.7% SECTOR FASTEST GROWERS (ALL INDIES) last year, from £53.4m to £79.4m STATS – thanks in part to scoring Rank and company Growth in Netfl ix’s fi rst British drama turnover (%) commission, the upcoming 1 Rawcut Television +1,035.0 £3m-an-hour royal pot- £ 2 Plimsoll Productions +379.0 boiler The Crown. 3Darrall Macqueen +229.0 “The next iteration of 4 Lemonade Money +229.0 what a British drama 2.3bn World Productions company could be, and 5 (Marcus Evans Group) +220.0 should be, is Left Bank,” Indie sector global 6 Knickerbockerglory +158.0 says Wayne Garvie, chief turnover creative offi cer for inter- 7Woodcut Media +158.0 national production at 819m 8Pretzel Films +146.0 Sony. He brushes off 9 Freeform Productions +124.0 Combined turnover industry sniping that of the top 10 indies 10 October Films +120.6 Netfl ix’s insistence on taking (36% of the market) global rights makes its com- BIGGEST FALLERS (ALL INDIES) World’s Strongest Man (IMG) missions less appealing. “When Fall in the production fee is so good, then Rank and company turnover 494m (%) it’s not a worry. The Crown will be a Combined turnover 1 Endor Productions (Red Arrow) –79.4 very profi table piece of business.” of true indies (21% 2 Pilot Film and TV Productions –45.5 “We have a hit brand in Downton Other indies are scrambling to of the market) Abbey, so most of our revenue is a follow Left Bank’s example and get 3Eleventh Hour –44.9 result of global distribution,” says their hands on some of the cash that 4 Bwark (Zodiak) –42.9 Gareth Neame, managing director of is increasingly being sprayed around 5 The Comedy Unit (Zodiak) –41.2 NBC Universal subsidiary Carnival by Netfl ix and Amazon. Tiger Aspect 6 Company Pictures (All3Media) –41.2 Films, whose revenue went up from is to make a fi fth and fi nal series of % 7 Illuminations Media –40.3 £89m to £114.4m to keep it at number Ripper Street for Amazon, while new two in our survey. E4 drama Kiss Me First, from Skins 8 Red Production Co (StudioCanal) –40.0 “Because Carnival is an integrated creator Bryan Elsley’s indie Balloon 50 9 Hat Trick Productions –39.2 producer/distributor, we don’t rely on and Kindle Entertainment, is being 10 Hartswood Films –38.7 third-party distributors – the full co-funded by Netfl ix. Proportion of value of those sales comes straight companies through our books,” he adds. International money reporting that are true indies Even though Downton Abbey has New Pictures is in series development DO THE TERMS OF TRADE fi nished, Neame says it will continue for both HBO and Discovery in the NEED TO BE AMENDED? to sell well internationally for years US. And many of the companies in the to come. Revenues “won’t fall off a 2015 survey already get much of their 33 cliff ”, he pledges. revenue overseas: 63.6% for Arrow Growth in turnover 87% 13% Carnival also has BBC2’s returning Media, 34.9% for Blast Films, and a of the top fi ve The Last Kingdom and Sky 1’s Stan massive 83.3% for Icon Films. drama indies Lee’s Lucky Man, and will announce For Hat Trick Productions, the further projects shortly. largest true indie in our survey, After leaving Company Pictures in 35.5% of revenue comes from abroad. 4 2013, Charlie Pattinson set up New “I’ve just signed a deal with [Line Growth in turnover Pictures and quickly secured commis- Of Duty and Critical writer] Jed Mer- of the top fi ve sions for BBC1/Starz crime thriller curio to develop some big interna- non-drama indies co-pro The Missing and Channel 4/PBS tional returning drama series, which Yes No period drama Indian Summers – both is exciting,” says managing director of which are onto their second series. Jimmy Mulville. 13 Based on 45 responses “We took a risk with both series,” “I think what you’ll see is Hat Trick Proportion of true says Pattinson. “The Missing writers, becoming as much of a drama pro- indies that state Jack and Harry Williams, had written ducer as a comedy one, with more co- probably fi ve- or six-series drama. It’s they will need to be a spec script. It was expensive to buy productions with the US – I’m in talks not BBC1 or ITV – its natural home bought or merged that script without commissioning a with an American studio about doing would be C4 or Sky.” in the next fi ve treatment and get a broadcaster to pay a co-production with them.” In sport, IMG heads the table once years to survive for it. We did exactly the same thing Mulville is also in development again, with revenues up from £172.7m with Indian Summers. So we were able with a “big international drama” from to £174.5m. to go out with two fully formed pro- Outnumbered writers Andy Hamilton “Viewed against the wider market jects, to try to secure greenlights and Guy Jenkin. “It’s set in England, performance, we are pleased with the quickly – which, as a new company, France and Germany, with all those past year,” says global managing direc- was what we needed.” countries speaking their own tor of production Graham Fry. “Given Andy Harries’ Left Bank Pictures, tongues,” says Mulville. “We’re about the backdrop of fi erce competition, we majority owned by Sony Pictures to go out to market with it. It’s a huge, are increasingly looking towards the ➤ broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 5 Production Sponsored by

OVERVIEW LEAGUE TABLES

international market for growth and ARE YOU LOOKING TO RAISE WILL YOU NEED TO BE BOUGHT are deepening our relationships over- EXTERNAL FINANCE? OR MERGE IN THE NEXT FIVE seas, particularly in India and across YEARS TO SURVIVE? the Asia Pacifi c region.” The TV sports rights market is It’s a better changing rapidly, with new entrants time to be 54% 46% 13% 87% such as BT, and multi-territory deals, such as Discovery’s raid on the Olym- independent pics. Horse racing is on the move to than ever, ITV and the new Formula 1 season because there will start soon on Channel 4. “The biggest change I anticipate are so many over the next several years is that rights places to sell owners will try to ‘do a Bernie [Eccle- shows to stone]’, as we’ve seen with the Premier No Yes No Yes League – wanting to keep control of JON THODAY the way the sport is presented,” says AVALON Based on 57 responses Based on 54 responses Ron Jones, executive chairman of Tinopolis, which owns IMG’s major BBC Studios and C4’s potential income for its Agatha Christie series competitor, Sunset+Vine. “We’ve privatisation could all mean huge Partners In Crime. also seen this happen with golf.” changes in PSB commissioning and All3Media’s once-mighty Company Eyebrows were raised this in-house competition. Pictures – which Pattinson left to year when Whisper Films, the “ITV has always been slightly found New Pictures – faces an uphill David Coulthard/Jake Hum- harder for indies than the BBC and struggle under new chief executive phrey indie in which C4 has a C4, because of the size of its in-house,” Michele Buck, as its income has fallen minority stake, was chosen to says Endemol Shine chief executive by 71% in two years to £15.3m. produce C4’s F1 coverage. Richard Johnston. “But ITV is still After the takeovers of Neal Street But, says C4 Growth Fund saying that it needs to keep buying the and Twofour, Avalon (total group pro- adviser Lorraine Heggessey: best shows – and we’ve got no reason duction turnover £101.8m) and Hat “It wasn’t a dirty deal at all. C4 to doubt that. We’re still getting big Trick (turnover £31m) are now the Taskmaster works quite hard to make sure (Avalon) shows away for ITV.” only two UK production houses that it’s not showing favouritism to C4 privatisation, and the effect it are both independently run and have a Growth Fund companies. I might have on the broadcaster’s com- turnover of £30m or more. (As Avalon advised Whisper on their pitch, missioning budgets and in-house (or has a family of companies that and I know that they demonstrated sister company) production capacity, includes Liberty Bell and Flame TV, that they had the expertise and the is a big concern for indies. Respond- our survey classes it as an owner wherewithal to do it. [Whisper ents to our survey overwhelmingly rather than a true indie.) managing director] Sunil Patel had said that they are very (35%) or quite Yet Avalon joint managing director produced F1 at the BBC, and they (41%) worried about the prospect. Jon Thoday dismisses the idea that work with a lot of F1 brands, like the age of the true indie is coming to Red Bull, on the branded side.” Falling confi dence an end. “It’s a better time to be inde- ITV’s billion-pound production In the all-important confi dence poll, pendent than ever, because there are house, the £400m separation of indie sentiment has taken a tumble – so many places to sell shows to. If just 56% said they were more confi - Apple and Google come into the dent than a year ago (down from market, there’ll be another two CHANNEL 4 GROWTH FUND 72.5% in 2014). That must be buyers,” he says. on the back of concerns about the “It is increasingly diffi cult in the So far, it’s quite a lot of fund says Growth Fund adviser future, rather than current trading: marketplace if you’re tiny, because the and not much growth: most of Lorraine Heggessey. “The 69% said that 2015 had been a more consolidators are so huge – and huge Channel 4’s minority invest- gestation period from having successful year than 2014. organisations attract executives from ments have yet to show a sig- an idea to getting it realised The biggest concern? Simply broadcasters. There’s a kind of trading nifi cant increase in turnover. on screen and getting paid securing enough commissions, cited between the two.” Popkorn is an honourable takes a while. Whisper has by 16.5% of respondents (up from 14% Hat Trick’s revenues dropped from new entry with £1.4m of reve- the NFL contract at the BBC, last year). In this uncertain world, £51m in 2014 to £31m in 2015. But nue, and Whisper Films will and True North has a lot of perhaps unsurprisingly, support for that, says Mulville, was because 2014 make its fi rst appearance next work coming through now.” the terms of trade has hardened: 87% was an “extraordinary year”. He pre- year fl ush with F1 money. But Heggessey praises the of respondents said the terms of trade dicts the indie’s profi t for 2015 will be True North and Arrow Media work being done by Laura need to be maintained in their current around £3m, well within its usual were fl at in 2015 and, without Franses, who runs the fund at form, up from 72% last year. range of roughly £2.5m to £4m. Glue, its 2014 drama for E4, C4, in fi nding companies with Some indies have already suffered Other true indies also posted great Eleven Film dropped from “creative strength”, but which a drop in turnover. Last year’s biggest results in 2015: Walking The Nile pro- £5.7m to £4m. are also diverse ethnically, faller, in percentage terms, was Hilary ducer October Films increased its “The indies are starting to geographically and between Bevan Jones’s drama indie Endor turnover by 120.6% to £23.8m, and grow at a variety of rates,” TV genres. Productions, where revenue fell from Ash Atalla’s Roughcut TV posted a £13.1m to £2.7m due to the phasing of 25% gain to £10m.

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OVERVIEW LEAGUE TABLES

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L-R: Death In Paradise (Red Planet Pictures); The Last Kingdom Catastrophe (Avalon TV/Merman) (Carnival Film & TV) TOP INDEPENDENT COMPANIES 1–30 Rank and company Turnover Turnover % change Turnover from % of total Key shows Original UK Full–time 2015 (£m) 2014 (£m) UK (£m) hours 2015 UK staff

Premier League; C4 Racing; World’s 1 IMG (WME) 174.50 172.70 +1.00 63.50 36.40 Strongest Man; European Tour Golf 4,836 363 Carnival Film & 2 114.43 89.00 +28.60 –– –– Downton Abbey; The Last Kingdom 19 20 Television (NBCU)1 Catastrophe; Taskmaster; Russell 3 Avalon TV (Avalon)2 90.29 72.80 +24.00 50.36 55.80 Howard's Good News; Man Down 53.3 90 BGT; The X Factor; Take Me Out; 4 Thames (FM UK) 87.40 85.10 +2.70 87.40 100.00 Rebound; Family Fortunes 152 14 Left Bank Pictures 5 79.40 53.40 +48.70 –– –– Outlander; Strike Back; DCI Banks 28 25 (Sony)3 Lime Pictures 6 61.60 60.904 +1.10 54.10 87.80 Hollyoaks; TOWIE; Evermoor Chronicles 225 345 (All3Media)4 Sunset + Vine Premier League Football; Premiership 7 (Tinopolis) 55.00 60.00 –8.30 45.00 81.80 Rugby; Test Cricket Highlights 1,673 150 Optomen/One Potato Great British Menu; Escape To The Wild; 8 52.90 49.504 +6.90 5.10 9.60 60 86 Two Potato (All3M)4 Mysteries At The Museum; Worst Cooks

9 Kudos (Endemol Shine) 52.20 45.90 +13.70 33.00 63.20 Broadchurch; River; Humans; Capital 28 37

Tiger Aspect Fortitude; Ripper Street; Benidorm; Cuffs; 10 (Endemol Shine) 51.70 66.20 –21.90 43.50 84.10 Boy Meets Girl; Together; Mount Pleasant 105 75 Neal Street Productions 11 50.00 40.004 +25.00 16.80 33.60 Call The Midwife; Penny Dreadful 19.3 9 (All3M)4 Studio Lambert Gogglebox; Four In A Bed; Great Interior 12 46.90 40.80 +15.00 22.70 48.40 146.5 47 (All3M)4 Design Challenge; Tattoo Fixers Big Brother; CBB; Harry Hill’s Stars In 13 Initial (Endemol Shine) 45.50 43.04 +5.70 43.40 95.40 Their Eyes; Big Box Little Box 294 7 Shine TV The Island With Bear Grylls; Master Chef; 14 (Endemol Shine) 39.50 34.00 +16.20 22.20 56.20 Hunted; The Force: Manchester 125 32 Remarkable Television Pointless; Two Tribes; Bodyshockers; 15 (Endemol Shine) 34.60 46.96 –26.30 –– –– House That £100K Built; Deal Or No Deal 345 9 HIGNFY; Room 101; Episodes; 16 Hat Trick Productions 31.00 51.00 –39.20 20.00 64.50 Dinner Date; Critical 66.5 50 RDF Television Secret Life Of 4 Year Olds; Eat Well For 17 (Zodiak Media) 30.50 30.00 +1.70 –– –– Less; Tipping Point; Six Puppies And Us 295 30 Heathrow: Britain’s Biggest Airport; 18 Raw TV (Discovery) 28.00 33.00 –15.15 5.00 53.60 Gold Rush; Women In Prison 44 43 Bentley Productions Midsomer Murders; Harry Price: Ghost 19 26.81 13.904 +92.90 9.30 34.70 10 5 (All3M)4 Hunter The Apprentice; Grand Designs; Escape To 20 Boundless (FM UK) 24.80 28.50 –13.00 24.80 100.00 The Country; Great British Railway Journeys 135.2 15 Caught On Camera; On Benefi ts; 21 ITN Productions 24.00 17.00 +41.20 21.50 89.60 Gordonstoun; Dispatches; Killer Instinct 147.2 65 Alan Carr Chatty Man; The Last Leg; Live At 22 Open Mike Productions 23.90 20.87 +14.50 21.04 88.00 The Apollo; Jack Dee’s Election Helpdesk 66 8 Walking The Nile; Stonehenge: What Lies 23 October Films 23.80 10.79 +120.60 7.00 29.40 Beneath; Outrageous Acts Of Science 58 120 Dickensian; Death In Paradise; 24 Red Planet Pictures 23.04 15.66 +47.10 23.04 100.00 The Ark 11.5 17 Homes Under The Hammer; Kew on A 25 Lion TV (All3M)4 4 22.10 20.50 +7.80 16.00 72.40 Plate; Horrible Histories; Blood Feuds 170 120 Celebrity Juice; QI; Virtually Famous; 26 Talkback (FM UK) 21.00 22.30 –5.80 21.00 100.00 Glitchy; Through The Keyhole 56 8 Red Production Cucumber; Banana; Prey; Danny And The 26 Co (StudioCanal) 21.00 35.00 –40.00 21.00 100.00 Human Zoo; Ordinary Lies 21.5 29 Objective Productions Toast Of London; Peep Show; Honey, 28 19.78 27.804 –28.90 17.49 88.40 70 39 (All3M)4 I Bought The House; King Of Nerds MotoGP; Gadget Show; Guy Martin; 29 North One TV (All3M)4 4 19.75 16.00 +23.40 17.29 87.60 Best Of Bad TV; Storage Hunters UK 457.5 73 Princess Productions The Wright Stuff; Sunday Brunch; Mel & 30 19.50 16.90 +15.40 17.40 89.20 696 78 (Endemol Shine) Sue; National Lottery Live ▼ 1 NBCU converted from submitted fi gure of $163.9m at current exchange rate; 2 All Avalon companies are year to 30 June 2015; Avalon TV also made 172 hours of radio; 3 Sony companies are to 31 December 2015; their 2014 fi gures were to 31 March 2014; 4 All3Media’s 2014 fi gures are revised from last year’s survey’s published fi gures, due to a change in its accounting policy (except for new acquisitions Neal Street and New Pictures) broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 9 Indies 2016

