In The Frame August '20

Tom Pammenter Published: 29.08.2020 Industry news

This month's latest news across the industry.

Streaming/Online/Tech

An estimated 12 million adults gained access to a new SVoD subscription during lockdown, with about three million accessing a streaming service for the first time, according to Ofcom’s third annual Media Nations report. Some of these new users were in older age groups, who typically watch a lot more broadcast TV than younger people.

A survey by video advertising platform Unruly shows that more than three quarters (77%) of UK consumers say they would rather watch TV programmes free with ads than pay for an ad-free service.

New research from the Industry Trust for IP Awareness shows that those who illegally download or stream content are at a higher risk than ever of suffering negative consequences such as viruses, hacking, identity theft and fraud. According to the data, more than half of current copyright infringers have fallen victim to at least one of these adverse effects, a significant increase from 2019.

ITV is to partner with InfoSum to make the 30 million users of ITV Hub available as target audiences for advertisers. Neither ITV nor InfoSum will need to exchange first-party data sets (customers’ information gathered from sources such as the companies’ websites, apps, surveys or social media channels). The move is part of ITV’s plan to launch an addressable advertising platform, Planet V, later in the year.

BBC News

Tony Hall gave one of his final speeches as BBC director general at the virtual Edinburgh TV Festival this month. Hall reflected on his legacy and the role of public service broadcasting in the UK. Appointed director general on 22 November 2012, Hall will be replaced by Tim Davie next month.

Grounded with Louis Theroux was the most popular BBC Sounds podcast between April and June 2020. Data for the year’s second quarter, during which 313 million plays of radio, podcasts and music mixes were served, reveals an average weekly audience of 3.4 million users across the app, website and voice-activated devices.

It's been a record period for BBC iPlayertoo: in the first half of 2020, there were 3.1 billion requests to stream programmes on the service, up by 47% on the previous year. iPlayer’s success, according to Charlotte Moore, the BBC's director of content, has been driven by BBC One. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, she said: “BBC One and iPlayer are inextricably linked…In the year ahead, BBC One will continue to fuel the growth of iPlayer even further.”

BBC Two is to document the creation and evolution of the Premier League from 1992 to 2000 in a 4x60' documentary series, The Premiership: A Whole New Ball Game (working title).

And finally...

UK Screen Alliance has updated its guidance for clients attending edit and grading sessions. It includes input from Screen Alliance members as well as the DCMS, the British Film Commission, BFI, PACT and BECTU.
Broadcast asked a range of post-production facilities about their policies and procedures for encouraging gender and ethnic diversity, as well as their ability to accommodate disabled employees, as part of the publication’s Post-production Diversity Survey 2020.
ITV has been recognised as one of The Times’ Top 50 Employers for Women. The broadcaster is facing relegation from the FTSE 100 after an advertising collapse which has resulted in its value falling by more than half this year, to £2.5 billion.
Summer Redstone, the controlling shareholder of ViacomCBS, the parent company of Paramount Pictures, CBS television and various cable networks, has died, aged 97.
Channel 4 has been awarded the UK rights to broadcast the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Sky has confirmed that Sky Arts will become free-to-air on 17 September. It’ll be available on Freeview (channel 11) and Freesat (channel 147).
David Olusoga, the historian, academic, broadcaster, writer and producer, delivered this year’s MacTaggart Lecture during the virtual Edinburgh TV Festival. Olusoga reflected on his experiences as a black broadcaster and argued racism has led to a “lost generation” of minority ethnic people in the UK TV industry. Watch the full speech below: