In The Frame – May ’15

Netflix has begun to invite ideas from UK independent production companies for the first time, having previously only worked with select producers when it’s been approached with specific projects. The California-based company wants content for all of its 80 territories, including the US, UK, Australia, Europe and Latin America.

The increasing influence, growing customer numbers and disruptive nature of Netflix, as well as Amazon and other streaming services, are factors in US cable company Charter Communications’ decision to buy Time Warner Cable.

Charter hopes the deal, which values Time Warner Cable at $78.7bn (£52bn), will help them expand their services beyond their current six-million customer base and compete more effectively with other cable companies, such as Comcast (which currently has about 27 million customers), as well as the likes of Netflix. However, the deal “could still be rejected”, as it is likely to come under regulatory scrutiny.

The recent Mayweather/Pacquiao fight, staged in Las Vegas earlier this month, was notable for more than just the $74 million in gate receipts, five million pay-per-view sales and $10,000 (£6,776) ticket prices.

The big winner on the night, according to many, was Periscope, the new live video streaming app recently acquired by Twitter (and also, but to a lesser extent, Periscope’s rival, Meerkat).

One fight fan at the MGM that night, streaming the bout via his phone, is reported to have attracted 10,000 viewers to his Periscope broadcast.

We have a full feature coming soon on this story but, that night, Periscope might just have changed the broadcast rights game forever.

BBC News

The TV licence debate took another twist this month when it was reported – first by the Sunday Times then, the following day, the Daily Mail – that “1,000 people a day avoid the fee by watching online”. The Guardian, however, claimed that “very little of that is strictly true”. The charter is up for renewal in 2016.

The BBC’s Global iPlayer, meanwhile – introduced in July 2011 – is to shut down on June 26. Offering some ad-supported free content, Global iPlayer generated most of its revenues from subscriptions but was never released in the United States – reports suggested that American cable providers threatened to drop the BBC America channel if the Global iPlayer were made available.

A two-hour BBC show featuring nothing more than a journey down a canal has proved an unlikely hit with viewers, possibly marking the emergence of a new genre: ‘slow TV’.

The Canal Trip was filmed in real-time and contained no commentary, music or presenter and nothing more exciting than passing boats, changing scenery and the occasional passer-by in the distance walking along the towpath. It drew nearly double BBC Four’s usual number of viewers.

Finally, Top Gear is set to be remade in Italy after BBC Worldwide struck the show’s first international format deal since the fracas surrounding Jeremy Clarkson.

ITV News

Last month,, we brought you news of ITV’s reported talks to acquire the television division of the Weinstein Company. This month, however, those talks look like they didn’t go anywhere. While it’s thought that ITV remains interested in adding scripted assets to its portfolio, the broadcaster has decided that TWC is not the right fit.

Production workers at ITV, meanwhile, went on strike this month in a dispute over pay. Members of Bectu and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) voted in favour of industrial action and formed picket lines outside studios in London, Salford, Cardiff and Birmingham.

And finally…

• The Football League has signed “groundbreaking” broadcasting agreements with Channel 5 and ITN Productions and expanded its fibre-optic network – move the League reckons will “transform the viewing experience for fans”
• Ant & Dec won two Baftas at this month’s awards ceremony for the second year in a row. Other winners included Graham Norton, Jessica Hynes and Coronation Street. Click here for the full list of winners and runners-up
• Never Mind the Buzzcocks is to end after 18 years and 28 series. The BBC has dropped the show after a revamp in 2014 failed to improve ratings
• Latest additions to join the DPP (Digital Production Partnership) include Channel 5/Viacom, Ericsson, Pebble Beach, Sohonet, Sony, Tektronix and post-production facilities dock10, Envy, The Edit Store and OutPost. (Will this DPP initiative work? – a Frame 25 special from April 2014 – is here))
• Oscar- and Emmy-nominated writer, director and producer Armando Iannucci is to deliver the MacTaggart keynote lecture at this year’s Edinburgh International Television Festival in August
• Sweden’s Modern Times Group has moved its UK playout operation from West Drayton on the outskirts of London – its home for the past 20 years – to Chiswick “for the opportunity to make significant changes to key technology”
• Theresa May’s proposal to give Ofcom counter-extremism powers to vet British broadcasters’ programmes before TX has been condemned by a cabinet colleague
• Piers Morgan, an original America’s Got Talent judge, is to return as a guest, while James Corden is to bring his US success home

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