The Catch (Blast! Films) People Just Do Nothing (Roughcut TV) TOP INDEPENDENT COMPANIES 31–59 Rank and company Turnover Turnover % change Turnover from % of total Key shows Original UK Full–time 2015 (£m) 2014 (£m) UK (£m) hours 2015 UK staff

Monkey Kingdom Made In Chelsea; Newlyweds: The First 31 19.20 12.70 +51.20 63 15 (NBCU) –– –– Year; TFI Friday; Real Housewives Great British Bake Off; Beneﬁ ts Street; For 32 Love Productions (Sky) 18.60 15.35 +15.31 12.70 65.30 65 54 Love Of Cars; Great Pottery Throw Down The Undateables; Too Ugly for Love?; 33 Betty TV (Discovery) 17.50 17.00 +2.90 14.50 82.60 58 30 Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners Tinopolis Wales Hinterland; Heno; Prynhawn Da; Gwaith 34 16.10 14.80 +8.80 16.10 100.00 415 140 (Tinopolis) Cartref World Productions 35 16.00 5.00 +220.00 15.40 96.30 Code Of A Killer 38 (Marcus Evans Group)

36 New Pictures (All3M)5 15.94 –– –– 15.94 100.00 Indian Summers; The Missing 10.5 9

CPL Productions A League Of Their Own; Married At First 37 15.90 15.90 0.00 14.80 931.10 78.5 50 (Red Arrow) Sight; Off Their Rockers; Decimate Zeppotron Would I Lie To You; 8 Out of 10 Cats; 38 15.30 14.19 +7.80 46 7 (Endemol Shine) –– –– C4 Alternative Election; Let’s Play Darts Company Pictures 38 15.30 26.00 –41.20 14.00 91.50 Wolf Hall; George Gently 12 14 (All3M)4 The Catch; Supervet; Signed, Sealed, 40 Blast! Films6 (Sky) 14.756 9.00 +64.00 9.60 65.10 41 30 Delivered; The Night Bus; Web Of Lies Women's World Cup; Chelsea TV; Roland 41 Input Media 14.59 12.65 +15.30 9.01 61.70 1,754 128 Garros; French Open; FA Cup Destination Wild; Wildest Middle East; 42 Off The Fence 14.43 14.00 +3.10 2.60 18.00 52 30 Extraordinary Humans; Gorongosa Rownd a Rownd; Underage And Gay; 43 Rondo Media 14.16 14.10 +0.40 13.95 98.50 442 66 Sgorio; Les Miserables – The Journey Ed Stafford: Into The Unknown; The 44 Keo Films 13.80 11.00 +25.50 11.70 84.80 34.5 41 Romanians Are Coming; Bangkok Airport Mentorn including Folio Question Time; … Make You LOL; Trafﬁ c 45 13.00 14.90 –12.80 13.00 100.00 135 20 (Tinopolis) Cops; Angry, White And Proud Firecracker Films Quiz Nights; Born In The Wrong Body; 46 12.60 13.50 –6.70 6.40 50.80 22 26 (Tinopolis) Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding Wild Things; Location, Location, Location; 47 IWC Media (Zodiak) 12.00 13.00 –7.70 75 25 –– –– Nureyev: Dance To Freedom

48 Hartswood Films 11.85 19.57 –38.70 3.42 28.50 Lady Chatterley’s Lover 1.5 8

Animal Fight Night Series; Battle Of 49 Arrow Media7 11.00 11.00 0.00 4.00 36.40 41.5 52 Britain: Return Of The Spitﬁ res Dragonﬂ y8 One Born Every Minute; The Hotel; 49 11.00 14.40 –23.60 9.00 81.80 37 20 (Endemol Shine) The Auction House; The Job Centre

51 Zig Zag Productions 10.50 10.10 +4.00 6.20 59.00 Troy; Body Bizarre; Ultimate Brain 38 15

Great Barrier Reef; Inside The Commons; 52 Atlantic Productions 10.20 13.70 –25.50 26 30 –– –– Conquest Of The Skies 3D Remedy Productions MTV Weekly Ofﬁ cial Charts; Fifteen To 53 10.00 7.44 +34.50 10.00 100.00 940 7 (Argonon) One; Fired By Mum And Dad The Foundation Millie Inbetween; Mister Maker’s Arty Party; 53 10.00 11.00 –9.10 21 7 (Zodiak) –– –– Scrambled; Secret Life Of Boys Trollied; I Live With Models; People Just Do 53 Roughcut TV 10.00 8.00 +25.00 9.00 90.00 17.5 14 Nothing; Tyger Takes On…; Top Coppers

56 Baby Cow Productions 9.80 8.75 +12.00 9.80 100.00 Hunderby 2 17

Weekend Kitchen With Waitrose; 57 Spun Gold TV 9.70 10.90 –11.00 9.70 100.00 124 16 Love Your Garden; Alan Titchmarsh Show Building The Dream; Junior Vets On Call; 58 True North9 9.50 9.43 +0.70 9.20 96.80 41 20 Homes By The Sea; Gift Of Life Born Naughty?; Dinosaur Britain; Engine 59 Maverick TV (All3M)4 9.10 12.504 –27.20 6.30 69.20 44 47 Addict; Operation Ouch!

5 New Pictures is year to 31 March 2015; 6 Blast! Films 2015 fi gure is unaudited; 7 Arrow Media is year to 30 September 2015; 8 Dragonfl y fi gures are unaudited; 9 True North is forecast to 31 March 2016

10 | Broadcast Indie Survey |18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by

Doctor Foster (Drama Republic) Chewing Gum (Retort) TOP INDEPENDENT COMPANIES 60–89 Rank and company Turnover Turnover % change Turnover from % of total Key shows Original UK Full–time 2015 (£m) 2014 (£m) UK (£m) hours 2015 UK staff

59 Plimsoll Productions 9.10 1.90 +379.00 7.00 76.90 Pets Who Hate Vets; Deadly Instinct 20 25

61 Darrall Macqueen 8.87 2.70 +229.00 8.87 100.00 Topsy And Tim; Teletubbies 10.5 8

62 Drama Republic10 8.82 8.55 +3.20 7.29 82.70 Doctor Foster; An Inspector Calls 6.5 10

The 2000s; Britain’s Biggest Adventure With 63 Nutopia11 8.80 8.00 +10.00 1.50 17.00 10 22 Bear Grylls; Finding Jesus Windfall Films Building Hitler’s Supergun; Inside Einstein’s 64 8.60 13.06 –34.20 1.50 17.40 38.5 73 (Argonon) Mind; Strip The Cosmos; Raliroad Alaska Cuba Pictures (Curtis 64 8.60 ––8.60100.00Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell; Coalition 8.5 4 Brown Holdings) World’s Biggest Beasts; Nazi Secret Files; 66 Blink Films 8.50 8.50 0.00 5.00 58.80 34 11 Missing Evidence; Shut Ins Antiques Road Trip; Celebrity Antiques 67 STV Productions 8.41 13.30 –36.70 6.50 77.30 121 26 Road Trip; Catchphrase; Safeword Guitar Star; Latitude; Best Before; 68 Somethin’ Else12 8.20 7.20 +13.90 22 68 –– –– Ten Pieces; Poetry Between The Lines Touchpaper Television 69 8.00 5.50 +45.50 Charlie; Tatau; Rebellion 12.5 8 (Zodiak) –– –– 69 Bwark (Zodiak) 8.00 14.00 –42.90 –– –– Drifters; Siblings; Fried 6 –– One Show; River Monsters; Return 71 Icon Films 7.80 8.10 –3.70 1.30 16.70 23 70 Of The Giant Killers; Survive The Tribe Gogglebox Release The Hounds; Singing In The 71 7.80 8.20 –4.90 –– –– 13 7 Entertainment (Sony)3 Rainforest; Young War Widows Birds Of A Feather; Chewing Gum; 71 Retort (FM UK) 7.80 6.90 +13.00 7.80 100.00 10.5 3 Count Arthur Strong World’s Weirdest Weather; How The 74 Pioneer (Tinopolis) 7.20 10.60 –33.10 2.00 27.80 20 20 Universe Works; Mail Order Murder

75 Clerkenwell Films13 6.91 6.20 +11.5 6.91 100.00 Not Safe For Work 4.5 7

What On Earth?; Nasa’s Unexplained Files; 76 Wag TV 6.80 7.55 –9.90 3.17 46.60 30+ 15 Combat Dealers; How Do They Do It? Reef Television Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is; 77 6.71 5.76 16.40 6.13 91.40 84 15 (Zinc Media)14 Penelope Keith’s Hidden Villages Salvage Hunters; Claimed And Shamed; 78 Curve Media 6.50 6.50 100.00 –– –– Trauma Doctors: Every Second Counts 46 7 Prized Apart; How Rich Are You?; 79 Electric Ray (Sony)3 6.40 12.5 8 –– –– –– –– Class Of '92; Close To The Edge The Billion Dollar Chicken Shop; Fraud 80 Wild Pictures 6.38 4.90 +30.20 6.38 100.00 18 11 Squad; In Charlie Chaplin’s Footsteps

81 Rollem Productions 6.24 5.92 +5.30 4.38 70.20 The Syndicate 63

Darlow Smithson Prods Richard III docs; We’re Doomed! The Dad’s 82 6.20 10.06 –38.40 23 17 (Endemol Shine) –– –– Army Story; 24 Hours In The Past Aurora Media (Westmin- Formula E; Goodwood; Dubai Duty Free 83 6.10 4.70 +29.80 2.00 32.80 89.3 10 ster Comms Group) Tennis; Six Day London 1000 Heartbeats; Reality Bites; Play To 83 Hungry Bear Media 6.10 3.14 +94.20 5.65 92.70 70.5 20 The Whistle; Michael McIntyre Xmas Dave Gorman’s Modern Life Is 85 Liberty Bell (Avalon) 5.53 2.81 +96.90 35.3 3 –– –– Goodish; Flockstars; Money Pit Britain’s Horror Homes; 20 Moments 86 Crackit Productions 5.50 5.30 65 6 –– –– –– That Rocked Britain; My Sister Had My… Treasures Of Indus; Air Ambulance; Beech- 86 Tern Television15 5.50 4.50 +22.20 4.70 85.50 59 25 grove Garden; Big Fish Man Blakeway/Blakeway Churchill: A Nation’s Farewell; 88 5.20 5.20 0.00 4.20 80.80 24 14 North (Zinc Media)14 Dispatches; Benidorm ER Pioneer Women; Barefoot Contessa; 89 Paciﬁ c Productions 5.16 4.45 +15.90 0.70 13.60 810 Sibas Table; Marilus Bay ▼

10 Drama Republic is year to 31 July 2015; 11 Nutopia is year to 31 March 2015; 12 Somethin’ Else is forecast to 31 March 2016. The indie also made more than 4,000 hours of radio; 13 Clerkenwell Films is year to 31 March 2015; 14 Zinc Media companies are year to 30 June 2015 (except Reef, acquired in July 2015); 15 Tern Television is year to 31 March 2015 broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 11 Indies 2016

TOP INDEPENDENT COMPANIES 90–126 Rank and company Turnover Turnover % change Turnover from % of total Key shows Original UK Full–time 2015 (£m) 2014 (£m) UK (£m) hours 2015 UK staff

90 Cactus TV16 4.90 5.70 –14.00 4.70 95.90 Saturday Kitchen; Weekend; Best Bites 189.5 22

Oxford Film The Face of Britain; Last Days Of…; 91 4.86 6.10 –20.30 4.36 89.70 16.5 15 & Television17 End Of The World Night; Ten Billion A Place In The Sun; A Place In The Sun: 92 Freeform Productions18 4.70 2.10 +124.00 4.30 91.50 90 6 Home Or Away Inside The Factory; X Ray Mega Airport; 93 Voltage TV 4.50 3.80 +18.40 3.00 66.70 15.5 10 NHS: £2bn A Week And Counting Detectorists; So Awkward; The Jam – 94 Channel X 4.40 3.60 +22.20 4.30 97.70 12 5 About The Young Idea Dr Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet; 94 Double Act TV 4.40 3.50 +25.70 0.30 6.90 Prison Night 11.5 7 Urdd; DCDC; Jonathan; Model Builder; 96 Avanti Media 4.30 4.30 100.00 164 24 –– –– Frozen; Beijing Billionaires GPs Behind Closed Doors; How To; 97 Knickerbockerglory19 4.20 1.63 +158.00 4.15 98.90 31 12 Lookalikes; Katie Price In Therapy Dixi; Hank Zipzer; Get Well Soon Hospital; 98 Kindle Entertainment20 4.16 4.19 –0.80 4.16 100.00 89 Jamillah And Aladdin

99 Rise Films 4.10 2.80 +46.40 3.80 92.70 Storyville: Dreamcatcher 1.5 4

100 Eleventh Hour 4.08 7.40 –44.90 4.00 98.10 Safe House; Foyle’s War 10 7

Things We Won’t Say About Race That Are 101 Outline Productions 4.02 4.82 –16.60 3.60 89.60 18 8 True; Bankrupt And Broke The Enﬁeld Haunting; Hit Men; 102 Eleven Film21 4.00 5.70 –29.80 4.00 100.00 59 Men In Pubs The Nightmare Neighbour Next Door; 103 Flame TV (Avalon) 3.89 4.43 –12.20 64 4 –– –– Heir Hunters; Saints And Scroungers Tigress Productions Nigel Slater: Eating Together; 104 3.80 5.89 –35.40 3.50 92.10 24 8 (Endemol Shine) Loch Lomond: A Year in the Wild Leopard Drama 105 3.50 3.50 100.00 Eve 72 (Argonon) –– –– Welcome To Mayfair; This Is Tottenham; 106 CTVC 3.40 3.00 +13.00 1.50 44.10 15 19 Storyville: George Blake Tuesday’s Child You’re Back In The Room; For What It’s 107 3.32 2.40 +38.10 3.27 98.60 31 8 (Greenbird) Worth; Sean Conway: Running Britain Pound Shop Wars; Dispatches; I Am Leo; 108 Nine Lives Media 3.24 2.52 +19.90 3.24 100.00 26 20 Britain’s Flashiest Families; Age Gap Love

109 Pretzel Films 3.20 1.30 +146.00 2.70 84.40 Ofﬁcial Chart Show; Animals Like Us 18 9

Reggie Yates Extreme Russia/UK; 110 Sundog Pictures 3.10 1.94 +59.80 2.51 81.00 98 What Britain Bought In 2015; Race Riots Britain’s Next Top Model; Women Who Pay 111 Thumbs Up Productions 3.00 2.10 +42.90 19 4 –– –– For Sex; How Not To Kill Your Husband 111 Merman 3.00 –– –– 1.00 33.30 Catastrophe 64 Britespark Films Incredible Engineering Blunders; 111 3.00 2.90 +3.40 2.10 70.00 12 7 (Argonon) Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords Movie Talk; Discovering Film; Murder 114 3DD Productions22 2.70 2.70 0.00 0.63 23.30 70 4 Maps; Vietnam War; Anne Frank… Endor Productions 114 2.70 13.10 –79.40 Partners In Crime; Esio Trot 7.5 9 (Red Arrow) –– –– Napoleon; Richard E Grant’s 7 Deadly Sins 116 Back2Back TV23 2.62 2.72 –3.70 2.62 100.00 17 10 Of The Animal Kingdom; Cars That Rock

