ITV Studios boss says manufacturing could also be affected if US strike goes into autumn
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ngoing actor and author strikes within the US might start to have an effect on the manufacturing of ITV exhibits, the director of ITV Studios has mentioned.
Julian Bellamy mentioned ITV is in a “good position” to handle the ramifications of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike motion which has just lately precipitated an industry-wide shutdown with each actors and writers on the picket line.
During an ITV interim outcomes press convention on Thursday, Mr Bellamy confirmed the US strikes aren’t anticipated to have an effect on ITV’s monetary outcomes for 2023.
He mentioned: “Just to be clear, we are talking about our US scripted business, not the rest of the UK Studio distribution.
“…Saying that, if the strike goes into the autumn, it will potentially start impacting when we start production.
“In that context, it is one of the great strengths of the studio, we’re very diversified in terms of genre and geography, so we are in a good position to manage it.”
The broadcaster’s US scripted exhibits embody Franklin starring British actor Eddie Marsan, Good Witch with James Denton and Snowpiercer with Jennifer Connelly.
When requested if ITV might cost a premium to promote content material to US broadcasters in the event that they face a scarcity of exhibits, Mr Bellamy started by saying the broadcaster hoped for a “swift resolution” after US union Sag-Aftra did not agree new contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) a fortnight in the past.
He continued: “…We have a very strong UK and national pipeline and we do have a distribution arm with a catalogue of 90,000 hours so we’re in a good position to take advantage of any opportunities that there are.”
We’ve had no issues sponsoring any of our exhibits…each single one of many exhibits within the autumn has obtained a sponsor
ITV chief govt Dame Carolyn McCall mentioned: “What we will be doing is talking to people to see if we can help at all fill their schedules, we will not be charging a premium for that, we should be offering our content (and they can take) what they can from our catalogue if they require it.”
The ITV boss additionally spoke concerning the overarching promoting downturn for broadcasters, which has precipitated Channel 4 to reshuffle its programme schedule.
“This is the worst advertising recession since the global financial crisis,” Dame Carolyn mentioned.
She continued: “We’re already talking to advertisers about the Christmas campaign and I think that shows there is no change in the way they view what they’re going to do over Christmas, all conversations about advertising are positive and quite constructive, they haven’t got their head in their hands.
“They’re being cautious because the outlook has been cautious.
“…We’ve had no problems sponsoring any of our shows…every single one of the shows in the autumn has got a sponsor.”
Dame Carolyn mentioned it’s unimaginable to have visibility over the following enterprise quarter – “We just can’t tell you it’s okay because we don’t know that yet”.
She added: “If you talk to any media owner, they’re all going to say they can’t look that far out.”