Believes indie sector will be outgunned
Mark Linsey believes BBC Studios will outgun the indie sector to win the majority of shows tendered by the corporation, but has questioned the value of the industry competing for every returning in-house series.
The BBC Studios director warned that a huge amount of creative firepower could ultimately be wasted when his organisation and commercial sector producers go head to head for shows that, in some cases, “are at the top of their game”.
He highlighted the example of Strictly Come Dancing and said: “Tendering at 40% was about refreshment and renewal [of old titles in need of attention].When it moved to 100%, it became about competition.
“An enormous amount of work by us and by indies will go into competing for titles that audiences are happy with. You do question whether that’s good use of the industry’s creativity… Lots of people are going to be bitterly disappointed having worked extremely hard at the tenders.”
Linsey said he expects BBC Studios to perform well in the tendering process up against its new rivals.
“We’re the ones making the programmes and we have a good track record of refreshment – look at Songs Of Praise, which we refreshed only 18 months ago, or Antiques Roadshow. These are long-running shows that we’ve kept in the audience’s hearts. I would anticipate that we will win the majority, but we will lose something.”
He said that losing shows could have a detrimental effect on BBC Studios, particularly if they are in specialist genres. “For us to succeed in history, religion or science, we need to have a core team, and many of those shows are the backbone,” he said.
The former BBC entertainment controller also clarified that BBC Studios will include a production margin in line with market norms with each project it delivers for the BBC or external broadcasters.
But he said BBC Studios has no plans to mirror a key strategy of its counterpart, ITV Studios. “BBC Studios is not looking at buying indies. We’re about creating our own IP by bringing in individuals and using the talent we’ve got. ITV has to get year-on-year growth – while we want to be profitable, we’re not under that pressure.”
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