Welsh TV production sector reaction to the UK Government Broadcasting White Paper ‘Up Next’

28 April 2022

Dyfrig Davies, Chair of TAC, which represents independent TV production in Wales, today commented on the publication of the UK government’s White Paper:

“We welcome the Government’s commitment to protect the current terms of trade regime, which has led to the huge success of the UK independent TV production sector by allowing them to fully exploit their intellectual property.

We also welcome the commitment to securing PSB prominence on a wider range of platforms, which will help all our PSB broadcasters including S4C.

We note the decision to revise the PSB remits and will look forward to engaging on that in the coming months.

However, the removal of Channel 4’s publisher-broadcaster status is of concern, as it is a significant investor in independent productions and new talent around the UK. While the Government says Channel 4’s out-of-London commitments will remain in place, it’s not clear how they will be delivered if it is making up to 75% of its content in-house, which will inevitably be at a relatively small number of production centres.

In 2019 Channel 4 contributed £20m to GVA in Wales and supported 200 jobs. Channel 4’s initial investment in Welsh production companies in North and South Wales has grown and developed creative businesses. We will therefore be seeking to discuss the detail of these proposals with government, ahead of any legislation.”

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