Impact of the credit crunch

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Q: From a creative developer - What will the impact of the credit crunch be on what people want to watch on TV?

A:Andrew Sunnucks, co-founder and MD, Audio Network
It would be naïve of us to try and second guess the editorial preferences of a viewing audience or the creative direction of commissioning editors. 

Nevertheless, the credit crunch is likely to see more people staying at home and watching TV in their free time, and perhaps we'll see a return of Saturday night appointment viewing. 

However, there is going to be a downward pressure on production budgets, as traditional advertising revenues decline and broadcasters try to build a community of viewers across a range of platforms – TV, online, mobile and VOD. 

For the producer, they'll have to do more for less to meet these needs, to make sure that their content can be distributed across all the platforms the broadcaster requires. 

With this downward pressure on budgets, and also on a production's profit margin, producers will also have to exploit all forms of secondary exploitation to preserve these margins. 

Squeezing revenue from international distribution, UK secondary, VOD and DVD will be key – all of which requires programmes which are cleared for all platforms, all territories, in perpetuity.