Children’sTV to get a £60m funding boost
CHILDREN’S television is on course to receive a £60m boost amid deep concern about falling investment.
In a move welcomed by Welsh broadcasters, programme-makers will be able to receive up to half of the production and distribution costs of original television shows from the new fund.
The cash is coming from “unspent funds from the previous licence fee settlement”. It is understood there will be a particular focus on developing programmes from the “nations and regions” of the UK.
Wales is home to some of the most iconic children’s television productions of recent decades, including SuperTed and Fireman Sam. But a major report by Ofcom into public service broadcasting laid bare the challenges facing the sector.
The communications regulator found that spending on new UK children’s programmes crashed by 31% between 1998 and 2014, adding in its 2015 report: “The BBC is now virtually the sole investor in new UK nonanimation children’s programmes.”
The new cash will be available for programmes shown on commercial public service broadcasters, as well as for “other free and widely available channels and on-demand platforms”, and could be used to fund online shows.
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said high-quality children’s television “plays a vital role in stimulating learning and giving young people a greater understanding of the world around them”.
John McVay, of Pact, the trade association for independent media companies, explained that “cash will be distributed over three years as part of a pilot starting in 2019. Programmes from new and diverse backgrounds, and those made in the nations and regions, will be a particular focus.”
Robin Lyons, who is the managing director of Cardiff-based Calon and has credits including SuperTed, Hilltop Hospital and Hana’s Helpline, said that advertising restrictions made it “difficult for commercial channels to justify expense on programming for children”.
He added: “Even public channels rely on co-production partners to fund anything ambitious in children’s slots and this has meant there is more and more reliance on the potential of children’s TV to generate toy and book spin-offs.”
Mr Lyons said that any increase in budgets would “help retain output and quality” but he pointed towards major changes which have seen the likes of Netflix and Amazon gain new influence, saying “children, like the rest of us, are no longer watching so much television”.
He said: “They are growing up with a plethora of devices with which they can access content. Video ondemand channels do not have the same restrictions on advertising that national broadcasters have.”
Ceredigion Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake voiced concerns, saying: “This funding, whilst welcome, cannot undo the damaging cuts to children’s television output over the past 10 years. Wales of course has a strong track record in terms of developing and producing children’s television programmes, which have then been exported to a world-wide audience.”
Mr Lake wants to see the “devolution of broadcasting powers from Whitehall to Wales” so the “Welsh Government could develop a true focus on Welsh needs, and invest in the Welsh creative industries to deliver both cultural and economic benefits”.
However, Amanda Rees, S4C’s creative content director, said: “Since the channel was established in 1982, S4C has championed and valued its children’s output, and as a major investor in children’s programming in the UK we welcome any further investment and look forward to hearing more details about the scheme. We continue to put great emphasis on developing new and original programmes for children as one of the cornerstones of the S4C schedule.”
Iestyn Garlick, chairman of Teledwyr Annibynol Cymru (TAC), which represents independent TV production companies in Wales, said: “Any extra funding for children’s content is obviously welcome, not least as some Welsh production companies are expert in this area, and we welcome the emphasis on productions from the nations and regions. We hope this will include proposals for both English- and Welsh-language content, although not in any way to replace current public funding for S4C.”
Setting out how the fund will operate, Pact’s Mr McVay said: “The BFI has been provisionally appointed as administrator for the fund, and will work with government on its final design, including whether the fund should include other genres in its scope.”