The worrying state of the UK television industry

The TV world is not having a great time. So many are out of work. But is it really a surprise? And what hope is there for the future…

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For the past few months there’s been a worrying development. Fresh UK television productions have come to a standstill leaving thousands out of work and pondering a complete career change.

Highly skilled production workers across the board are worried about their future. There’s no light at the end of the tunnel with all the main channels stopping new commissions in favour of reruns of old classics.

You only have to look at Christmas television to see the extent of the crisis. The Vicar of Dibley, the Two Ronnies, Morcambe and Wise and endless films getting their umpteeth rerun. There was very little to look forward to aside from the obvious soap battles.

But it’s the daily and afternoon scheduling where there’s a dramatic downfall in fresh shows and that’s causing a gridlock of staff being forced into contemplating their future in the industry.

I know presenters, producers, editors, celebrity bookers and directors all considering what to do next when it comes to their skillset. One presenter has shot an entire series that’s yet to show on telly despite there being endless shows in the bag, I know a post production editor without any options for new shows, a celeb booker considering booking celebs for Podcast episodes and parties instead of working in TV and then a handful of production creatives and camera people who are struggling to fill any time in their diary for at least the first half of 2024.

So why is there such a sudden mare within television? Well, there’s a few obvious changes that have changed the shape of television for good and sadly it doesn’t appear there’s a path back to terrestrial channels being a success again.

Firstly, streaming services have changed the way in which we watch and enjoy television. In 2024, we don’t have to watch terrestrial television programmes that we don’t care for. I hardly ever watch ‘normal’ telly anymore. I’m a streamer. The truth is we can just head towards what we want when we want it. Also, streaming has meant we can also get US and global programmes immediately when they’re beamed around the world.

Secondly – and you know I bang on about this so often – but social media has changed the entire game with how we absorb our news and video content. The younger generation are glued to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube for their television clips. They don’t want the whole show. They want a clip of the best bits and detest having to sit down with an entire programme to watch. What a waste of time it is for these youngsters.

This put together with the fact there’s an older generation quite literally dying out means we’ve been hurtled into the midst of a television revolution. One the channels knew was coming but were still thoroughly unprepared for. Just like the newspaper industry, the television world is struggling to keep up with the speed at which things are changing - not to mention a dwindling television advertising industry.

There are fewer companies advertising through television – such a drop that channels really can’t rely on ad spend to keep them afloat and allow the creatives to do their work. TV advertising isn’t translating to sales like it once did. Again, because the younger generation just don’t watch it. It’s a big fat shambles. Eventually, soaps will be axed or move as productions to streamers for larger audiences. Erm, Neighbours reboot on Amazon. An inspired forward-thinking measure if you ask me.

Game shows might not survive the cull when the oldies die off. It’s going to be TV-mageddon at some point. And like all print titles in journalism, no show is 100% safe. The ripple effect of a changing industry isn’t going to leave any corner unschathed.

Some people I know in TV have recently been asked to deliver shows with a big-money slick content feel on next to nothing budgets too. The channel heads still have the audacity to expect the best from the highly skilled worker bees despite there being so little funding for new productions. These budget cuts and demand for quality appear to be making it a very unhappy process to even be part of the television industry. And this is before we even discuss the fact crews are being slashed to tiny numbers with many expected to cover dual roles to get the production across the line. Tra la la! :-/

Sure, global streaming services like Apple, Netflix, Amazon, Paramount and Disney know they’ve got a global reach via subscriptions but even that sounds like it’s getting to a saturation point with talk about us all being forced to watch advertising on the likes of Netflix unless we pay an advert free premium to ensure we aren’t interrupted by adverts continually. Just today I received a Prime Video update from Amazon discussing a fee being added for “no advert” viewing.

There’s no denying, the real sorry situation is with the likes of the BBC and terrestrial channels. Despite the BBC being able to charge us a TV license fee of £159 a year per household they’re still not finding a way to ensure they can deliver new and engaging programmes. In fact, if anything the BBC seems to be in the worst position of them all. They must be hemorrhaging money behind the scenes and we keep seeing signs of the failings – like the recent BBC news layoffs...34 job cuts alone on Newsnight with the programme becoming an interview and discussion show. Then a total of 127 jobs were cut across BBC News. On the plus side the channel did create 147 new digital roles – and that’s good to see at least. Providing they’re not all cheap as chips 20-something-fresh-out-of-Uni types whilst all the experienced journos are culled (probably the case and that’s having devastating effects across ALL online media with regards to quality).

But even the likes of Channel 4 and 5 – who in my opinion were just about the only channels who appeared to be commissioning new projects across the last couple of years – have properly faltered.

But it’s the front line where the sorry-assed state of television is really being felt. Let’s face it, there’s a lot of TV professionals out there. Lots of presenters. Thousands of production workers. And literally no work for them on the horizon. The only shows that seem to be getting commissioned right now are the huge ventures with large scale advertising opportunities. Love Island, Big Brother and Gladiators being some of the shows that appear to be getting airtime. And are these really the shows we desperately want to see? I’m not so sure.

We are going to lose the cool documentaries; the new daytime shows and will just be left with the daily morning shows and afternoon repeats of quiz shows. They might not command the huge audiences but they’re integral to how channels show their identity. You have to face the fact the sitcoms and comedy have basically dispersed since shows like Miranda left the building.

The BBC was the channel synonymous with the sitcoms of as generation. Now, we only really have tired shows like Mrs Brown’s Boys who try and deliver old-school scripted comedy. Surely, there’s scope for the fresh new talent to come through with all the money the BBC achieve from the license fee?

The next thing you have to consider is the sheer number of talent, agents, PRs, production people and TV workers who are feeling the ripple effect of the industry struggling to find its way.

Some are considering a pivot to a new industry, some are heading towards advertising or brand video production. Others are sadly just giving up on an industry that was once one of the most exciting options for a lifetime career.

I guess one of the saddest things about the current times in TV is how it is very much beginning to mirror the state of the journalism industry. Would I recommend a young journalist enter the industry as a showbiz journalist? Hell no. What, do want to write about what happened on social media the night before for a living? There’s nothing fun about being a showbiz writer that’s fun these days. There’s very little value in a celebrity interview.  Most forms of journalism have been severely damaged by social media. I agree entirely with what Guardian columnist Marina Hyde said about being a journalist on a national newspaper in 2024 on her podcast recently. Check that out here…

Are you in TV? How are you getting on? Drop a comment down below and I’m wishing you all well. As always, this was a newsletter to start a conversation.

Until next week…