Leading UK TV Execs Say There Are Too Many Production Companies: “There Isn’t Enough Money & Hours To Keep Everyone Alive” – Edinburgh

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A trio of British TV behemoths have said there are too many production companies as the middle falls out of the market. Banijay UK boss Patrick Holland, It’s a Sin exec Nicola Shindler and BBC iplayer/channels chief Dan McGolpin all roundly agreed that the amount of work currently in the ether is unsustainable for the number of indies when questioned during this morning’s big panel at the Edinburgh TV Festival. “You can’t sugarcoat it,” said McGolpin. “There aren’t enough money and hours to keep everyone alive.” Holland said “in terms of sheer economics there are too many indies for the amount of hours,” while Shindler posited that “there are a lot of talented people who aren’t getting a look in.” The issue has been perennially debated on Edinburgh panels down the years but during today’s debate it felt particularly stark.

Some of the biggest names in the TV world used the Back from the Brink panel to debate risk aversion, streamers and the changing face of the workforce in the multi-billion pound industry. “You will end up with an elite class of people” Edinburgh Exec Chair Fatima Salaria argued consistently and passionately for British TV to continue to be diverse and not become the preserve of premium content in the face of market contraction and a tricky ad market. “For me, in terms of the workforce you will end up with an elite class of people who will make elite, high-class premium factual and drama,” she said. “They will be the winners and we will end up in a situation in which a lot of the stuff the BBC and Channel 4 values could end up on cable, or a UK version of what cable is.” Salaria, who recently joined The Responder indie Dancing Ledge to mastermind its factual drama push, was flagging the issue of