ITV Studios sales boss Ruth Berry has called 2024 a “bittersweet” year for international TV drama, with an “incredibly creative successful” 12 months tempered by “perfect storm of macroeconomic challenges.”
In a conversation during the Lille Dialogues session at Series Mania, the ITVS President of Globl partnerships and Zoo5 pointed to ITV’s production arm launching the likes of Fool Me Once, Until I Kill You, After the Flood, Mr Bates Vs the Post Office and Ludwig – the latter of which has sold to 85 territories – as examples of the creative boom and of the biz remaining in “rude health.”
However, “What we saw last year was a perfect storm of macroeconomic challenges that were causing people to think about what they were programming, who their key audience was, who the key advertisers they needed to attract to their broadcast business.
“When that happens you do have to look at your content strategy. How much should you be making, how much should you be buying in and what it is you actually need. Streamers were trying to be more profitable, broadcasters were grappling with advertising concerns and there were lots of things happening at once which meant people had to take stock around what they were doing.
“It felt bittersweet last year, with so much creative success, yet it felt that the headwinds were a bit stronger.”
Berry noted the cashflowing had become a big issue for scripted TV over recent years. “One of the toughest challenges for drama is the time lag,” she said. “It can often be up to two years between greenlight and us taking it to market. That lag has been what has been really hard for the latest few years, which is why people are migrating to a safer sweet spot that mitigates the risk.”
This week’s Series Mania has brought into sharp focus the lack of American co-production or co-commissioning money in the European market, with much of the chatter on how producers, networks and streamers can pool resources to make new shows. Broadly, the consensus has been with Berry’s assessment, that European creativity is a strong place right now, with the financing side less stable.
Berry noted the U.S. market had been “part and parcel of that reset from last year,” adding that the country’s TV market has been “really quite tumultuous over the past year or so, when you think about the rise of streaming, limitations around broadcast and what’s happening with cable.” However, she added the “appetite for great content is still there” and that ITVS was having “good conversations,” pointing to BritBox co-producing David Mitchell cozy crime drama Ludwig.
Berry struck a positive tone for 2025, saying: “I’m an optimist, it feels like theres more buoyancy in the market. We launched some great shows at the London TV Screenings a few weeks back and it feels like the market is picking up.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Berry talked up ITVS’s new digital business, noting how content around legacy broadcast brands such as Love Island, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! and The Voice are driving audiences online.
In January, it was reported ITV was in early stage talks with All3Media’s parent, RedBird IMI, about merging their production assets. TF1, which owns Studio TF1, and Formula One owner CVC Capital Partners have also been mentioned in the conversation. The subject didn’t come up today in Lille, but will undoubtedly be a key narrative for international TV this year.
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