This article explores the discrepancy between the vision of the broadcast producer as
a creative in pursuit of `art for art's sake' and current trends within the
broadcasting sector, where large `super-indies' dominate and smaller producer-owners
become rich by selling up. At a theoretical level, the article explores how
representations of the producer as artist frame the historic and current policy
debates, so that `liberating the creative' has become the key policy object. At an
empirical level the article shows how, in response to regulatory changes, a
slow-growing market and the influence of external financial backers, the sector has
become dominated by acquisitive super-indies, who buy small and medium-sized firms
from willing sellers who treat their firm as a real option to be cashed in the
future, because selling up can make them a millionaire.
Annan Committee
(1977) The Report of the Broadcasting Committee (Annan
Report), Cmnd. 6753. London:
HMSO.
2.
Batschmann, Oskar
(1997) The Artist in the Modern World: A Conflict Between
Market and Self-Expression. Cologne:
DuMont Buchverlag.
3.
Beveridge Committee
(1949) The Report of the Broadcasting Committee (Beveridge
Report), Cmnd. 8116. London:
HMSO.
4.
Bourdieu, Pierre
(1993) The Field of Cultural Production.
Cambridge: Polity
Press.
5.
Brealey, Richard
and
Stuart Myers
(2002) Principles of Corporate Finance, 7th
edn. New York:
McGraw-Hill/Irwin .
6.
Broadcast
(2003) `Indie Finance - Why Indies Are in the Money
Again', 30 May: 14.
7.
Broadcast
(2004) `Rich List - Shakers and Money-Makers', 20
August: 30-2.
8.
BSkyB
(2005) Annual Report .
London:
BSkyB.
9.
Burns, Tom
(1977) The BBC: The Public Institution and Private
World . London:
Macmillan.
10.
Caves, Richard E.
(2000) Creative Industries: Contracts Between Art and
Commerce.
Cambridge, MA
and London : Harvard University
Press.
11.
Cox, Barry
(2004) Free For All? Public Service Television in the Digital
Age. London:
DEMOS.
12.
Department of Culture, Media and Sport
(2001 ) Culture and Creativity: The Next 10 Years.
London: Stationery Office
Ltd.
13.
Financial Times
(2000) `International: Spanish Were Watching as Big Brother
Stole the Show: It Was Endemol's Ability to Attract Multi-Media Audiences that
Caught the Telecoms Group's Eye', 10 March: 18.
14.
Financial Times
(2004) `Television - A Better Deal for Indies: New Codes of
Practice Give Independent TV Producers the Chance to Make More Money from
Programmes', (Creative Business - Analysis) , 7 January:
4.
15.
Financial Times
(2005a) `Endemol Float No Prelude to Sale Says CEO'
(Companies Europe), 23 November: 27.
16.
Financial Times
(2005b) `TV Producers Know Their Rights Taking Stock Media',
(Smaller Companies UK)', 24 March: 25.
17.
Financial Times
(2006) `Bertelsmann's Ruling Family Braced for Float',
28 January: 15.
18.
Forbes.com
(n.d.) `John De Mol'; at:
www.forbes.com/static/bill2005/LIRFDMS.html?passListId=10&passYear=2005&passListType=Person&uniqueId=FDMS&datatype=Person
(accessed 10 February 2006).
19.
Froud, Julie
,
Sukhdeve Johal
, Adam Leaver and Karel Williams (2006)
Financialization and Strategy: Narrative and Numbers.
London:
Routledge.
20.
Gould, Tony
(1983) Inside Outsider: The Life and Times of Colin
MacInnes . Harmondsworth, Middlesex:
Penguin .
21.
Hewison, Robert
(1981) In Anger: Culture in the Cold War, 1945-60.
London:
Methuen.
22.
HIT Productions
(n.d) at: www.hitentertainment.com/ (accessed 12 February
2006).
23.
House of Lords
(2005) Review of the BBC's Royal Charter: 1st Report of
Session 2005-6, Volume 1. London:
Stationery Office Ltd.
24.
ITC (Independent Television Committee
) (2002 ) A Review of the UK Programme Supply Market.
London:
ITC.
25.
Lazonick, Bill
and
Mary O'Sullivan
(2000)
`Maximising Shareholder Value: A New Ideology for Corporate
Governance'
, Economy and Society29(1):
13-35.
26.