117 Magic Light Pictures24 2.54 3.16 –19.60 –– –– Stick Man 0.5 8

118 Rawcut Television 2.43 0.23 +1,035.00 2.30 94.70 Police Interceptors; Neighbourhood Blues 40 14

Films of Record Murder Detectives; Three Days That Shook 119 2.40 1.90 +26.30 2.40 100.00 4 (Zinc Media)10 Paris; Great Ormond Street 10.5 Brook Lapping Produc- Hiroshima: The Aftermath; Christian 119 2.40 1.90 +26.30 1.20 50.00 37 tions (Zinc Media)14 Louboutin: World’s Most Luxurious Shoes House of Tomorrow Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe; 121 2.30 2.01 +14.40 54 (Endemol Shine) –– –– Election Wipe; End Of Year Wipe 2015 Can’t Pay? We’ll Take It Away; Secrets Of 122 Brinkworth Films25 2.20 16 8 –– –– –– –– The Mona Lisa; Britain’s Racist Election Four To The Floor; Access All Areas: 122 Lemonade Money 2.20 0.96 +229.00 0.42 19.10 3.5 5 Unlocked! My Son The Jihadi; Surviving Sandy 124 True Vision 2.10 2.16 –2.80 1.90 90.50 812 Hook; Raining In My Heart Topical Television The One Show; Caught Red–Handed; 125 2.05 2.05 +0.20 –– –– 19 5 (Avalon)2 Close Calls: On Camera The Dog Rescuers; Pussies Galore; 126 Middlechild TV 2.00 1.20 +66.70 1.70 85.00 18 6 Running The World; Demolition Man 16 Cactus TV is year to 31 August 2015; 17 Oxford Film & TV is year to 30 April 2015; 18 Freeform Productions is year to 31 December 2014; 19 Knickerbockerglory is year to 31 March 2015; 20 Kindle is year to 31 March 2015; 21 Eleven Film is year to 31 August 2015; 22 3DD is year to 31 March 2015; 23 Back2Back is year to 30 April 2015; 24 Magic Light Pictures is year to 31 March 2015; 25 Brinkworth Films is forecast to 31 March 2016

12 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by

Cinemaniacs Grayson Perry’s Dream House (Novel Entertainment) (Swan Films)

TOP INDEPENDENT COMPANIES 127–152 Rank and company Turnover Turnover % change Turnover from % of total Key shows Original UK Full–time 2015 (£m) 2014 (£m) UK (£m) hours 2015 UK staff

Boy Who Wants His Leg Cut Off; A Very 126 Transparent Television 2.00 1.02 +96.10 2.00 100.00 17 11 British Brothel; Botched Up Bodies The Comedy Unit Scot Squad; Burnistoun; 126 2.00 3.40 –41.20 –– –– 66 (Zodiak)26 Limmy’s Christmas Battle Recovery; In The Future; 129 Clearstory 1.97 0.92 +114.00 1.75 89.10 65 1945 And The Wheelchair President

130 Novel Entertainment 1.89 –– –– 1.37 72.40 Horrid Henry; Cinemaniacs; CineMinis 12 4

Music For Misﬁ ts: The Story Of Indie; 131 Telesgop27 1.86 2.08 –10.70 1.86 100.00 44 24 Ffermio; Royal Welsh Show Pilot Film and TV 132 1.80 3.30 –45.50 0.18 10.00 Tough Trains 12 6 Productions

132 Feelgood Fiction 1.80 1.20 +50.00 1.80 100.00 The Eichmann Show plus documentary 2.5 4

The Krays: The Prison Years; Combat 134 Woodcut Media28 1.68 0.65 +158.00 21 10 –– –– Trains; Mandela, My Dad And Me Screenchannel Fake Britain; The Sheriffs Are 135 1.60 1.80 –11.10 1.60 100.00 39 6 Television (Rare TV) Coming; Oxford Street Revealed Dead Behind Bars; The Special Needs 136 Lambent Films 1.53 1.52 99.20 620+ –– –– Hotel; Women Make Change This Week; Sunday Politics; Secrets Of 137 Juniper TV29 1.50 1.80 –16.70 1.50 100.00 54 6 Success With Alex Ferguson FilmNova (Great Run Great North Run; Great City Games; 137 1.50 1.50 100.00 34 4 Company) –– –– Great Scottish Run

137 Newman Street (FMUK) 1.50 1.90 –21.10 1.50 100.00 Suspects 83

140 Popkorn TV30 1.37 –– –– 0.85 62.00 My Violent Child; Rich Kids Of Instagram 411

Grayson Perry’s Dream House; Muslim Drag 141 Swan Films31 1.32 0.99 +33.30 1.32 100.00 45 Queens; Secret World Of Lewis Carroll Britain’s Greatest Generation; 142 Testimony Films 1.30 1.50 –13.30 1.10 84.60 98 Wales In The 80s ISIS: The British Women Supporters 143 Hardcash Productions 1.05 1.00 +5.00 1.05 100.00 53 Unveiled; NHS Out Of Hours Undercover

143 Chalkboard TV 1.05 0.60 +75.00 0.79 75.00 Sex Toy Secrets 0.5 5

145 Bookhouse (Zodiak) 1.00 –– –– –– –– Shane MacGowan: A Wreck Reborn 11

146 Firecrest Films32 0.70 0.36 +94.40 0.70 100.00 Supershoppers; Dispatches; Panorama 35

Auction; A Time For Greatness With 147 Colonial Pictures 0.65 0.65 0.00 0.30 46.20 15 5 Morgan Freeman Katherine Jenkins concert; The Car Man; 148 Illuminations Media33 0.48 0.80 –40.30 0.15 31.20 8.5 3 Bryn Terfel At 50; Ai Weiwei At The RA Eileanan Fraoich; Fuine; The Scots At 149 Caledonia TV 0.46 0.42 +8.40 0.46 100.00 10.5 6 Waterloo; Kerry’s Kirsty Psycho Pussies; Cat Crazy: 50 Cats & 150 Doghouse Media 0.45 0.45 100.00 43 –– –– Counting; Star Wars: A Deﬁ nitive History Andrew Marr On Churchill; 151 Wavelength Films 0.32 0.28 87.50 32 –– –– Sean Bean On Waterloo

152 Renowned Films 0.30 –– –– 0.10 33.30 Pranksterz 0.5 5 ▼

26 The Comedy Unit also made seven hours of radio; 27 Telesgop is year to 31 December 2014; 28 Woodcut Media is year to 1 February 2016; 29 Juniper is estimated; 30 Popkorn TV is estimated; 31 Swan Films is year to 31 October 2015; 32 Firecrest Films is year to 31 July 2014; 33 Illuminations Media is year to 31 March 2015 broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 13 Indies 2016

L-R: 1000 Heartbeats (Hungry Bear Media); Teletubbies (Darrall Macqueen)

‘TRUE’ INDIES TOP 30 NOT MAJORITY OWNED BY LARGER GROUP Rank and company Turnover Turnover % change Turnover from % of total Key shows Original UK Full-time 2015 (£m) 2014 (£m) UK (£m) hours 2015 UK staff

HIGNFY; Room 101; Episodes; 1 Hat Trick Productions 31.00 51.00 –39.20 20.00 64.50 66.5 50 Dinner Date; Critical Caught On Camera; On Beneﬁ ts; Killer 2 ITN Productions 24.00 17.00 +41.20 21.50 89.60 147.2 65 Instinct; Gordonstoun; Dispatches Alan Carr Chatty Man; The Last Leg; Live At 3 Open Mike Productions 23.90 20.87 +14.50 21.04 88.00 66 8 The Apollo; Jack Dee’s election Helpdesk Walking The Nile; Stonehenge: What Lies 4 October Films 23.80 10.79 +120.60 7.00 29.40 58 120 Beneath; Outrageous Acts Of Science

5 Red Planet Pictures 23.04 15.66 +47.10 23.04 100.00 Dickensian; Death In Paradise; The Ark 11.5 17

Women’s World Cup; Chelsea TV; Roland 6 Input Media 14.59 12.65 +15.30 9.01 61.70 1,754 128 Garros; French Open; FA Cup Destination Wild; Wildest Middle East; 7 Off The Fence 14.43 14.00 +3.10 2.60 18.00 52 30 Extraordinary Humans; Gorongosa Rownd A Rownd; Underage And Gay; 8 Rondo Media 14.16 14.10 +0.40 13.95 98.50 442 66 Sgorio; Les Miserables – The Journey Ed Stafford Into The Unknown; The 9 Keo Films 13.80 11.00 +25.50 11.70 84.80 34.5 41 Romanians Are Coming; Bangkok Airport

10 Hartswood Films 11.85 19.57 –38.70 3.42 28.50 Lady Chatterley’s Lover 1.5 8

Animal Fight Night Series; Battle Of Britain: 11 Arrow Media1 11.00 11.00 0.00 4.00 36.40 41.5 52 Return Of The Spitﬁ res

12 Zig Zag Productions 10.50 10.10 +4.00 6.20 59.00 Troy; Body Bizarre; Ultimate Brain 38 15

Great Barrier Reef; Inside The Commons; 13 Atlantic Productions 10.20 13.70 –25.50 26 30 –– –– Conquest Of The Skies 3D Trollied; I Live With Models; People Just Do 14 Roughcut TV 10.00 8.00 +25.00 9.00 90.00 17.5 14 Nothing; Tyger Takes On…; Top Coppers

15 Baby Cow Productions 9.80 8.75 +12.00 9.80 100.00 Hunderby 217

Weekend Kitchen With Waitrose; Love Your 16 Spun Gold TV 9.70 10.90 –11.00 9.70 100.00 124 16 Garden; Alan Titchmarsh Show Building The Dream; Junior Vets On Call; 17 True North2 9.50 9.43 +0.70 9.20 96.80 41 20 Homes By The Sea; Gift Of Life

18 Plimsoll Productions 9.10 1.90 +379.00 7.00 76.90 Pets Who Hate Vets; Deadly Instinct 20 25

19 Darrall Macqueen 8.87 2.70 +229.00 8.87 100.00 Topsy And Tim; Teletubbies 10.5 8

20 Drama Republic3 8.82 8.55 +3.20 7.29 82.70 Doctor Foster; An Inspector Calls 6.5 10

The 2000s; Britain’s Biggest Adventure 21 Nutopia4 8.80 8.00 +10.00 1.50 17.00 10 22 With Bear Grylls; Finding Jesus World’s Biggest Beasts; Nazi Secret Files; 22 Blink Films 8.50 8.50 0.00 5.00 58.80 34 11 Missing Evidence; Shut Ins Antiques Road Trip; Celebrity Antiques Road 1 Open23 Mike STVis year Productions to 31 January 2014 ; 2 Keo is year to8.41 31 March 2014 3 True13.30 North is year to 31-36.70 March 2014; 4 Baby Cow6.50 projected turnover 77.30for year ending 31 March 2015; 5 Drama Republic is year to 31 July 2014; 6 Icon121 is year to 31 March 2014; 26 7 Nutopia is year to 31 March 2014; 8 Eleventh Hour estimated to 30 September 2014 9 Somethin’ Else is year to 31 March 2015 estimated; 10 Raise the Roof Trip;is year Catchphrase; to 30 April 2014 Safeword Guitar Star; Latitude; Best Before; Ten 24 Somethin’ Else5 8.20 7.20 +13.90 22 68 –– –– Pieces; Poetry Between The Lines One Show; River Monsters; Return Of 25 Icon Films 7.80 8.10 –3.70 1.30 16.70 23 70 The Giant Killers; Survive The Tribe

26 Clerkenwell Films6 6.91 6.20 +11.5 6.91 100.00 Not Safe For Work 4.5 7

What On Earth?; Nasa’s Unexplained Files; 27 Wag TV 6.80 7.55 -9.90 3.17 46.60 30+ 15 Combat Dealers; How Do They Do It? Salvage Hunters; Claimed and Shamed; 28 Curve Media 46 7 6.50 –– –– 6.50 100.00 Trauma Doctors: Every Second Counts Billion Dollar Chicken Shop; Fraud Squad; 29 Wild Pictures 6.38 4.90 +30.20 6.38 100.00 18 11 In Charlie Chaplin’s Footsteps

30 Rollem Productions 6.24 5.92 +5.30 4.38 70.20 The Syndicate 63

1 Arrow Mead is year to 30 September 2015; 2 True North is forecast to 31 March 2016; 3 Drama Republic is year to 31 July 2015; 4 Nutopia is year to 31 March 2015; 5 Somethin’ Else is forecast to 31 March 2016. The indie also made more than 4,000 hours of radio; 6 Clerkenwell Films is year to 31 March 2015

14 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by

FASTEST RISERS Biggest successes of 2015 With commissions ranging from blue-light formats to docs, drama and children’s, these seven indies were the year’s fastest-growing UK production companies with turnovers below £20m

+1,035% RAWCUT TELEVISION £2.4m This small indie produced 40 hours of blue-light formats Police Interceptors (Channel 5) and Neighbourhood Blues (BBC1) in 2015, and is now looking at ways of broadening beyond its crime show niche. Rawcut made some small inroads outside the UK this year, with £130,000 (5%) coming from international sales. But despite its growth, it was not as proﬁ table as in 2014, ending up £204,000 in the black compared with £519,800 the previous year.

+379% PLIMSOLL PRODUCTIONS £9.1m This Bristol-based factual indie hit the ground running when it was founded in September 2013, and now has more than 20 shows in production. Private equity investment enabled its founders – Top: Police Interceptors (Rawcut); ex-Zodiak USA chief exec Grant Mansfi eld and Mandela, My Dad and Me below: Pets Who Hate Vets (Woodcut Media) former head of RDF West Christine Owen – to (Plimsoll Productions) make senior hires, including former Discovery and BBC NHU exec Andrew Jackson and BBC Features executive producer Kate Beetham. +229% LEMONADE MONEY £2.2m winning a massive 50-episode order from Owen says this has “supercharged” Plimsoll’s It was another good year for the multi- Channel 5 for its third series, despite its fi rst development strategy and enabled it to secure platform producer, culminating in a win for two runs totalling just 12 parts. The fi xed-rig commissions ranging from Nat Geo’s Deadly its Channel 4 series Four To The Floor in the format has proved reliable for the channel, Instincts to Channel 5’s Pets Who Hate Vets. The Best Music Programme category at the averaging 1.4 million for series two, and was indie is now close to setting up an LA offi ce. Broadcast Awards 2016, triumphing over big sold to National Geographic US. In 2015, 20% of Plimsoll’s turnover came beasts including The Brits and Glastonbury. Knickerbockerglory, which made from international commissions, while 2016 It continued its collaboration with the Red its name with Sky 1’s Pineapple is shaping up to be a good year too after it sold Bull Music Academy and delivered seri- Dance Studios, showed its nearly 50 hours of natural history program- alised on-demand content for both BBC playful side once again with ming from North American broadcasters Blue Radio 1 iPlayer and Channel 4. Channel 4’s fl y-on-the-wall Ant Media and Smithsonian Networks. comedy Lookalikes, which was +220% WORLD PRODUCTIONS £16m picked up for a full series after a +229% DARRALL MACQUEEN £8.9m In the yo-yo world of drama funding, one-off pilot – as was Channel 5’s With three series of Topsy And Tim, Darrall a fallow year can swiftly be followed by more serious fi xed-rig show Katie Macqueen already had a BBC children’s brand a bumper one, and so it proved for Price In Therapy. with a strong legacy, and the innovative Baby World Productions in 2015. It had Jake also proved a hit with young viewers. But a just one series on air, ITV’s Code Of A +158% WOODCUT MEDIA £1.7m 60-episode order of CBeebies’ revival of Tele- Killer, but behind the scenes, it was The Hampshire-based factual indie tubbies, which began airing last November, was producing three major commis- worked mainly with Discovery and the big win for the indie. In 2015, it secured sions: series three of Line Of Duty, History channels in 2015. It also some small revenues from Netfl ix Canada, the which started on BBC2 (a fourth scored a coup in co-producing Idris fi rst steps in a tentative relationship with the was greenlit at the same time Elba documentary Mandela, My VoD giant that founder Billy Macqueen hopes as the third); a new adaptation Dad And Me with Shine North and to build on this year and beyond. of The Secret Agent for BBC1; Green Door Pictures. The single doc and ITV’s Dark Angel, which brought the indie and Discovery into tells the true-life story of a collaboration with Netfl ix. Victorian poisoner. Elsewhere, it produced BBC iWonder series How Britain Built KNICKERBOCKERGLORY The NHS and became the fi rst +158% £4.2m TV production company to be For the latest indie productions This indie hit the jackpot allowed to fi lm in London restau- and commissioner profi les, visit in 2015, with breakout hit rant The Ivy for an ob doc about greenlight.broadcastnow.co.uk GPs Behind Closed Doors the iconic venue. broadcastnow.co.uk March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 15 Indies 2016

TOP OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS ESG dominates after merger Turnover dwarfs that of nearest rival as Endemol Shine Group reports combined ﬁ gures for the ﬁ rst time, but drama acquisitions are boosting All3Media. Neil Midgley reports

he stark effect of fi nancial con- The fastest-growing indie owner is solidation in the indie sector is Marcus Evans Group, whose sole pro- T plain to see at the top of our ducer – Line Of Duty indie World Pro- 2015 owners’ table, as the merged ductions – posted a 285% increase in Endemol Shine Group (ESG) reports turnover to £15.4m. Among the bigger combined turnover for the fi rst time. players, NBC Universal reported the Its fi gure of £409.8m is 53.5% higher biggest growth, with Downton Abbey than the biggest earner in last year’s producer Carnival Films powering it table (the pre-merger Endemol, at upwards by 103% to £61.4m – due £267m), even if it falls short of the in part to a clearer, separate group two fi rms’ previous combined total submission from NBCU. as separate entities. QTwofour Group fi gures are no longer All3Media also made huge strides available now it’s part of ITV, but Sky’s in 2015, thanks to its takeovers of Neal majority-owned indies Love Produc- Street and New Pictures: its £340.2m tions and Blast! Films had a combined turnover, up 26%, would put it at the turnover of £33.4m, a rise of 36.9% on The Island (Shine TV – ESG) top of the table were it not for ESG. last year. More on these on page 24.

