I have been saying for a while that the broadcast linear channels will be facing increasing difficulties in finding new content with the streamers buying up everything in sight. Well, assisted by Covid 19, it seems that the crunch point is getting closer sooner than might have been expected.
Of course, the correct approach would be for these channels to commission content of their own. They should have seen this coming a mile off, but we are where we are. Sky has recently indicated that it will step up on producing more originals, but is this too little too late? Fortunately for them, they will be protected by Comcast's embrace, but the future doesn't look so good for ITV and Channel 4. The smaller channels may eventually find this is too much, although they will probably try to spin out their existence by showing more repeats.
The Beeb is swimming with money compared with their terrestrial rivals, so if it gets its act together, it should survive this.
https://advanced-television.com/2020...r-new-content/
Streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are consistently outbidding British broadcasters for new shows amid a global shortage of content, forcing traditional broadcasters to find new ways to fill schedules in the coming months and years.
Although TV audiences rose sharply during lockdown, the near-global production shutdown has created a looming shortage of new material to broadcast. At the same time, Britain’s commercial broadcasters are dealing with the collapse in the advertising market caused by the recession, leaving cash-rich SVoD services able to swoop in and spend big on new commissions to maintain their growth.
John McVay, head of the trade body Pact, which represents the UK’s independent TV production companies, told The Guardian that the circumstances posed a challenge for traditional channels.
“I know a lot of people who work for streamers in acquisitions and they are buying everything,” he said. “Unless we can get new, fresh content into the British schedules that is engaging and resonates with our experience of the world we’re living through, then I fear for our broadcasters.”
He added that there was a particular demand for already made shows looking for a home, as broadcasters and streamers seek to satisfy audiences that want to watch new material. “If you’ve got good quality British content that you’ve made – finished programmes – then you can charge a premium.”