Baz: Indies may have to give up IP rights

Peter Bazalgette

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Edinburgh 08: The Pact terms of trade have a limited lifespan and broadcasters could force a return to retaining programme rights, Peter Bazalgette has warned.

Bazalgette, former chief creative officer of Endemol and one of the architects of the agreement, said that indies may not always be able to hold onto their IP rights, as negotiated under the terms.

Speaking at the Edinburgh TV festival, he predicted the terms will remain in place for at least two to three years but that broadcasters, and ITV in particular, could force a change after that.

"The fact that broadcasters put up all the initial income, including the profit margin, into programmes has been positive, healthy and has demonstrably led to the growth of the production economy. But how long can that continue?" he asked.

"I'd say it's safe for two to three years but I'm not making any predictions after that."

ITV chairman Michael Grade is focused on dismantling the broadcaster's CRR and PSB requirements, but will tackle the terms of trade after that, Bazalgette said.

In the session, The Last Tycoon: Has the Media Bubble Burst?, he also predicted that more and more indie acquisitions will be by trade buyers rather than private equity groups.

He welcomed the trend saying that trade buyers understand the TV production sector, whereas most private equity buyers "don't have a fucking clue".

Tom Manwaring, director of Ingenious, added that there will still be plenty of indie acquisitions despite the credit crunch, especially from European buyers.

"A lot of buyers are out there who don't need debt – take NBC and Carnival. There are a lot of advisors in a similar position," he said.

"I think there will be ore consolidation, and more European buyers especially…if they want to be global businesses, they have to buy into the UK to have access to the UK and also the US markets."