TOP OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS Rank and company UK production UK turnover % change Global Amount from Amount from UK subsidiaries turnover 2014 (£m) turnover (£m) UK (%) US (%) 2015 (£m) Endemol Shine Group Dragonfly; Darlow Smithson; House of Tomorrow; Initial; 1 (Twentieth Century 409.80 425.00 –3.50 –– –– –– Kudos; Princess; Remarkable; Shine TV; Tiger Aspect; Fox/Apollo)1 Tigress; Zeppotron; Artists Studio; Bandit Television Lime Pictures; Company Pictures; Studio Lambert; Bentley All3Media (Discovery/ Productions; North One TV; Objective Productions; Maverick 2 340.20 269.40 +26.00 –– –– –– Liberty Global)2 Television; Optomen (inc One Potato Two Potato); Lion TV; Neal Street Productions; New Pictures Fremantle Media UK Thames; Talkback; Boundless; Retort; Newman Street; 3 144.40 147.10 –1.80 144.40 100.00 0.00 (RTL) Euston Films; Shotglass Media

4 Tinopolis 125.00 140.00 –10.70 210.00 60.00 40.00 Tinoplis Wales; Sunset+Vine; Mentorn (inc Folio); Firecracker Films; Pioneer Warner Bros TV Wall to Wall; Twenty Twenty; Renegade Pictures; Ricochet; 5 100.00 85.00 +17.60 –– –– –– Production UK Headstrong Left Bank Pictures; Gogglebox Entertainment; Silver River; 3 93.60 52.30 +79.00 6Sony –– –– –– Electric Ray; Stellify William Morris 7 63.50 61.80 +2.75 174.50 36.00 64.00 IMG Endeavour

8 Avalon Group4 61.84 58.43 +5.80 101.77 61.00 39.00 Avalon TV; Flame TV; Liberty Bell; Topical Television

5 Carnival Films; Monkey Kingdom; Lucky Giant; Working Title 10 NBCU 61.40 30.30 +103.00 180.00 34.00 12.00 Television; Chocolate Media; Heyday Television; Tellycopter

9 StudioCanal 21.00 35.00 –40.00 21.00 100.00 0.00 Red Production Company Remedy Productions; Leopard Drama; Leopard Films; 11 Argonon 20.00 30.00 –50.00 50.00 40.00 60.00 Argonon; BriteSpark Films; Transparent TV; Blacklisted; Windfall Films; The Bridge Red Arrow6 12 17.50 29.50 –40.67 18.40 –– –– CPL Productions; Endor; Nerd (Prosieben Group)

13 Marcus Evans Group 15.40 4.00 +285.00 16.00 96.00 4.00 World Productions

14 Discovery 19.55 21.20 –5.90 –– –– –– Betty TV; Raw TV

15 Zinc Media7 13.93 9.00 +54.80 –– –– –– Blakeway; Brook Lapping; Films of Record; Reef Television

Curtis Brown Group 16 8.60 –– –– 8.60 100.00 0.00 Cuba Pictures Holdings 1 Endemol Shine Group’s 2014 fi gure is combination of separate Endemol Shine submissions; 2 All3Media’s 2014 fi gures are revised from last year’s survey’s published fi gures, due to a change in its accounting policy 3 Sony fi gure is sum of Left Bank, Electric Ray and Gogglebox Entertainment turnover; 4 All Avalon companies are year to 30 June 2015; Avalon TV also made 172 hours of radio; 5 NBCU converted from submitted fi gure of $163.9m at current exchange rate; 6 Red Arrow fi gure is sum of CPL and Endor turnovers; 7 Zinc Media fi gure is sum of Blakeway, Brook Lapping, Films of Record and Reef turnovers. Zinc Media (previously Ten Alps) companies are year to 30 June 2015

16 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by

TOP US OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS Rank and company UK turnover Turnover % change 2015 (£m) 2014 (£m)

1 Endemol Shine (Twentieth Century Fox/Apollo) 409.80 425.00 -3.50

2 All3Media (Discovery/Liberty Global) 340.20 269.40 +26.00

3 Warner Brothers Television Production UK 100.00 85.00 +17.60

4Sony 93.60 52.30 +79.00

5 William Morris Endeavour 63.50 61.80 +2.75

6NBCU 61.40 30.30 +103.00

7 Discovery 19.55 21.20 –5.90

he merged Endemol Shine she says. “A couple of the businesses, T Group dominates the US consol- where we’ve now made some changes, idators table, beating nearest were part of the reason for that rela- rival All3Media by £69.6m. But ESG’s tively low fi gure. We’ve now got Layla £409.8m UK turnover is down on the Smith, Moira Ross, Deborah Sargeant Fortitude (Tiger Aspect – combined £425m fi gure reported by the and Ben Farrell at Objective, Michelle Endemol Shine) separate Endemol and Shine last year. Buck at Company – and new Maverick strong and “Underlying that, profi ts actually chief executive Simon Knight is getting Yalli. Its 2015 total increased,” says Endemol Shine UK into his stride. You can see that coming of £100m is a 17.6% chief executive Richard Johnston. through in development projects.” We’ve had increase on 2014 – but doesn’t take it “We’ve had a pretty successful year – Turton brushes off the view – a pretty back to its 2013 total of £110m. particularly in drama. Across the group, expressed by many in the industry – Close behind is Sony, which recently we have 19 dramas in various stages of that she overpaid for both Neal Street successful streamlined its operations by closing production, which is unprecedented.” and New Pictures. The purchase price year – Victory Television. Much of its success That includes Fortitude series two, from wasn’t disclosed for either deal, but was is down to Left Bank, which posted a Tiger Aspect label Fifty Fathoms, and rumoured to be around £40m each. particularly 79% increase in turn over to £93.6m. series three of Kudos’s Broadchurch. Is Turton confi dent that she paid in drama, Sony’s chief creative offi cer for inter- ESG does not disclose its profi t the right price for them? “Yes,” she with 19 in national production Wayne Garvie fi gures, but Johnston indicates they are says. “They are unbelievably strong points to Left Bank’s deal with Chinese up around 10% year on year. He says companies. Their development pipe- various broadcaster CITVC – under which it is there is still “a great culture here, great lines are stronger even than when we stages of developing scripts for a drama series in people”, despite the departure of bought them. With the types of pro- the English language, but set in China – several senior creative fi gures. With grammes they’re making, there are production as steps on the path to continued BBC Studios chief Peter Salmon replac- transformational opportunities, so RICHARD JOHNSTON growth. “We’ve been helped by having ing group president Tim Hincks, ESG we could do things with those pro- ENDEMOL SHINE an offi ce in Beijing, with people on the has pulled off a high-profi le scalp. grammes, with those pieces of talent, ground who can help us understand “Everyone here’s very excited,” says to get into the American market and the culture and politics of China – and Johnston. “Peter has a reputation as a onto some of the new platforms.” help Left Bank understand the kind of very nice person to work with. He and Next in the table is Warner Bros UK, content that works there,” says Garvie. Tim are both good with talent, and which now submits a global fi gure Among the US owners, NBC Univer- plugged in at the highest levels.” And rather than individual fi gures for its sal places sixth in terms of size but the most urgent thing in Salmon’s subsidiaries Wall to Wall, Twenty fi rst for growth, in percentage terms, in-tray? “As ever, how we grow the Twenty, Ricochet, Renegade, Head- on the strength of Carnival Films’ business; how we build it. The normal Downton Abbey and Monkey King- challenges of running an indie.” dom’s Made In Chelsea. Michael Edel- stein, president of NBC Universal All3Media progress International Studios, highlights All3Media’s fi gures, in its fi rst full year NBCU’s deep-pocketed ability to since being taken over by US fi rms defi cit-fi nance big productions. Discovery and Liberty Global, show “We intend to build out our scripted progress, despite a few blemishes. slate, which will be driven in part by As well as an increase in overall turn- some of our new scripted entities, such over, fuelled mainly by the Neal Street as Heyday Television, and our tri-partite and New Pictures acquisitions, like- production co-venture with RTL and for-like turnover increased by 1.7%, TF1,” says Edelstein. “On unscripted, from £269.5m to £274.2m. we are looking to create programmes But is that enough growth to satisfy specifi cally for the US market. Monkey chief executive Jane Turton’s US Kingdom already has two commissions bosses? “We’d like – and will have – Newlyweds (Monkey Kingdom – NBCU) from Bravo: Tour Group and returning bigger organic growth in the future,” series Newlyweds: The First Year.” ➤ broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 17 Indies 2016 Sponsored by

TOP OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS

TOP UK OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS Rank and company UK turnover Turnover % change 2015 (£m) 2014 (£m)

1 Tinopolis 125.00 140.00 –10.70 3 Avalon Group 61.84 58.43 +5.80 2 Argonon 20.00 30.00 –50.00 4 Marcus Evans Group 15.40 4.00 +285.00

5 Zinc Media 13.93 9.00 +54.80 6 Curtis Brown Group 8.60 –– –– BGT (Thames – Fremantle Media UK)

inopolis once again TOP EUROPEAN OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS T tops the UK consolidators’ chart, Rank and company UK turnover Turnover % change 2015 (£m) 2014 (£m) despite reporting a fall in income from 1Fremantle Media UK (RTL) 144.40 147.10 –1.80 £140m to £125m (which is still 2 StudioCanal 21.00 35.00 –40.00 higher than 3Red Arrow 17.50 29.50 –40.67 2013’s £110m). Executive chairman Ron Jones he European table is looking explains the fall by T a little short this year reference to the because Zodiak UK – fresh cyclical nature of TV from completing its merger with projects – particularly We were expecting Hinterland (Tinopolis Wales) French production house Banijay – sport, the bread and declined to provide turnover a drop. American butter of the group’s fi gures. Adding up the turnover of Idol ending has had biggest subsidiary, its subsidiaries (RDF, IWC, The Sunset+Vine (which had Foundation, Bwark, Touchpaper, a big impact on a stellar 2014 thanks to that much drama, which we per- The Comedy Unit and Bookhouse) our numbers its coverage of the Common- ceive as being higher risk.” suggests a slight overall decline – wealth Games). Second in the table, with UK CAROLINE MURPHY but that’s not the case, says Zodiak In 2015, Jones says, there was production revenues up 5.8% to FREMANTLE MEDIA UK chief executive Rod Henwood. “organic growth across the group £61.8m, is Avalon Group after “Those numbers all exclude in the UK and the US”. For future Twofour, last year’s number two the contribution made by rights, strategy and M&A. “We always growth, he points to US subsidiary with a £77m turnover, was swal- which is pretty critical – not just knew we were going into a period A Smith & Co, which makes Amer- lowed up by ITV Studios for a from the distribution company of refocusing the business away ican Ninja Warrior and the healthy price. Avalon joint manag- perspective, but also from the from some of these big entertain- upcoming Spartan – Ultimate ing director Jon Thoday seems in point of view of the bottom line ment formats – though they are Team Challenge for NBC. no mood to follow suit. of the individual production com- still holding up pretty well. We’ve “US broadcasters are seeing “I’m an entrepreneur and I look panies,” he explains. been reinvesting.” the huge impact of sport, particu- for opportunity. If you run a suc- Henwood points to a number of Fremantle has recently taken larly live sport, as a way of attract- cessful business, there’s always the successful programme launches in minority stakes in start-up indies ing audiences in a fragmented opportunity to sell it,” he says. “But 2015 that will only bear their full Full Fat TV and Naked Entertain- market,” he says. “Sports enter- there’s also plenty of opportunity fi nancial fruit in 2016 and onwards. ment. Murphy says “everybody’s tainment is the closest to that they to sell television shows – which is With BBC1’s Eat Well For Less?, on our radar” for acquisitions, but can fi nd – we’re seeing huge much more fun. I like TV shows, I BBC2’s Six Puppies And Us, ITV’s 100 the market for established drama growth in those genres.” like live shows, and I like seeing Year Old Drivers, Channel 4’s The production companies “has been More generally, Jones says, talent grow. We’ve managed [HBO’s Secret Life Of Four Year Olds and very frothy”. Fremantle won’t the Tinopolis group won’t join Last Week Tonight host] John Oliver Sky 1’s Wild Things, Zodiak had a “spend silly money”, she adds. the industry’s rush towards since he left university, and it’s very top-fi ve programme in the 8pm The turnover of StudioCanal’s drama. “Our strategy has always exciting to see that happen.” slot on every major network. UK subsidiary Red Production been to have a company based With Twofour now gone from Still fi rmly at the top of the Euro- Company dropped in 2015 after a around as many territories, genres the list, the UK owners’ table loses pean table is RTL-owned Fremantle stellar 2014 – but it is still one of and customer relationships as a giant – but gains a new entrant, Media – despite a 1.8% drop in the hottest drama indies around, possible,” he explains. “Not in the shape of Curtis Brown revenues from £147.1m to £144.4m. with Happy Valley currently airing because we suffer from megalo- Group Holdings. Its subsidiary, “We were anticipating that – on BBC1 and a new joint venture, mania, but because that’s what Cuba Pictures, posted a respect- American Idol ending has had a Final Twist Productions, recently keeps us safe in an uncertain able £8.6m turnover in 2015, big impact on our numbers,” says announced with bestselling US world. We’re not high-risk inves- thanks mainly to BBC1 drama Caroline Murphy, director of author Harlan Coben. tors – that’s why we don’t really do Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

18 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by

TOP US OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS Rank and company UK turnover Turnover % change 2015 (£m) 2014 (£m)

