UK Broadcasters "cautious" over US imports

[Bob The Skutter]

From Digital Spy

UK broadcasters have not yet picked up any of the new shows in development for the 2008-09 season in the US.

In recent years, new series have been snapped up quickly during and after the LA Screenings, the annual event where pilots are showcased to international buyers.

Fewer shows were produced in time for this year's demonstration because of the writers' strike, but several acquisitions executives have also identified a lack of urgency to buy.

The delay is likely to mean that talked-about and successful new series are still picked up, but at a later stage.

Jay Kandola, ITV's director of acquisitions, said that executives making the trip to LA had been a little surprised by the lack of completed pilots: "We knew that the writers strike had happened but it was still a bit of a shock."

Kandola said the market to bring shows to the UK was not as strong as it had been and predicted that the slower buying pattern would continue next year.

David Smyth, Sky One acquisitions head, said of the trend: "It will be a lot more like the unscripted marketplace, where ideas will come up all the time. You find out about them and you bid for them but there isn’t necessarily a market that showcases that.

If there's no international sales the fall back on from the start, you have to wonder how this is going to effect this years shows, in terms of willingness to keep under-performers around.

 

[wamdue]

there has been some international sales.

]Network TEN has returned home from the LA screenings with what it claims is its best haul in more than 10 years.

Amongst its eight new network shows are the US version of Life on Mars, Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, the 90210 spin-off, the animated Cleveland from Family Guy's Seth McFarlane, plus Harper's Island, Worst Week and Jerry O'Connell's Do Not Disturb (the re-named The Inn which was picked up at the expense of Back To You).

It will also add Courtroom K, Lie to Me and Sons of Anarchy from FX Networks later.

http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/05/seriously-pumped-by-new-acquisitions.html

ok thats not the UK, but shows are selling, meanwhile if a show is a hit, a UK TV channel will pick it up. and even if they dont shows will find homes on smaller non freeview channels

 

[Tulin]

Channel 10 is Australian.

Here is what will(and always does)happen,


1. Network buys new Yank shit....errrr, sorry, show.

2. Network spends four months hyping it up and showing quick hints at first followed by a full blown ad campaign.


2a. Sometimes even before show begins airing here, it is cancelled in the US.


3. Channel 7, 9 or 10 begin airing new show with HUGE expectations for ratings.

4. Show airs to less than expected ratings.

5. Because new show is not THE GREATEST RATINGS WINNER OF ALL TIME, the following week the show airs an hour later on another night.

6. A week later it airs at midnight on a Saturday.

7. Three weeks later it disappears while the eighteenth cricket test for the year airs live from a never before heard of Indian province.

8. Show turns up again in January as a late night summer replacement programme.

9. Six months later station begins process all over again.



And they wonder why Australians download more per capita than any other country?

 

[Captain Shaw]

It would be nice if UK broadcasters made something of there own worth watching after doctor who finises the only thing i am looking forward to is spooks.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

And they wonder why Australians download more per capita than any other country?

I thought that was us?

 

[Bob The Skutter]

It would be nice if UK broadcasters made something of there own worth watching after doctor who finises the only thing i am looking forward to is spooks.

I think there's been plenty of good British shows just lately. And there seems to be plenty of genre-ish shows coming up this year.
I know everyone has different tastes, and it's be cool to have more British shows, but I don't remember a time when there was so many good shows I wanted to watch being produced here.

 

[Count Zero]

And they wonder why Australians download more per capita than any other country?

I thought that was us?

And I thought that was us...

 

[Bob The Skutter]

And they wonder why Australians download more per capita than any other country?

I thought that was us?

And I thought that was us...

Maybe it's just propaganda the anti-piracy lot put out in each country, to make show us how bad piracy is getting in our own country.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The writers' strike has pushed a lot of interesting stuff to midseason. That and the tendency towards year-round development (which I think is a great thing!) means there won't be some big buying season this year or anymore.

But I don't think this will impact the survival of any of the shows. They pretty much live or die on Nielsens anyway. I have a gut instinct that the new shows for fall are going to have a very rough time of it - none of them strike me as real breakout material. Dollhouse and Harper's Island are the most interesting to me, and both are midseason.

I'd rather see the networks focus on marketing their best returning shows (Heroes, Chuck, Pushing Daisies, TSCC, 24) to shore up what they've already got working, rather than worry about all the new stuff which is far more of a crap shoot.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

there has been some international sales.

]Network TEN has returned home from the LA screenings with what it claims is its best haul in more than 10 years.

Amongst its eight new network shows are the US version of Life on Mars, Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, the 90210 spin-off, the animated Cleveland from Family Guy's Seth McFarlane, plus Harper's Island, Worst Week and Jerry O'Connell's Do Not Disturb (the re-named The Inn which was picked up at the expense of Back To You).

It will also add Courtroom K, Lie to Me and Sons of Anarchy from FX Networks later.

http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/05/seriously-pumped-by-new-acquisitions.html

ok thats not the UK, but shows are selling, meanwhile if a show is a hit, a UK TV channel will pick it up. and even if they dont shows will find homes on smaller non freeview channels

They're buying shows I haven't even heard about yet.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

You people are overlooking the most important line from that article:

Capping off a winning line up Dexter, the critically acclaimed drama series about a serial killer, makes its first appearance on TEN in July.