Brain drain to Netflix ‘could mean curtains for BBC drama’
THE BBC could find it increasingly difficult to produce quality drama because of competition from new digital outlets such as Netflix and Amazon, senior executives have warned.
The corporation fears that the purchasing power of new providers is creating a brain drain of talent away from its own productions.
That raises the prospect that the BBC will find it much harder to make awardwinning drama series such as Happy Valley, Line of Duty and War & Peace.
Craig Holleworth, the BBC’s head of business, drama, films and acquisitions, has warned that the rising costs of producing quality drama will limit its ability to compete. Speaking at the MIA Market TV and film conference, in Rome, he said: “I wonder when the bubble will burst, at some point it probably will. [With] rising prices … about five years ago we could make a programme for under £1million, now they’re costing two, three, four million.
“It’s incredible how much the market has changed with inflation, driven in the UK by tax credits and the rise of Netflix and Amazon.
“It’s difficult for a public service broadcaster, particularly when funding is limited. We’ve had the same licence fee for around eight years, so it is about how we partner with people to meet those budgets.”
Mr Holleworth added that streaming services such as Amazon and Netflix – as well as rival terrestrial broadcasters – were increasingly luring talent away from the BBC.
“Are we getting the best writers and producers when there’s so much opportunity there? It has become more difficult,” he said. “It’s not just about Netflix or Amazon. ITV, Channel 4 in the UK and American broadcasters are picking up our best talent.
“Will we ever get it back? I think a lot of the power sits with writers at the moment, they’re setting up their own companies, I haven’t seen that before. I think the next two years we’ve got of this co-production model, then I won- der if we’ve plateaued. I hope the bottom doesn’t drop out of the market at that point.” Damian Keough, from the independent production company Lookout Point, which produced War & Peace, Ripper Street and To Walk Invisible for the BBC, said dramas such as The Crown – Netflix’s series about Queen Elizabeth II – had raised the stakes for other programme makers.
He said: “At the moment there are lots of buyers with deep pockets. Some of the most successful shows don’t cost that much money, but the threshold of quality when you’re making period [dramas] – we’re making quite a lot of period – is set by shows like The Crown, and you cannot make a show that looks like The Crown without spending a lot of money.”
Mr Keough added: “At the moment, because there are buyers willing to put that level of finance in it’s good, but it does make me nervous and it doesn’t seem to be steady, it seems to be rising.”
Series one of The Crown was said to be the most expensive TV series ever made, with a budget of £100million. Series two, which will be available from Dec 8, is set to top that, with a reported budget of as much as £200million.
The conference heard that the imminent prospect of Facebook, Google and Apple making TV programmes and films could lead to a further transformation of the broadcasting sector.
A spokesman for the BBC said: “The licence fee gives us the freedom to enable creative talent to take risks and do their most ambitious work on the BBC; we are confident we can compete in an ever-changing market and our co-production partnerships allow the licence fee to go further, while importantly supporting the UK creative industry.”