1 Endemol Shine (Twentieth Century Fox/Apollo) 409.80 425.00 -3.50

2 All3Media (Discovery/Liberty Global) 340.20 269.40 +26.00

3 Warner Brothers Television Production UK 100.00 85.00 +17.60

4Sony 93.60 52.30 +79.00

5 William Morris Endeavour 63.50 61.80 +2.75

6NBCU 61.40 30.30 +103.00

7 Discovery 19.55 21.20 –5.90

he merged Endemol Shine she says. “A couple of the businesses, T Group dominates the US consol- where we’ve now made some changes, idators table, beating nearest were part of the reason for that rela- rival All3Media by £69.6m. But ESG’s tively low fi gure. We’ve now got Layla £409.8m UK turnover is down on the Smith, Moira Ross, Deborah Sargeant Fortitude (Tiger Aspect – combined £425m fi gure reported by the and Ben Farrell at Objective, Michelle Endemol Shine) separate Endemol and Shine last year. Buck at Company – and new Maverick strong and “Underlying that, profi ts actually chief executive Simon Knight is getting Yalli. Its 2015 total increased,” says Endemol Shine UK into his stride. You can see that coming of £100m is a 17.6% chief executive Richard Johnston. through in development projects.” We’ve had increase on 2014 – but doesn’t take it “We’ve had a pretty successful year – Turton brushes off the view – a pretty back to its 2013 total of £110m. particularly in drama. Across the group, expressed by many in the industry – Close behind is Sony, which recently we have 19 dramas in various stages of that she overpaid for both Neal Street successful streamlined its operations by closing production, which is unprecedented.” and New Pictures. The purchase price year – Victory Television. Much of its success That includes Fortitude series two, from wasn’t disclosed for either deal, but was is down to Left Bank, which posted a Tiger Aspect label Fifty Fathoms, and rumoured to be around £40m each. particularly 79% increase in turn over to £93.6m. series three of Kudos’s Broadchurch. Is Turton confi dent that she paid in drama, Sony’s chief creative offi cer for inter- ESG does not disclose its profi t the right price for them? “Yes,” she with 19 in national production Wayne Garvie fi gures, but Johnston indicates they are says. “They are unbelievably strong points to Left Bank’s deal with Chinese up around 10% year on year. He says companies. Their development pipe- various broadcaster CITVC – under which it is there is still “a great culture here, great lines are stronger even than when we stages of developing scripts for a drama series in people”, despite the departure of bought them. With the types of pro- the English language, but set in China – several senior creative fi gures. With grammes they’re making, there are production as steps on the path to continued BBC Studios chief Peter Salmon replac- transformational opportunities, so RICHARD JOHNSTON growth. “We’ve been helped by having ing group president Tim Hincks, ESG we could do things with those pro- ENDEMOL SHINE an offi ce in Beijing, with people on the has pulled off a high-profi le scalp. grammes, with those pieces of talent, ground who can help us understand “Everyone here’s very excited,” says to get into the American market and the culture and politics of China – and Johnston. “Peter has a reputation as a onto some of the new platforms.” help Left Bank understand the kind of very nice person to work with. He and Next in the table is Warner Bros UK, content that works there,” says Garvie. Tim are both good with talent, and which now submits a global fi gure Among the US owners, NBC Univer- plugged in at the highest levels.” And rather than individual fi gures for its sal places sixth in terms of size but the most urgent thing in Salmon’s subsidiaries Wall to Wall, Twenty fi rst for growth, in percentage terms, in-tray? “As ever, how we grow the Twenty, Ricochet, Renegade, Head- on the strength of Carnival Films’ business; how we build it. The normal Downton Abbey and Monkey King- challenges of running an indie.” dom’s Made In Chelsea. Michael Edel- stein, president of NBC Universal All3Media progress International Studios, highlights All3Media’s fi gures, in its fi rst full year NBCU’s deep-pocketed ability to since being taken over by US fi rms defi cit-fi nance big productions. Discovery and Liberty Global, show “We intend to build out our scripted progress, despite a few blemishes. slate, which will be driven in part by As well as an increase in overall turn- some of our new scripted entities, such over, fuelled mainly by the Neal Street as Heyday Television, and our tri-partite and New Pictures acquisitions, like- production co-venture with RTL and for-like turnover increased by 1.7%, TF1,” says Edelstein. “On unscripted, from £269.5m to £274.2m. we are looking to create programmes But is that enough growth to satisfy specifi cally for the US market. Monkey chief executive Jane Turton’s US Kingdom already has two commissions bosses? “We’d like – and will have – Newlyweds (Monkey Kingdom – NBCU) from Bravo: Tour Group and returning Newlyweds: The First Year bigger organic growth in the future,” series .” ▼ broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 17

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TRENDS TRUE INDIES

Great Barrier Reef With David Attenborough (Atlantic Productions) Stick Man (Magic Light Pictures) Stability returns to market After much consolidation the previous year, 2015 was a relatively quiet period for ‘true indies’. But while the economics are improving, long-term sustainability remains a problem for many

ast year, the Broadcast Indie consolidation (Fremantle’s acquisi- producers in the list (82) but only one L Survey was all about the growth tions of Wildside and Abot Hameiri, quarter of revenues. This ﬁ gure has been in non-qualifying indies (NQIs), ITV’s buying of Talpa Media, and the stable for the past three years, though it as large independent production com- merger of De Agostini’s interests in is down on 2011, when three-quarters of panies were consolidated into major Zodiak and Banijay). However, in prac- The market the survey respondents were true indies, broadcast groups. This year’s survey tice, for the larger groups, 2015 was appears to accounting for a third of revenues. shows a more stable market. about restructuring, bedding down The market appears to be refresh- There have been some UK acquisi- acquisitions or driving organic growth. be refreshing ing itself with remarkable consistency. tions (ITV’s purchase of Mammoth So what is left for the ‘true indies’ itself with The number of new indies coming and Twofour and All3Media’s acquisi- not owned by larger groups to prove? remarkable into the Indie Survey (most of which, tion of Neal Street) plus international These account for just over half of the consistency though not all, are true indies) has MARKET SPLIT: QI VS NQI TRUE INDIE MARKET SHARE NEW INDIES AS % TOTAL

15% 23% 46% 49% 68% 76% 74% 76% 19% 85% 16% 77% 15% 14% 54% 51% 32% 24% 26% 24%

2011 2014 2015 2016 2011 2014 2015 2016 2011 2014 2015 2016

QIs NQIs True indies Other Based on 45 responses Based on 45 responses Based on 45 responses Sources: Prospero, Broadcast Sources: Prospero, Broadcast Sources: Prospero, Broadcast

22 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Cuba Pictures) been broadly consistent at about 15% under £2.5m and one in 10 generate of the total for the past three years. less than £1m per year. In addition, true indies’ average The bottom third are often over- revenues grew from £4.8m in 2011 to exposed to a small number of commis- £6.1m in 2016 (consolidated indie sions and funding development can be The bottom revenues have declined as smaller diffi cult. With PSB spend declining, true third are often indies have been acquired, and some indies must increasingly manage multi- owners, like ITV Studios, declined to ple commissioner relationships; diffi - over-exposed break down their companies’ fi gures). cult in a sub-scale business. Just under to a small True indie revenues are now one third 10% of the true indies surveyed agreed number of those of the consolidated groups, up that only by being sold or merging from one sixth in 2011. would they be able to survive another commissions While the number of true indies in fi ve years. So while the aggregate health and funding the top 50 halved from 20 in 2011 to 10 of the true indie is rising, sustainability in 2016, the overall economics are for the long tail remains a challenge. can be improving. Nearly 40% of true indies in diffi cult this year’s survey have revenues of more Tabitha Elwes is a partner with than £10m, versus less than 20% in 2011. Prospero, a strategy and advisory However, 60% of true indies have boutique specialising in media, revenues under £5m, one third earn sports and technology Critical (Hat Trick Productions)

NEW INDIES AS % TOTAL AVERAGE REVENUES (£M)

12% 17% 9%

23% 37% 27.5 27% 22.8 21.2 20.4

42% 33% 4.8 5.4 6.0 6.1

2011 2015 2011 2014 2015 2016 <£2.5m £2.5-5m £5-10m >£10m True Indies Others The Syndicate Based on 45 responses (Rollem Productions) Based on 45 responses Sources: Prospero, Broadcast Sources: Prospero, Broadcast broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 23 Indies 2016

BROADCASTERS Watershed moment for TV

BBC Studios, charter renewal and a potential privatisation of Channel 4 are the big issues for indies in this year’s survey as fears grow over government tinkering in ‘distinctive’ TV

Humans (Kudos); right: Countryﬁ le (BBC Productions)

t’s déjà vu time at the BBC, which indie criticised the BBC I fi nds itself back to square one in for chasing “naked com- its hunt for a head of BBC Studios mercialism” in the face following Peter Salmon’s departure to BBC Studios of government pressure that be dismantled – Endemol Shine. Whoever picks up the has the could erode the very Reithian values which I believe is not what any TV baton will fi nd themselves not only in on which it is built. producer wants to see.” charge of in-house drama, comedy, potential to “I worry that the BBC will not know Indies were notably more critical of entertainment and factual departments skew the UK what it is and what it should be doing,” the BBC this year, with more voting it that collectively turn over around said another. “It can’t be everything, the worst broadcaster to deal with £400m a year, but also fi re-fi ghting production which it is trying to be with BBC than in 2014. Turnover of senior staff the combative response of indies marketplace, Studios. In every section of the BBC, and structural changes, most notably already aggrieved by ITV Studios’ there is evidence of it being undecided the lack of a dedicated BBC2 controller, growing power in the market. giving the about what it is. It will make it incred- particularly rankled. There were “BBC Studios has the potential to BBC an unfair ibly fragile and eventually a target to worries that current perceptions of skew the UK production marketplace, advantage preferential commissioning, particu- giving the BBC an unfair advantage, HOW WORRIED ARE YOU larly in entertainment, and a general which could have an adverse effect on ABOUT C4 PRIVATISATION? (% ) feeling of being risk-averse would other aspects of the industry,” said one only be exacerbated by BBC Produc- indie, voicing concerns shared by Level of concern % tions entering the commercial fray. many respondents. Very 35 ITV Studios’ boom continued in What’s striking about the debate Quite 41 2015, with overall revenues passing over BBC Studios is that it goes Indifferent 10 the £1bn barrier for the fi rst time. against a general sympathy for an Turnover from its UK operations, Not very 9 embattled BBC and fears that the gov- including Big Talk Productions, Not at all 5 ernment is out to weaken it. For some, The Garden and So Television, grew it is a symbol of the high wire the cor- Based on 67 responses by 19% to £547m on the back of its poration is currently walking; one acquisition of the remaining 75%

24 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by SILVERBACK LTD FILMS THE BIG ISSUES INDIE VIEWS BBC charter renewal Potential C4 privatisation

“It will chase naked commercialism “A licence to be provocative would in the face of governmental pressure be hard to sustain in a totally to cut costs and relieve the Excheq- commercial environment.” uer of a funding burden. That takes away the point of the BBC as a public “A privatised Channel 4 would just be institution based on Reithian princi- another Channel 5 – no challenging ples, which has served to differenti- docs, no news, just commercial ate it globally and be a source of product whose only requirement will national pride.” be to generate a return.”

“The BBC seems to be at a point “C4 is a very special place dedicated where the only place left to go is to to innovation and experimentation, close more channels, which could and it’s set up to be fair to all suppli- certainly impact our business. If the ers. They are there to be copied by – government continues to impose and are copied by – all the other more fi nancial strain on the corpora- broadcasters. Any changes to that tion, the threat of channel closures could be devastating.” is sure to become a reality.” “A commercial broadcaster would “In a bid to please politicians, the not make the kind of diffi cult public programming could become so niche service fi lms we make. We piss off The Hunt (Silverback Films) that no one will watch it.” C4 advertisers and the channel still commissions us.” “If the cut in its funding will not BEST BROADCASTER TO DEAL WITH be matched by a cut in its breadth “It is not the act of privatisation (% SHARE) of operations, programme budgets itself that is an issue, but who would will decrease.” come in and take over. It could be I worry that Rank and company 2015 2014 fabulous, but it could also be terrible. 1= C4 22 20 “In time, it will lose its value as the Why run the risk for what seems to the BBC will 2ITV 21 26 greatest and most important cultural be little gain?” not know institution in the country.” 2= BBC 21 24 “It shifted away from its public what it is and 4C5 13.5 11 “It will be death by a thousand cuts.” service remit some time ago.” what it should 5= Sky 8 7 be doing 5= Discovery 8 7 7UKTV 3 5 of Mammoth Screen in May, followed privatisation (Broadcast, 11.03.16) by the completion of its Twofour pur- fi nds its echo in producers’ concerns 8Nat Geo 1.5 –– chase in June. But the transatlantic about C4 becoming a more bottom- 9= S4C 1 –– balance of its revenues fl ipped, with line chasing broadcaster. Others feel 9= BBC Alba 1 –– the UK now accounting for 47%, that horse has already bolted. Based on 67 responses down from 53% in 2014, due in part C4’s own empire-building has to ITVS’ purchase of the remaining been confi ned to minority stakes, 20% of US company Leftfi eld. but some have questioned its choice of WORST BROADCASTER TO DEAL WITH Channel 4, named Channel of the partners, from Jake Humphreys and (% SHARE) Year in the Broadcast Awards 2016, co’s Whisper Films to Andrew met with the usual gripes about Newman and Sacha Baron Cohen’s Rank and company 2015 2014 micromanagement and disempow- Spelthorne Community Television. 1 BBC 38 33.5 ered commissioners. But on the back Sky, meanwhile, added Blast! Films of a strong creative year, the tide is to its stable, where it sits alongside 2C4 30 43 turning and it has become the most 2014 investment Love Productions. 3ITV 10 4 beloved of broadcasters among But don’t label it a consolidator just 4C5 7 4 respondents, who see it as the bench- yet. “We are investing on behalf of Sky 5Sky 6 12.5 mark for risk-taking, innovation, and Vision to help build their distribution for commissioning outside of London. portfolio and we run the companies 6 Nat Geo 4 1.5 Indies worry how long this can at arm’s length,” a spokesman says. It 7= Discovery 2 1.5 last; as with the BBC, fears of govern- is backing winners: Love had the 7= Comedy Central 2 –– The ment tinkering are very real. The biggest show of the year again in 9= WGBH Nova (US) 1 –– “state of suspended anticipation” that Great British Bake Off and grew its Based on 53 responses chief executive David Abraham has turnover from £15.35m to £18.6m, found himself in over its potential while Blast! was up 64% to £14.8m. broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 25 Indies 2016

TOP SUPPLIERS

BBC FALLING BEHIND

BY HOURS Rank and company Hours Key shows

1 IMG Media 290 Snooker; Football League 2Cactus TV 148 Saturday Kitchen 3 Remarkable Television 147 Pointless; The £100K House; Two Tribes 4 Fremantle Media UK 134 Escape To The C’try; Gt British R’way Journeys 5 Lion Television 101 Homes Under The Hammer; Horrible Histories 6 12 Yard Productions 97 Eggheads; Perfection; Who Dares Wins 7Input Media 96 Women’s Football; Bowls World Ch’ships 8Slam Media 90 Darts; Snooker: Welsh Open 9 Mentorn 80 Question Time; Trafﬁ c Cops 10 Shine TV 76 The Box; Council House Crackdown Wolf Hall (Company Pictures)

he BBC has dropped to BY SPEND third place in the best T Rank and company Key shows broadcaster to work with ranking this year, and tops the 1 Wall to Wall The Voice UK; New Tricks; Who Do You Think You Are? worst broadcaster to work with 2 Fremantle Media UK The Apprentice; QI; Escape to the Country list for the fi rst time since 2013. 3 Tiger Aspect Cuffs; Together; Backchat; Boy Meets Girl A signifi cant and protracted restructure of the BBC’s factual 4Company Pictures George Gentley; Wolf Hall commissioning team last year, 5 Remarkable Television Pointless; The £100K House; Two Tribes along with uncertainty sur- 6 Shine TV MasterChef; Mary Berry’s Absolute Favourites rounding the direction of BBC3, Homes Under the Hammer has cemented existing frustra- (Lion Television) 7 Red Production Co Last Tango In Halifax; Danny And The Human Zoo tions among indies. 8 Red Planet Productions Dickensian; Death In Paradise; The Ark The structure of commissioning recently landed its biggest-ever remains in the spotlight as direc- order of daytime quiz Pointless. 9Hat Trick Have I Got News For You; Boomers; Episodes tor general Tony Hall prepares to While Sunset+Vine has 10 Love Productions GBBO; Sewing Bee; Great Pottery Throw Down dropped out of the table because unveil a major overhaul along *BBC brackets together FM UK companies under one banner genre lines at the end of the month. of pressure on the BBC’s sports Source: BBC The plan is to reduce the layers coverage, Shine TV has crept between programme-maker and back in with 76 hours of pro- WHAT THE INDIES SAY BROADCASTER RESPONSE commissioner, but indies have gramming, including Celebrity given mixed feedback on the MasterChef and The Box. PROS “Working to achieve a good Mark Linsey move’s impact on the commis- In the top suppliers by spend relationship with suppliers in the run- Acting director of television sioning process to date. category, Wall to Wall is again up to charter renewal.” The BBC worked with a total fi rst, with shows including its “They fund development fully – of 287 indies last year, up from penultimate series of The Voice unlike other broadcasters.” 276 in 2014. Of those, 56 were UK before ITV Studios takes it companies the broadcaster had on for ITV. “More responsive and transparent “At a time of profound change for never worked with before – up Tiger Aspect is in third place, thanks to revamped Pitch system the BBC, it’s more important than from 45 in 2014. after producing one series of and new commissioning editors.” ever for us to maintain a strong IMG Media remains at the top BBC1 police drama Cuffs before it “ToT are clear and adhered to.” relationship with all of our suppliers. of the table of top suppliers by was cancelled, as well as BBC3 We have worked hard with Commis- hours for the fi fth year in a row. romantic comedy Together and CONS “Little motivation to work in sioning to be more responsive and It produced a total of 290 hours BBC2 transgender comedy Boy entertainment and factual” transparent in all of our dealings of programming for the broad- Meets Girl. “Hard to get traction on projects – with producers in recent years, so caster in 2015, including snooker Meanwhile, Mentorn has and too many chiefs.” it’s great to see that refl ected here. and Football League coverage, dropped out of the spend table We’re aware that the breadth of making up 23% of the corpora- altogether after factual program- “Over-managed, slow, opaque and the BBC’s output and the volume tion’s indie-produced output. ming gave way to investment in labyrinthine.” of suppliers with whom we engage Cactus TV’s hours fell to 148 last drama, gifting Red Production can sometimes lead to delays, but “Still takes ages to get projects year, from 169 in 2014. Remarka- Company seventh place with Last we hope that the recent changes considered and commissioners don’t ble Television climbs to third in Tango In Halifax, Ordinary Lies to the way we run our channels will seem to have proper autonomy.” the table with 147 hours, and and Danny And The Human Zoo. help us improve further.”

