In The Frame November '21

Tom Pammenter Published: 30.11.2021 Industry news

This month's latest news across the industry.

Streaming/Online/Tech

Netflix now provides total hours viewed for every TV show and film in its top 10, week by week, with data going back to the summer.

In July 2019, Netflix announced it was to take a long-term lease, believed to be 10 years, on Shepperton Studios. The SVOD service, which spent $1 billion (£740m) making about 60 TV shows and films in the UK last year, is to double the size of its Surrey base. Shepperton will house about one million square-feet of production space, including 17 sound stages.

Netflix is also investing in VFX, having bought Scanline, the visual effects company that has worked on titles including Game of Thrones and Stranger Things.

Netflix Games has begun its global rollout via the Netflix mobile app, “first on Android, with iOS on the way”, Netflix tweeted. “It’s early days, but we’re excited to start bringing you exclusive games, with no ads, no additional fees and no in-app purchases.”

Disney, meanwhile, is to spend $33 billion on content in 2022. Disney+ has passed the 100 million subscribers mark in the US for the first time.

A shortage of quality translators able to manage content for global audiences is starting to affect the streaming industry. An international network of language service providers, including contract subtitle translators, voiceover actors, translation editors, and sound mixers, supply outsourced subtitling, captioning and dubbing. David Lee, the CEO of Iyuno-SDI, one of the industry’s largest subtitling and dubbing providers, said: “I can tell you literally, this industry will be out of supply over demand for the upcoming two to three years.”

Sky and NBCUniversal have announced plans to rollout Peacock European on Sky, starting with a soft launch in the UK and Ireland. Peacock is NBCUniversal’s streaming service, which like Sky is owned by Comcast. Peacock incorporates content from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, and DreamWorks Animation, among others.

BARB, the UK TV audience measurement agency, has made a “once-in-a-generation upgrade” in its audience reporting with the introduction of SVOD and video-sharing platform measurement. In October 2021, Netflix’s Squid Game was the 10th most watched show, with 5.774 million viewers.

BBC News

BBC Three is to return as a linear TV channel for the first time in six years, following Ofcom approval of the relaunch. New terms of trade have been agreed with Pact, the body representing independent production and distribution companies. Ofcom states: “To ensure the channel is distinctive, at least 75% of hours broadcast each year must be original programmes.” BBC Three will launch in early February 2022. It’ll be available on Freeview, Sky, Virgin and Freesat.

The first series of Stephen Merchant’s The Outlaws is the BBC’s biggest comedy launch this year, It has been streamed 11 million times on iPlayer so far.

PlayStation 5 owners can now add the BBC iPlayer app to their PlayStation home screens.

Ofcom has published its fourth annual report on the BBC. The corporation reached, in 2020/21, a record global audience of 489 million adults every week, an increase of more than 20 million on the previous year. The top three countries by BBC News audience are India (65 million), the USA (48m) and Nigeria (34m).

The corporation marks 100 years of broadcasting in 2022.

And finally...

Channel 4’s training and development strategy, 4Skills, is to create more than 15,000 opportunities across the UK from next year for young people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds who want a career in broadcasting.
Paul Dacre has pulled out of the running to be the next chair of Ofcom, after concerns were raised about the transparency of the recruitment process.
Another UK studio has announced plans for redevelopment (read the Frame 25 series on UK studio development and deals). Bray Film Studios, in Berkshire, hopes to add nine new sound stages, workshops, and production facilities, and permanently retain a rehearsal building.
Stage Fifty, meanwhile, is opening its second studio site in the UK, Winnersh Film Studios, located in Winnersh, just outside Reading.
The US broadcaster NBC has renewed its TV deal with the Premier League in a new six-year agreement worth £2 billion.
The 10th edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report suggests video comprises 69% of mobile data traffic, with the figure forecast to grow to 79% by 2027.