Leadbeater, Charles
and
Kate Oakley
(1999) The Independents: Britain's New Cultural
Entrepreneurs . London:
DEMOS.
27.
Marc, David
(1989) Comic Visions: Television Comedy and American
Culture . Boston, MA: Unwin
Hyman.
28.
Marc, David
, and
Robert Thompson
(1992) Prime Time Prime Movers.
Boston, MA: Little, Brown
Publishers.
29.
Mainardi, Patricia
(1987) Art and Politics of the Second Empire: The Universal
Expositions of 1855 and 1867.
New Haven, CT
and London: Yale University
Press.
30.
Mediatique
(2005) From the Cottage to the City: The Evolution of the UK
Independent Production Sector, an independent report commissioned by the
BBC. London: Mediatique
Ltd.
Ofcom
(2005b) Television Production Sector Review: A Survey of TV
Programme Production in the UK, 20 September .
London:
OFCOM.
34.
Ofcom
(2006) Review of the Television Production Sector:
Consultation Document, 10 January. London:
OFCOM.
35.
Oliver
and
Ohlbaum
(2001) An Independent Assessment of Likely Impact of the
BBC's Planned New BBC3 Digital TV Service on the UK TV Market, 30
November. London: and Oliver Ohlbaum
Associates Ltd.
36.
Oliver
and
Ohlbaum
(2003) UK Television Content in the Digital Age: Sustaining
the UK's Content Creation Sector in the Globalised 21st Century - The Role and
Importance of the BBC, a report commissioned by the BBC.
London: BBC/Oliver and Ohlbaum
Associates Ltd.
37.
Peacock Committee
(1986) Report of the Committee on Financing the BBC, Cmnd.
9824. Chairman: Professor AlanPeacock. London:
HMSO
.
38.
Shed Productions
(2005) `Interim Results of the Annual Report, 2005 Chairman's
Statement'; at:
www.shedproductions.com/financials/fin_files/reports/prelim_results_2005.pdf
39.
Stockhammer, Engelbert
(2004)
`Financialisation and the Slowdown of Accumulation'
, Cambridge Journal of Economics28(5):
719-41.
40.
Television Without Frontiers Directive (1989) Council
Directive 89/552/EEC, 3 October; at:
eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31989L0552:EN:HTML
41.
Ten Alps
(2005) Annual Report and Accounts.
London: Ten
Alps.
42.
The Economist
(1990) Thatcherites of the Small Screen', 3
March.
43.
The Guardian
(2000) `Winners and Losers: Net Losses and Gross Gains: 2000
was the Year of Stelios and Martha, Bob the Builder and Boo - and All the
Dot.Bombs', (Guardian City Pages), 28 December: 21.
44.
The Guardian
(2004) `Super Indies are in Line for Tomorrow's Big Prize:
Hit Formats and Top Creative Talents Have Persuaded the City that TV Production
Can be Sexy. But Only if You are a Big Player'(Guardian City Pages), 24
August: 6.
45.
The Guardian
(2005a)
`From Castle to Market: Independent Producer to Float'
, (Guardian City Pages), 4 April:
21
.
46.
The Guardian
(2005b)
`Media Business: It's the Rise of the Super Indy: New Legislation and BBC
Policy has Production Companies Heading to Market'
(Guardian City Pages), 1 April:
19
.
47.
The Independent
(2005) `Wark Gets Pounds 1m from Sale of TV Production
Firm' (News), 3 March: 7.
48.
The Scotsman
(2005a) `Wark Cashes in with GBP 1m Share after TV Firm
Sold', 2 December: 5.
49.
The Scotsman
(2005b) `TV's Wark Paid Herself GBP 200,000 as Firm Made Loss
of GBP 1m', 4 June: 5.
50.
The Times
(2005) `RDF Prepares to Make its Pounds 60m Flotation a
Reality' (Business), 4 April: 41.
51.
Tunstall, Jeremy
(1993) Television Producers.
London :
Routledge.
52.
Velthuis, Olav
(2005) Talking Prices. Princeton,
NJ : Princeton University
Press.
53.
Williams, Raymond
(1961) Culture and Society 1780-1950.
Harmondsworth, Middlesex:
Penguin.
54.
Williams, Raymond
(1965) The Long Revolution.
Harmondsworth : Penguin
Books.
55.
Williams, Raymond
(1981) Culture. London:
Fontana.
56.
Wilson, Elizabeth
(2000) Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts.
London: Taurus
Parke.