26 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by

ITV LOSING GROUND

BY HOURS Rank and company Hours Key shows

1RDF Media 233 Dickinson's Real Deal; Tipping Point 2Thames 180 The X Factor; BGT; Take Me Out 3 Hungry Bear 56 1000 Heartbeats; Play To The Whistle 4 Lime Pictures 52 TOWIE; Life On Marbs 5= Talkback 32 Celebrity Juice; Keith Lemon Sketch Show 5= Princess Productions 32 Mel And Sue; Be Beautiful 7Olga TV 31 The Paul O'Grady Show 8ITN 30 The Agenda; Tonight 9Monkey Kingdom 22 Real Housewives Of Cheshire 10= Endemol UK 15 Get A Pet A Home; Big Box, Little Box 10= STV 15 Catchphrase; Vet School

BY SPEND Rank and company Key shows Tipping Point: RDF Media 1Thames The X Factor; BGT; Take Me Out 2 Carnival Downton Abbey TV’s sturdy performance that ITV Studios’ revenues from 3RDF Media Dickinson’s Real Deal; Tipping Point on indie relations in recent internal commissions grew 12% I 4Buffalo Pictures Doc Martin; Arthur & George years is a source of much to £411m. pride for former director of tele- Lygo’s close ties with ITV 5 Lime Pictures TOWIE; Life On Marbs vision Peter Fincham. Studios – and with Julian 6 Talkback Celebrity Juice; Keith Lemon Sketch Show With Kevin Lygo now at the Bellamy, who now runs the busi- 7 Bentley Productions Midsomer Murders; Harry Price: Ghost Hunter helm, there is already a change in ness – are unlikely to ease con- the air, with Richard Klein and cerns about the broadcaster 8 Kudos Broadchurch Elaine Bedell’s former wide briefs moving more work in-house. 9 Endemol UK Get A Pet A Home; Big Box, Little Box now split into four genre heads. ITV worked with 81 produc- For now, though, we must tion companies last year, one up 10 Hungry Bear 1000 Heartbeats; Play To The Whistle refl ect on last year. ITV has been on 2014. Of these, 23 were new to Source: ITV unseated as the best broadcaster ITV – up from 2014’s 12. to work with by Channel 4 and RDF Media again tops the pile WHAT THE INDIES SAY BROADCASTER RESPONSE moved up a place into third in as ITV’s top independent sup- PROS the worst broadcaster stakes, plier by hours on the back of “Clear lines of authority – Kevin Lygo not too much red tape.” Director of perhaps refl ecting some dissatis- shows including daytime quiz television faction with the performance of Tipping Point. While its number “Very clear and decisive. They factual and entertainment. of hours has crept up marginally, pay well and they don’t piss about “They appear to have an iden- Spun Gold has fallen out of the with edits.” tity crisis and really don’t know table completely after the axe fell what their factual needs are,” as on The Alan Titchmarsh Show. “Quick decisions, supportive and “I’m really excited to be leading the one producer said. One of the biggest new little arguing over budgets.” ITV network and am looking forward Others, however, were upbeat entrants into both tables is “Makes a long-term commitment to working with brilliantly talented about some of the factors that Hungry Bear Media. It is third to projects.” and creative producers and further helped ITV be crowned the best in the hours table and 10th in developing ITV’s strong relation- broadcaster to deal with in 2014 biggest producers by spend after CONS “Don’t know what their ships with the indie sector.” and 2013. Indie bosses remarked making 1000 Heartbeats and Play factual needs are. Overly focused on the company’s quick decisions To The Whistle. on a typical viewer and not pre- and collaborative approach to ITV again spent the most pared to go with gut instinct. Every- commissioning. money with Thames, but with thing seems to revert back to an ITV spent around £260m with Britain’s Got Talent and The X audience algorithm that even they the indie sector in 2015, a fi gure Factor coming up for renewal don’t understand.” that has remained fl at for three this year, who knows whether the “Lack of clarity in drama priorities years. In-house spend, mean- broadcaster will commit similar and narrowness of vision.” while, continued to creep up levels of cash to these jugger- and ITV’s full-year results show nauts in future. “Unless you’re Shiver, why bother?” ▼ broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 27 Indies 2016

TOP SUPPLIERS

CHANNEL 4 CREATIVE COMEBACK

BY HOURS Rank and company Hours Key shows

1ITV Studios 331 Countdown; Come Dine With Me

2 IMG Media 329 Channel 4 Racing

3 ITN Productions 310 Channel 4 News; Dispatches

4 Remarkable Television 189 Deal Or No Deal

5 Princess Productions 161 Sunday Brunch

6 Lime Pictures 129 Hollyoaks

7Studio Lambert 88 Gogglebox; How To Get A Council House

8 Freeform Productions 78 A Place in the Sun

9 Remedy Productions 74 Fifteen To One

Hunted (Shine TV) 10 Open Mike Productions 65 Alan Carr Chatty Man; The Last Leg

hannel 4 has gone up in the indie community’s BY SPEND C Rank and company Key shows estimation, with survey respondents naming it this 1 Lime Pictures Hollyoaks year’s best broadcaster to deal with. It comes after C4 spent 2 ITN Productions Channel 4 News; Dispatches two years at the top of the worst 3ITV Studios Countdown; Come Dine With Me broadcaster table. A total of 22% 4Twofour The Jump; Educating Cardiff; Kitchen Impossible of producers rated C4 the best, forcing last year’s top dog ITV 5 Open Mike Productions Alan Carr Chatty Man; The Last Leg; Comedy Gala The Last Leg (Open Mike) into joint second place with the 6 Remarkable Television Deal Or No Deal; Million Pound Drop BBC, with 21% apiece. Indies singled out C4 commis- will work on C4’s Paralympics 7Studio Lambert Four In A Bed; How To Get A Council House sioners for their focus, passion and programming. The broadcaster 8 Zeppotron 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown; Alt Election concise vision. The engagement of also pledged to ring-fence six of 9New Pictures Indian Summers commissioners, support for inno- its 12 apprenticeships and 18 of vative programming and desire to its 60 work-experience place- 10 Shine TV Hunted; The Island With Bear Grylls collaborate were also highlighted, ments for disabled people. Source: Channel 4 with one producer praising C4’s ITV Studios has jumped three “great creative leadership”. Not all places to become C4’s top sup- WHAT THE INDIES SAY BROADCASTER RESPONSE feedback was positive, however. plier by hours, producing 331 Some 30% still rate C4 as the hours of shows in 2015, includ- PROS “Creatively conﬁ dent and Jay Hunt worst broadcaster to do business ing Countdown and Come Dine supportive of small indies.” Chief creative With Me ofﬁ cer with, second only to the BBC. . The 16% increase “The clearest and most consistent. Many of last year’s complaints pushes former top-spot holder They have the most new slots and were reiterated, with indies IMG into second place. are not messing around with bemoaning a lack of decision- Studio Lambert is up two restructures, which makes them making, long delays in commis- places to seventh after producing an attractive port of call.” “It’s great to see Channel 4 getting sioning projects and bad 88 , while Hunted and The Island lots of positive feedback from communication. One indie boss With Bear Grylls put Shine TV in “The most sympathetic supporter indies on our creative track record slammed C4’s comedy depart- the top 10. Sunset+Vine and of nations and regions.” and the clarity of our commission- ment in particular for being North One have both dropped CONS “Arrogance and fear runs ing. There’s always more we can “incredibly slow and uninspiring”. out of the top 10, making way for rife, resulting in knee-jerk deci- do to make sure we are the best But C4 triumphed where many Freeform Productions, which pro- sions, unachievable objectives partners we can be, but these A Place In The Sun other broadcasters fell short: duces , and and the unspoken threat that results are encouraging. I’m par- diversity. The launch of its 360° Open Mike Productions, which complain too loudly and you won’t ticularly pleased that smaller sup- Alan Carr Chatty Man Diversity Charter mapped out makes . work for them again.” pliers and companies from the 30 targets. C4 says it achieved 24 Hollyoaks producer Lime Pictures nations and regions feel genuinely of these, or they were generally is C4’s top supplier by spend. “You’re kept in limbo by ludicrous welcome at the channel.” on course, by the end of 2015. The exact 2015 commissioning time delay in commissioning.” The charter also led to the spend and the number of indies “Genre commissioners have appointment of 23 entry-level C4 worked with will not be known no real power.” candidates with disabilities who until its annual report in May.

28 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by

CHANNEL 5 MAKING PROGRESS

BY HOURS Rank and company Hours Key shows

1 Princess Productions 529 The Wright Stuff; The Saturday Show 2 ITN Productions 362 News; On Beneﬁ ts 3Initial 256 Big Brother 4 Sunset + Vine 76 Cricket 5 Ricochet 72 Cowboy Builders 6 Crackit Productions 33 20 Moments That… 7Raw Cut 25 Police Interceptors 8North One 21 The Gadget Show 9 Knickerbockerglory 20 GPs Behind Closed Doors Cowboy Builders (Ricochet) 10 Middlechild Productions 19 The Dog Rescuers

hannel 5 is a broadcaster Endemol Shine Group-owned BY SPEND C in transition, and while Princess Productions remained Rank and company Key shows many of its main suppliers C5’s biggest supplier, in terms remained the same in 2015, it has of hours. The Wright Stuff pro- 1Initial Big Brother started to get to grips with life ducer grew its business with the 2 ITN Productions News; On Benefi ts under its new owner. broadcaster from 502 hours to 3 Princess Productions The Wright Stuff; The Saturday Show Viacom will hope that its 529, thanks to the two-hour pledge to invest in a “double- The Saturday Show. 4 Crackit Productions 20 Moments That… digit” programming increase will Police 5 producer ITN Produc- 5The Garden 10,000 BC help it turn around the fortunes tions, Big Brother producer Initial, 6 Sunset + Vine Cricket of the channel, whose overall Police Interceptors indie Raw Cut share (including its +24 channel) and The Gadget Show producer 7 Ricochet Cowboy Builders fell by 2.7% over the 12 months. North One all kept steady busi- 8North One The Gadget Show Although this was a smaller ness, while Objective, which pro- 9 Knickerbockerglory GPs Behind Closed Doors decline than ITV’s and BBC2’s, duced 32 hours of list shows in director of programmes Ben 2014, has fallen out of the top 10. 10 Twofour The Hotel Inspector Frow fi nds himself in a diffi cult Jonathan Stadlen’s Knicker- Source: Channel 5 position: keen to broaden the bockerglory enters the top 10 channel’s range of programming for the fi rst time thanks to hit to fi nd new audiences and format GPs: Behind Closed Doors WHAT THE INDIES SAY BROADCASTER RESPONSE improve its perception, without (below), as does Middlechild PROS “Quick decisions and a gutting the station of its popular Productions on the back of The Ben Frow clear strategy.” Director of tabloid staples. Dog Rescuers. programmes Opinions were divided on Cowboy Builders has helped “Transparent and direct.” Frow and his team. Some 13.5% Ricochet move into the top sup- of producers named C5 the best plier list along with Crackit Pro- “Ben Frow is willing to take risks.” broadcaster to deal with, up from ductions, which made list shows CONS “Uncompromising rights last year’s 11%. But the number including 20 Moments That…. terms, low tariffs and unnecessary “We revamped our commissioning that named it the worst also grew, C5 has also started restrictions around the way budg- process to deliver clarity, transpar- almost doubling from 4% to 7%. to address its regional ets are managed.” ency and speed, and I’m reassured Producers applauded Frow’s balance. In 2014, it that our indie partners are seeing quick decision-making and trans- spent 90% of its “Very slow with contracts.” the benefi t. We are currently taking parency, but complained about £200m programming “They change titles and transmis- steps to speed up the approval of low tariffs and an “intransigent” budget with sion dates at short notice.” contracts and production budgets business affairs department. London-based and this will bear fruit in the next C5 worked with 74 indies last fi rms. That has few months. Channel 5 is on an year, 20 of them for the fi rst time. dropped to 86%, exciting journey and I’m encouraged Qualifying indies accounted for with English to hear that the production commu- 22% of its total output, a fi gure producers nity is beginning to appreciate and that may rise after it revealed outside of the buy into our creative ambitions. plans to become stricter when M25 making There are signifi cant opportunities striking deals with non-qualify- up 12% of for indies who are passionate, ing fi rms. commissions. enthusiastic and ambitious.” broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 29 Indies 2016

TOP SUPPLIERS

SKY GROUP ORIGINAL FOCUS

BY HOURS Rank and company Hours Key shows

1 Shine TV 40 The Force: Essex; The Force: Manchester 2Directors’ Cut 23 South Bank Show/Awards 3 Crackit Productions 20 Stop, Search, Seize A League Of Their Own; Sport’s Funniest 3CPL 20 Moments 5 IWC Media 18 Wild Things; Fake 6Magnum Media 16 Duck Quacks Don’t Echo 7 Working Title 14 You, Me And The Apocalypse; Yonderland 8Storyvault 13 Sky Arts Landscape Artist Of The Year

You, Me And The Apocalypse 9 TwentySix03 10 Bring the Noise (Working Title) 9 Carnival 10 Lucky Man

ky has “blown right BY SPEND through” its commitment S Rank and company Key shows to spend £600m a year on British programming, according 1 Working Title You, Me And The Apocalypse; Yonderland to managing director of content 2 Carnival Stan Lee’s Lucky Man Gary Davey. 3Neal Street Pictures Penny Dreadful One of Davey’s main roles since replacing Sophie Turner 4 Red Production Co The Five Laing has been to assure the 5 Kudos The Tunnel; Sabotage UK production sector that the 6Tidy Pictures Stella pay-TV broadcaster still has an appetite for originations. 7Warp TV The Last Panthers The broadcaster maintains Wild Things (IWC Media) that its year-on-year invest- 8Rough Cut TV Trollied; Little Start Up ment in original content – this New entrant Shine TV, fi gure covers the production of which makes The Force: Essex 9CPL A League Of Their Own sport and news and international and The Force: Manchester, was 10 Baby Cow Mid Morning Matters; Hunderby; Camping rights for Sky Vision, but not Sky’s largest supplier with 40 Source: Sky sports rights or US acquisitions – hours, replacing fellow Endemol is “growing faster than ever”. Shine indie Princess, which WHAT THE INDIES SAY BROADCASTER RESPONSE It points to the 363 new drops out of the table due to the commissioned hours for the decommission of Got To Dance, a PROS “Straightforward and Gary Davey 2015/16 fi scal year, highlighting year after The Face was axed. supportive – fast decisions and Managing director the continued success of shows Stop, Search, Seize indie clear about their requirements.” such as CPL’s A League Of Their Crackit, Wild Things producer “They value their suppliers and Own, Magnum Media’s Duck IWC Media, Yonderland producer their commitment to arts in Quacks Don’t Echo and Story- Working Title Television, Bring general is refreshing.” vault’s Landscape and Portrait The Noise indie TwentySix03 and “I am pleased that indies see us Artist Of The Year series. Lucky Man producer Carnival are “Easy to deal with at every as supportive and easy to deal Davey also had to manage the all new entries to the list. stage of the commissioning with. As a team, we are very clear departure of programming fi gure- Sky’s most expensive shows and production process.” about what our channels and head Stuart Murphy last year. included Working Title’s You, CONS “They don’t know what commissioning strategies are as Channel heads Adam Macdonald Me And The Apocalypse, Carni- they want.” our investment in original program- (Sky 1/Living), Zai Bennett (Sky val’s Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, ming grows. Sky has more than Atlantic) and Phil-Edgar Jones Neal Street’s Penny Dreadful “They make you do lots of 100 original dramas in develop- (Sky Arts) have been given more and Red’s forthcoming crime development work with no result, ment or production. We rarely, if responsibility, along with genre caper The Five. pretending to have more money ever, ask people to do a lot of heads Anne Mensah (drama), Some 8% of producers to spend on original commissions development work at their own Celia Taylor (non-scripted) and named Sky the best broadcaster than they actually do.” cost. Building partnerships with Jon Mountague (comedy). to work with, up from 7% last the production community is really Sky worked with 85 producers year, and 6% thought it was the important to us and if anyone ever last year and there was a major worst, down from 12.5% the has any problems, I am more than change to its top 10 suppliers. previous year. happy to talk them.”

