In The Frame – July ’17

Netflix has announced it has more than 100 million subscribers across the world and is now valued at £60 billion. The company now has more subscribers outside the US than within, and is expected to increase its spending on foreign content, having already created local original series for different countries or languages, such as Ingobernable, described as House of Cards meets Narcos based in Mexico. The show has been watched by millions of subscribers outside Mexico and has helped boost Netflix app downloads in Latin America, where growth had declined.

VR broadcasting has taken another step closer to the mainstream, with the recent Barcelona/Real Madrid game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami broadcast live in virtual reality in the US. And German telco Deutsche Telekom is working with Swedish video solutions provider Accedo to establish a mass-market VR platform for live concerts.

BT Sport has extended its relationship with Yospace, which specialises in server-side dynamic ad insertion in live and on-demand streaming. Read more about TV advertising’s battle with the online tech giants.

Ofcom’s latest annual report has been published, informing us that young people watch a third less TV on sets as they move online, older adults continue to tune in – and they feel programme standards have fallen. The full report is here.

BBC News

News involving the BBC this month has been dominated by the publication in the corporation’s annual report of the highest-paid broadcasters’ salaries. It revealed that two thirds of those earning more than £150,000 are male. Female stars have called on the BBC ‘to sort gender pay gap now’, while the disparity has been defended by others. Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s director of content, said, “We are operating in an increasingly global market”, and Casualty actor Tom Chambers defended his co-star, Derek Thompson, who is the highest-paid actor on the corporation’s list, said “men earn higher salaries as they are breadwinners”. The full annual report is here while the list of salaries is contained in this annex.

Further fall-out following the report’s publication has led to growing pressure on Ofcom to force the BBC to increase diversity. The corporation says about 14 per cent of its staff are from a ‘black, Asian or minority ethnic’ (BAME) background, but Lenny Henry claimed the number of BAME people responsible for making programmes is “probably closer to 1.5 per cent”, adding: “This is the dirty secret of what our industry really looks like behind the camera.”

And finally…

• Jon Snow is to deliver the prestigious MacTaggart lecture at next month’s Edinburgh Television Festival.
• Chiswick-based media services company TVT has bought Amsterdam’s DMC from AMC Networks International to “leapfrog” its competition into IP
• EasyJet boss Carolyn McCall has been named as the new ITV chief executive, succeeding Adam Crozier, who stepped down from the broadcaster at the end of June.
• Legendary manager of Liverpool FC Bill Shankly is to be profiled in a new BBC documentary, Shankly: Nature’s fire, which is scheduled for completion in the autumn.
• BECTU is campaigning to ensure that every VFX artist working on motion pictures and TV dramas will receive a credit for their contribution to the film.
• Glastonbury will take a fallow year in 2018 and the BBC is to fill the gap with a music festival of its own across the UK.
• A live, weekly music show is coming back to BBC TV, to be made by James Corden’s company
• Former world heavyweight boxing champion David Haye’s Hayemaker Ringstar company has agreed a three-year deal with UKTV channel Dave to show at least five-fight cards a year

From the latest news to the latest positions – click here to see Frame 25’s most recent additions to its list of available TV jobs