30 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by

UKTV EMBRACING IDEAS

watershed year for UKTV, WHAT THE INDIES SAY which doubled the number A PROS “They work well with our of hours ordered from its top supplier to capitalise on the success model and respond quickly.” of US format Storage Hunters. “They value commissions.” North One Television produced almost 40 hours of the auction- “Experienced and approachable.” Singing In The Rainforest based show, which pulled in audi- (Gogglebox Entertainment) ences of up to 1 million. BROADCASTER RESPONSE Phil McIntyre grew the number of hours it supplied, bolstered by Richard Watsham Director of commissioning BY HOURS the return of Alan Davies As Yet Untitled. Liberty Bell doubled its “We’ve had our heads down Rank and company Hours Key shows this past year at UKTV, expanding hours after landing new shows 1North One 39.5 Storage Hunters UK; Legends Of Stand-Up The Money Pit and Pub Landlord v our output into new genres such 2 Phil McIntyre Prods 24 Alan Davies As Yet Untitled; Dynamo A-Z Nigel Farage. as scripted comedy and sport, UKTV proved its commitment which has enabled us to broaden 3Liberty Bell 17.5 Dave Gorman’s Modern Life Is Goodish to embracing new ideas by part- our relationships with talented 4UMTV 14.5 Red Bull Soapbox Race nering with a clutch of indies for people both in front of and behind the ﬁ rst time, including Me & the camera. We’re lucky enough 5Objective 8 Honey, I Bought The House You Productions (Hoff The Record), to work with some of the very 5 RDF Television 8 Humble Pie Gogglebox Entertainment (Singing best producers, writers and stars, In The Rainforest) and Baby Cow and to be able to offer them com- 5 Tiger Aspect 8 Crackanory parable budgets to other broad- (Undercover). 8 Avalon TV 6 Taskmaster It also has a ﬁ rm eye on the casters, but at the same time, 9 Gogglebox Entertainment 5 Singing In The Rainforest diversity of talent working on its opportunities they might not shows – both on- and off-screen. get elsewhere.” 9 Renegade Pictures 5 World’s Most Talented

DISCOVERY ALL CHANGE

iscovery Networks The international factual October Films overtook Raw D International went broadcaster worked with 70 UK TV to become DNI’s biggest sup- through a major producers, down from 78 the plier, with 53 hours. New top 10 personnel shake-up in 2015. previous year. This included fi ve entrants include Salvage Hunters Marjorie Kaplan came in as new suppliers: Rough Cut TV, producer Curve Media, Body president of global content, Kate Beal’s Woodcut Media, Bizarre indie Barcroft Produc- while executive vice-president fl edgling fi rm Screen Glue, and tions, Blast! Films and Icon Films. Salvage Hunters and chief creative offi cer Phil kids’ producers Winduna Enter- DNI was named best broad- (Curve Media) Craig departed. prises and Three Arrows Media. caster to deal with by 8% of indies.

BY HOURS WHAT THE INDIES SAY BROADCASTER RESPONSE Rank and company Hours Key shows PROS “Quick to respond and they Marjorie Kaplan 1 October Films 53 Jodie Marsh On… now have a clear identity.” President of content, DNI 2Raw TV 52 Free Ride “Clear remit and good feedback.” “This is an amazing time to be a content creator, and DNI is proud 3 Curve Media 46 Salvage Hunters “Supportive and open to ideas.” to receive such strong recognition 4Endemol Shine 34.5 Idris Elba: No Limits “Efﬁ cient in taking decisions.” from the production community. As content commissioners, we 5 Barcroft Productions 26 Body Bizarre CONS “No payment for overruns.” always try to break new ground and 5Arrow 26 Sherpa having a collaborative culture is key to that as we want to be the ﬁ rst 7 Windfall Films 23 Railroad Alaska destination for producers with 8Wag TV 20 Devonport: Inside The Royal Navy exciting and innovative ideas. We 9Blast! Films 19 Web Of Lies hope producers will know that their shows will get better because of 10 Icon Films 18.3 River Monsters our partnership.”

broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 31 Sponsored by

CHANNEL 5 MAKING PROGRESS

BY HOURS Rank and company Hours Key shows

hannel 5 is a broadcaster Endemol Shine Group-owned BY SPEND C in transition, and while Princess Productions remained Rank and company Key shows many of its main suppliers C5’s biggest supplier, in terms remained the same in 2015, it has of hours. The Wright Stuff pro- 1Initial Big Brother started to get to grips with life ducer grew its business with the 2 ITN Productions News; On Benefi ts under its new owner. broadcaster from 502 hours to 3 Princess Productions The Wright Stuff; The Saturday Show Viacom will hope that its 529, thanks to the two-hour pledge to invest in a “double- The Saturday Show. 4 Crackit Productions 20 Moments That… digit” programming increase will Police 5 producer ITN Produc- 5The Garden 10,000 BC help it turn around the fortunes tions, Big Brother producer Initial, 6 Sunset + Vine Cricket of the channel, whose overall Police Interceptors indie Raw Cut share (including its +24 channel) and The Gadget Show producer 7 Ricochet Cowboy Builders fell by 2.7% over the 12 months. North One all kept steady busi- 8North One The Gadget Show Although this was a smaller ness, while Objective, which pro- 9 Knickerbockerglory GPs Behind Closed Doors decline than ITV’s and BBC2’s, duced 32 hours of list shows in director of programmes Ben 2014, has fallen out of the top 10. 10 Twofour The Hotel Inspector Frow fi nds himself in a diffi cult Jonathan Stadlen’s Knicker- Source: Channel 5 position: keen to broaden the bockerglory enters the top 10 channel’s range of programming for the fi rst time thanks to hit to fi nd new audiences and format GPs: Behind Closed Doors WHAT THE INDIES SAY BROADCASTER RESPONSE improve its perception, without (below), as does Middlechild PROS “Quick decisions and a gutting the station of its popular Productions on the back of The Ben Frow clear strategy.” Director of tabloid staples. Dog Rescuers. programmes Opinions were divided on Cowboy Builders has helped “Transparent and direct.” Frow and his team. Some 13.5% Ricochet move into the top sup- of producers named C5 the best plier list along with Crackit Pro- “Ben Frow is willing to take risks.” broadcaster to deal with, up from ductions, which made list shows CONS “Uncompromising rights last year’s 11%. But the number including 20 Moments That…. terms, low tariffs and unnecessary “We revamped our commissioning that named it the worst also grew, C5 has also started restrictions around the way budg- process to deliver clarity, transpar- almost doubling from 4% to 7%. to address its regional ets are managed.” ency and speed, and I’m reassured Producers applauded Frow’s balance. In 2014, it that our indie partners are seeing quick decision-making and trans- spent 90% of its “Very slow with contracts.” the benefi t. We are currently taking parency, but complained about £200m programming “They change titles and transmis- steps to speed up the approval of low tariffs and an “intransigent” budget with sion dates at short notice.” contracts and production budgets business affairs department. London-based and this will bear fruit in the next C5 worked with 74 indies last fi rms. That has few months. Channel 5 is on an year, 20 of them for the fi rst time. dropped to 86%, exciting journey and I’m encouraged Qualifying indies accounted for with English to hear that the production commu- 22% of its total output, a fi gure producers nity is beginning to appreciate and that may rise after it revealed outside of the buy into our creative ambitions. plans to become stricter when M25 making There are signifi cant opportunities striking deals with non-qualify- up 12% of for indies who are passionate, ing fi rms. commissions. enthusiastic and ambitious.” ▼ broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 29 Indies 2016

NATIONS AND REGIONS Tough times outside London Out-of-London indies suffered a 21% drop in revenues in 2015 on average and produced nine hours less TV. Will Strauss reports

ith all of the ITV-owned Twofour the average was up 5% to 77, and 59% made W fi rms now absent from the nations more hours of programming (31% made less). and regions results, a direct year-on- Just over half the companies reported a rise in year comparison of the demand from out-of- turnover. However, for those with less shows London indies cannot be made. or less money, the drops were signifi cant. The average income for an out-of-London England’s regions, again, were the hardest hit, indie in 2015 fell by 21% to £7.7m. But compar- with Maidstone’s The Foundation down from 40 ing the 22 companies that submitted fi gures for hours to 21, Leeds’ True North from 70 to 41, and both 2015 and 2014 shows a much healthier Southampton’s Topical Television from 31 to 19. drop of just 3%. All Welsh indies in the survey did better than Nations and regions indies had an average (or at least as well as) the previous year. Hollyoaks (Lime Pictures) of 65.1 hours of original programming broad- The 10 biggest out-of-London indies again cast on UK television in 2015, versus 74 in took home the lion’s share of the £239m overall 2014. Among those 22 common companies, nations and regions revenue, pocketing 73%.

NATIONS AT A GLANCE REGIONS AT A GLANCE

increased revenues year-on-year, including SCOTLAND THE NORTH A Place In The Sun producer Freeform Produc- 274.5 hours £29.1m 330.5 hours £102.6m tions, which brought home 124% more cash in 2015 than it did in 2014. WALES SOUTH-WEST “It’s just the timing of commissions,” says 1,065 hours £36.4m 128 hours £36.4m director Antoine Palmer. “We make long- running series and they don’t fi t neatly into SCOTLAND SOUTH-EAST the fi nancial years.” They are “genuinely bus- Two of Scotland’s biggest indies – IWC Media 201 hours £25.1m ier doing different series in 2016”, he adds. and STV – both posted declines in 2015, as THE MIDLANDS Another south-east company on the up is did The Comedy Unit, which slumped by 41%. 47 hours £9.4m Eastleigh’s Woodcut Media, owned by Stitch- On the fl ip side, Tern Television – from its combe Productions. Formerly Talent TV South, bases in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Belfast – the company’s fi rst full year of trading as Wood- had an excellent year, with increases in both Both Lime Pictures in Liverpool and Manchester’s cut went swimmingly, in part due to additional original programming hours and turnover (up Nine Lives Media had more content on TV in bodies selling and developing, but also thanks 22%). One quarter of Scottish indies said 2015. The latter had what chief executive Cat to the use of different funding models such as they ended the year less confi dent about the Lewis describes as “our best ever year”, with invest funding and premium pre-sales packages. future than a year ago. £170,000 profi t and turnover up 20%. The challenge for Woodcut as a regional BBC cutbacks are a major concern, as is Dark clouds loom on the horizon, however. indie, argues chief executive and joint crea- the potential infl uence of BBC Studios and “I don’t think 2016 will be as good for us,” tive director Kate Beal, is retaining talent the possible privatisation of Channel 4. “If it she says. “The BBC is commissioning less when there are so few producers on the happens, C4’s responsibility for commission- because of the licence fee cuts and Channel 5 south coast. “We can swap with Topical in ing from the nations and regions is likely to is commissioning fewer popular docs.” Southampton, but that is about it,” she says. be eroded,” said one indie boss. Gains were generally small outside of “The short journey from London is a bonus London, with one very obvious exception: though as people can do a reverse commute. WALES Bristol’s Plimsoll Productions was up 379%, They will go where the work is.” Tinopolis Wales and Rondo Media both catapulting it into the higher echelons of the With so few indies in the Midlands, and just increased turnover in 2015, and the latter nations and regions table for the fi rst time. two in this survey, not many conclusions about had 41 more hours on TV than in the previous The young company’s success was based at the region can be drawn. It’s worth noting, how- 12 months. Rondo is on a continual upward least partly on a bold approach of employing a ever, that All3Media’s Maverick Tele vision is curve: from 378 hours in 2012 to 442 in crop of well-connected and well-paid ‘business now the joint ninth-biggest out-of-London indie, 2015. Swansea’s Telesgop also increased its winners’. “When I looked around the room at with £9.1m in turnover. In the 2011 Indie hours last year, but turnover fell almost 11%. the very beginning of the company, it was a Survey, it was the fi fth biggest, with revenues Welsh indies are a happy bunch too: high-risk strategy but it has paid dividends,” of £16m and 107 hours of original programm- 100% of those surveyed ended the year says managing director Christine Owen. ming. There has been a well-documented more confi dent about the future (although All but one of the south-east indies, many production downturn in Birmingham in that not every indie answered that question). within an hour’s train ride of London, period. A coincidence? It seems unlikely.

32 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by

L-R: River Monsters (Icon Films); Catchphrase (STV Productions) REGIONAL INDIES TOP 32 Rank and company Locations Turnover Turnover % change UK turnover % of total Key shows 2015 (£m) 2014 (£m) (£m)

1Lime Pictures (All3M)! Liverpool 61.60 60.90 +1.10 54.10 87.80 Hollyoaks; TOWIE; Evermoor Chronicles

2 Red Production Co (StudioCanal) Manchester 21.00 35.00 –40.00 21.00 100.00 Cucumber; Banana; Prey

3 Tinopolis Wales (Tinopolis) Llanelli 16.10 14.80 +8.80 16.10 100.00 Hinterland; Heno; Prynhawn Da

4Off The Fence Bristol 14.43 14.00 +3.10 2.60 18.00 Destination Wild; Wildest Middle East; Gorongosa

5 Rondo Media Cardiff 14.16 14.10 +0.40 13.95 98.50 Rownd a Rownd; Underage And Gay

6IWC Media (Zodiak) Glasgow 12.00 13.00 –7.70 –– –– Wild Things; Location ,Location, Location

7 The Foundation (Zodiak) Maidstone 10.00 11.00 –9.10 –– –– Millie Inbetween; Mister Maker's Arty Party

8True North2 Leeds 9.50 9.43 +0.70 9.20 96.80 Building the Dream; Junior Vets On Call

9Maverick TV (All3M) Birmingham 9.10 12.50 –27.20 6.30 69.20 Born Naughty?; Dinosaur Britain

9 Plimsoll Productions Bristol 9.10 1.90 +379.00 7.00 76.90 Pets Who Hate Vets; Deadly Instinct

11 STV Productions Glasgow 8.41 13.30 –36.70 6.50 77.30 Antiques Road Trip; Catchphrase; Safeword

12 Icon Films Bristol 7.80 8.10 –3.70 1.30 16.70 The One Show; River Monsters

13 Rollem Productions Leeds 6.24 5.92 +5.30 4.38 70.20 The Syndicate

Aberdeen/ Treasures of Indus; Air Ambulance; Beechgrove 14 Tern Television3 5.50 4.50 +22.20 4.70 85.50 Glasgow/Belfast Garden; Big Fish Man; Cyber Crime

15 Freeform Productions4 Chorleywood 4.70 2.10 +124.00 4.30 91.50 A Place In The Sun; A Place In The Sun

16 Avanti Media Cardiff 4.30 –– –– 4.30 100.00 Urdd; DCDC; Jonathan; Model Builder

17 Tigress Productions (Endemol Shine) Bristol 3.80 5.89 –35.40 3.50 92.10 Nigel Slater: Eating Together; Crowd Control

Pound Shop Wars; Dispatches; I Am Leo; Britain’s 18 Nine Lives Media Manchester 3.24 2.52 +19.90 3.24 100.00 Flashiest Families; Age Gap Love Napoleon; Cars That Rock; Teen Bingers; 19 Back2Back TV5 Brighton 2.62 2.72 –3.70 2.62 100.00 Cars That Rock

20 Topical Television (Avalon) Southampton 2.05 2.05 +0.20 –– –– The One Show; Caught Red–Handed

21 The Comedy Unit (Zodiak)6 Glasgow 2.00 3.40 –41.20 –– –– Scot Squad; Burnistoun; Limmy’s Christmas

22 Novel Entertainment Oxford 1.89 –– –– 1.37 72.40 Horrid Henry; Cinemaniacs; Cine–Minis

23 Telesgop7 Swansea 1.86 2.08 –10.70 1.86 100.00 The Story of Indie; Ffermio; Royal Welsh Show

24 Woodcut Media8 Eastleigh 1.68 0.65 +158.00 –– –– The Krays: The Prison Years; Combat Trains

25 Screenchannel Television (Rare TV) Glasgow 1.60 1.80 –11.10 1.60 100.00 Fake Britain; The Sheriffs Are Coming

26 Lambent Films Brighton 1.53 –– –– 1.52 99.20 Dead Behind Bars; The Special Needs Hotel

27 Testimony Films Bristol 1.30 1.50 –13.30 1.10 84.60 Britain’s Greatest Generation; Wales In The 80s

28 Blakeway North (Zinc Media)9 Manchester 1.10 1.60 –31.30 –– –– Benidorm ER; Benefits And Bypasses

29 Firecrest Films Glasgow 0.70 0.36 +94.40 0.70 100.00 Supershoppers; Dispatches; Panorama

30 Colonial Pictures Jersey 0.65 0.65 0.00 0.30 46.20 A Time For Greatness With Morgan Freeman

Eileanan Fraoich; Fuine; The Scots At Waterloo; 31 Caledonia TV Glasgow 0.46 0.42 +8.40 0.46 100.00 Kerry’s Kirsty

32 Wavelength Films Norwich 0.32 –– –– 0.28 87.50 Andrew Marr on Churchill; Sean Bean on…

1 All3Media’s 2014 ﬁ gures are revised from last year’s survey’s published ﬁ gures, due to a change in its accounting policy (except for new acquisitions Neal Street and New Pictures); 2 True North is forecast to 31 March 2016; 3 Tern Television is year to 31 March 2015; 4 Freeform Productions is year to 31 December 2014; 5 Back2Back is year to 30 April 2015; 6 The Comedy Unit also made 7 hours of radio; 7 Telesgop is year to 31 December 2014; 8 Woodcut Media is year to 1 February 2016; 9 Zinc Media companies are year to 30 June 2015 broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 33 Subscribe today to save 20%

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THE ONES TO WATCH The new crop of hit-makers

With credits including BBC1 Le Carré thriller The Night Manager, Sky 1 music panel show Bring The Noise and C4’s Formula 1 coverage, we proﬁ le 10 UK indies on their way up

BAD WOLF focusing on large-scale entertainment formats SPELTHORNE COMMUNITY TELEVISION Famously named after a plotline from the and fact-ent series, particularly reality and quiz C4 raised eyebrows when it dipped into its fi rst series of the revived Doctor Who, which shows. Gorman has brought his former C4 col- Growth Fund to back an indie from its former they shepherded onto screens, Jane Tranter and league Hannah Dodson in as head of develop- head of comedy and entertainment Andrew Julie Gardner’s indie is staying with fantasy for ment and will work closely with Rob Clark, Newman and the man behind Ali G, Sacha its fi rst major commission. A multi-series adap- director of global entertainment at Fremantle Baron Cohen. Newman described it as “a tation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Media, with whom he previously worked on leap of faith” to leave his role as Objective “couldn’t be a bigger statement of intent” for ITV’s Surprise, Surprise. chief executive and C4 has called it the fi rst the Cardiff and LA-based company, Gardner “true start-up” in which the fund has invested. has declared. Fantasy is also on the menu for SISTER PICTURES The indie will produce Baron Cohen’s new another project, The Warlord Chronicles, a While Stephen Garrett keeps busy with Charac- projects, as well as eyeing opportunities for trilogy based on the King Arthur legend by ter Seven, his fellow former Kudos executive new talent to make what it describes as The Last Kingdom author Bernard Cornwell. Jane Featherstone has set up this drama indie, “innovative, different and edgy” comedy fl anked by Kudos development executive Katie and entertainment shows. BIGGER BANG Carpenter. What’s more, ex-Shine Group chief Former Darlow Smithson executives Ben executive Liz Murdoch is close to backing the TWENTY SIX 03 Bowie and Iain Riddick formally revealed they venture. Sister will have a co-production credit Former ITV and Sky commissioner Duncan had set up this multi-genre indie in January, on Kudos’ third series of ITV’s Broadchurch and Gray shunned start-up investment and with six-part National Geographic series has a divorce lawyer series, The Split, in devel- distribution deals to launch this entertainment Genius By Stephen Hawking as their calling opment with Abi Morgan, creator of Kudos hits indie, which announced itself with Sky 1 music card. Their heartland may be in specialist The Hour and River. panel show Bring The Noise. Gray has said he factual, but the pair are also developing The Night Manager was energised after escaping the “hamster (Character Seven) drama projects and entertainment formats wheel of development and broken dreams” for global audiences. when he stood down from Princess Productions in January 2014, describing his new venture as CHARACTER SEVEN “an exciting runway of creative fulfi lment.” Kudos co-founder Stephen Garrett is back with this scripted indie, two years after step- WHISPER FILMS ping down as executive chair of the Spooks This sports indie has been around since 2010 producer. Character Seven co-produced but its stock rose in 2015 when it secured BBC1’s The Night Manager alongside The investment from C4’s Growth Fund – and Ink Factory, but its next project shows the then in January this year, when it beat North scale of its ambitions: a London-set super- One to the broadcaster’s £30m Formula 1 natural thriller for US VoD service Hulu contract. Founded by former IMG and BBC with Lionsgate and Twilight author Steph- executive Sunil Patel, BT Sport presenter anie Meyers’ Fickle Fish on the Rock. Jake Humphrey and ex-Formula 1 driver David Coulthard, the indie has made BBC1 FULL FAT TELEVISION doc Racing With The Hamiltons: Nic In The Former Remarkable Television co-managing Driving Seat and highlights of ITV4’s coverage director Colette Foster hopes to spark a renais- of DTM German Touring Cars. Helping to sance in TV production in the Midlands with realise its ambitions is Mark Cole, the former her new indie. Foster’s back catalogue of chief of BBC1’s Match Of The Day, who Birmingham shows includes 10 Years Younger, recently joined as head of television. Embarrassing Illnesses, The Clothes Show and Gardeners’ World. She has made it her “per- YOUNGEST MEDIA sonal imperative” to unearth emerging talent Liz Murdoch is also backing former in the region. Endemol Shine UK chief creative offi cer David Flynn and ex-Endemol UK chief MAN ALIVE executive Lucas Church’s indie, which Fremantle Media has taken a 25% stake in specialises in primetime and daytime enter- this entertainment and fact-ent indie, set up tainment and fact-ent formats – plus apps by former Channel 4 head of entertainment that could evolve into TV brands. The pair Justin Gorman. Marking his move back hope to rejuvenate entertainment with a into production after fi ve years at C4 – he data-based model that monitors consumer was previously an executive producer at reaction throughout the development and Objective Productions – Man Alive is production process. broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 35 Indies 2016

PEER POLL Love still the one to beat

Last year’s winner is again top of the poll after applying its winning Bake Off formula to the world of pottery, while boutique Minnow sits joint second alongside a resurgent Keo

1 LOVE PRODUCTIONS

Last year’s ranking 1 A second year at the top for the Sky-owned producer of TV’s biggest show of 2015, The Great British Bake Off. Love has taken elements of the evergreen cookery format into sewing and pottery and is Success admired for its simultaneously intelligent and entertaining begets self-help formats. success, Meanwhile, it has continued but they still to ask thorny questions about contemporary Britain in manage to Channel 4 shows such as the think bold second series of Beneﬁ ts Street. Less noisily, it has demonstrated a winning touch with celebrity- led popular factual formats such as ITV’s Weekend Escapes With Warwick Davis and Channel 4’s For The Love of Cars. This is an indie at the top of its game and peers heaped praise upon its “versatility and hit rate”. As one rival put it: “Success begets success, but they still The Great British Bake Off manage to think bold.”

2= KEO FILMS 2= MINNOW FILMS

Last year’s ranking 8= Last year’s ranking New Keo has shot back up the list after a year in which it This was the year in which winningly mixed popular factual and campaigning Minnow made the trans- docs. Channel 4’s Broadcast Award-winning The formation from the boutique Romanians Are Coming and BBC3 series Excluded: company hinted at in its Kicked Out Of School were among the most acclaimed name to a serious player in documentaries of the year and it continues to be the factual series. envy of its peers for its ability to tackle difﬁ cult sub- As one peer put it: jects in innovative ways without ever dumbing down. “They’re impressive ﬁ lm- makers who consistently deliver must-see programming with great access and production values.” One particular standout The Detectives was BBC2’s The Detectives, a stripped series that employed the visual and new wave of so-called ‘box- Life And Love On Disability narrative language of drama set factual’. Campus both impressed as to unpeel some uncomfort- Meanwhile, Channel 4 “modern takes on documen- The Romanians Are Coming able truths behind a police series SAS: Who Dares Wins tary formats”, in the words investigation, part of the and BBC3’s The Unbreakables: of one indie.

36 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk Sponsored by

4 THE GARDEN PRODUCTIONS CREAM OF THE CROP 6 TWOFOUR

Rank and Company Points

1 Love Productions 22 2= Keo 18 2= Minnow 18 4The Garden 16 5Wall to Wall 14 6Twofour 12 7Red 11 8= Studio Lambert 10 8= Raw 10 Canal Trip 10 Big Talk 9 Last year’s ranking 2 Indies were asked to name their top three. The ITV Studios-owned factual indie maintained They were then ranked, with three points its top-fi ve placing for the third year running and awarded for fi rst, two for second and one for third. made the shortlist for Best Independent Production Company at the Broadcast Awards. This was a year in which it gripped viewers with BEST OF THE REST the real-life cop drama of 24 Hours In Police Custody, which made use of the indie’s fi xed-rig skills to shine a light on the interrogation room. In September, the new format was recommissioned for 16 hours as part of a blockbuster 50-episode order that included 34 episodes of C4 staple 24 Hours In A&E. A world away from the rig, it also ushered in BABY COW “Consistently BBC4’s ‘Slow TV’ strand with the popular Canal strong output.” Trip and, at Christmas, Sleigh Ride. “Consistently strong, editorially and entrepreneurially”, was one SHINE TV “For delivering two peer’s verdict, while another praised its “good, well- of the best recent new factual executed ideas and well-run business”. entertainment formats in The Island and Hunted.” 5 WALL TO WALL SUNSET + VINE “Their Last year’s ranking 7 growth story since 1997 Drama, entertainment and social-historical factual is an inspiration.” continues to prove a winning formula for Wall to The Vote Wall, which is much loved for its quality of ideas, TESTIMONY FILMS production values and business nous. “Consistently high-quality On its 2015 slate was BBC2’s provocative histori- content from boutique indie.” Last year’s ranking 3= cal drama The Scandalous Lady W, and immersive Another ITV-owned indie whose output continues historical formats Time Crashers (C4) and Back In TIGER ASPECT “An to impress, Twofour once again straddled genres Time For Dinner (BBC2). On top of this, The Voice interesting raft of shows and broadcasters. It won plaudits for its sensitive UK rolled on and the company continued to serve up that feel innovative – quality Channel 4 factual series Dementiaville, while pulling new series of C4’s Child Genius and Italy Unpacked, programmes across a range off the fi rst live fi xed-rig broadcast of a theatrical play, while The Gift joined Long Lost Family in ITV’s of genres.” The Vote, which aired on More 4 on election night. primetime line-up. E4’s structured reality show Taking New York was “They continue to innovate and create new and TRUE NORTH “For building on another string to its bow, while returners The Jump, genre-defying formats,” said one rival. a UK regional base to create Educating…, The Housing Enforcers and The Hotel an international production Inspector all point to an indie fi ring on all cylinders. business.” “They’re brilliant creatively and they’re commer- cially successful,” said one indie. “Plus they seem ➤ WHISPER FILMS “For having like genuinely nice and decent people.” a go at trying to break sports producers’ monopoly.”

WINDFALL FILMS “For their integrity and passion”

For the latest indie productions Child Genius and commissioner proﬁ les, visit greenlight.broadcastnow.co.uk

broadcastnow.co.uk 18 March 2016 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 37 Indies 2016 Sponsored by

PEER POLL

7 RED PRODUCTION COMPANY

Last year’s ranking 3= new lead, and teamed Once again the most- up once again with its loved pure drama Shameless and Clocking company, Red kicked Off alumnus Danny off a great year with Brocklehurst on the A hard- Channel 4’s attention- recently recommis- grabbing trio of sioned multi-character hitting Cucumber, Banana and BBC1 series Ordinary slate of Tofu, which marked Lies. Its partnership the return of Russell T with versatile screen- offbeat Davies to British screens. writer Sally Wainwright dramas Elsewhere, it teamed also continued to pay that up with Lenny Henry dividends. to deliver his pseudo- Drama rivals looked widen the autobiographical BBC1 on at a “phenomenal, audience one-off Danny And The hard-hitting slate” of Human Zoo, reconﬁ g- “offbeat dramas that ured ITV’s Prey with a widen the audience”. Cucumber

8= STUDIO LAMBERT 10 BIG TALK PRODUCTIONS

Last year’s ranking 8= up its sleeve with E4’s “Studio Lambert has Tattoo Fixers. One of the brought the format back to sleeper hits of the year, it factual programming,” one quietly built its audience of producer pronounced. It’s jaw-dropped viewers to hard to argue with that, more than 1 million. with the tightly produced With international Gogglebox continuing to mega-format Undercover smash it in the ratings – Boss and Four In A Bed still often at the expense of rolling on, one factual BBC1’s 9pm comedy hour. entertainment rival

Tattoo Fixers The All3Media-owned declared: “They still producer had another ace deliver the best formats.”

8= RAW TV

Last year’s ranking 5 Raw’s “consistent quality”, as one rival put it, Cockroaches remains a benchmark for those indies looking to blur genre boundaries. The Dis- Last year’s ranking New covery-owned producer’s creative high this A new entry in our top 10, Big Talk showcased year was arguably Channel 4 single drama another striking array of comedies in 2015 that Cyberbully, which once again demonstrated demonstrated what one indie called its “con- Raw’s ability to tap into contemporary issues sistently high-quality output”. Following a from a new angle to reveal new truths. 2014 pilot, Caitlin Moran’s well-received C4 Meanwhile, its popular factual credentials sitcom Raised By Wolves landed with conﬁ - were on display for the BBC’s The Truth dence and a swift recommission, while ITV2’s About Your Teeth and ITV’s Britain’s Busiest Cockroaches, from Bad Education co-creator Airport – Heathrow. and Broadcast Hot Shot Freddy Syborn, was a As a transatlantic indie, it continued to make distinctive show set in a post-apocalyptic world. great strides in the US with Women In Prison The indie’s slate is arguably even more for Investigation Discovery and ESPN’s The exciting this year: following C4’s house-share Prince Of Pennsylvania, the true story behind comedy Crashing, there is ITV’s major drama the Oscar-nominated movie Foxcatcher. series Houdini & Doyle to look forward to, plus “Raw remains an excellent model for how to BBC2’s Mum, Stefan Golaszewski’s ﬁ rst sitcom Cyberbully grow a business,” said one respondent. since the indie’s BBC3 hit Him And Her came to an end.

38 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 18 March 2016 broadcastnow.co.uk

AT THE INDIE SUMMIT 17 March 2016 Picturehouse Central, London