ITV starts development fund for indies

UK commercial broadcaster ITV is launching a £500,000 (US$617,217) development fund to support indies on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kevin Lygo

ITV director of television Kevin Lygo announced the fund, which is targeted at the independent sector to help producers during the crisis.

It is designed to accelerate the search for new ideas and content for ITV to broadcast later this year and in 2021, and follows a similar move by the BBC yesterday.

“ITV’s success is based on the ideas that are brought to us by indies from across the UK, and we don’t want that to stop. We have this money specifically available to ramp up development over the next few months so we can hit the ground running when current restrictions are lifted,” Lygo said.

“The commissioning teams are willing to increase the number of virtual meetings they have in order to build up an exciting slate over the next few months – so if you have an idea for us, especially in the unscripted space, we are in a position to help fund that immediately.

“We want to reassure the indie community – small or big, regional or London – that ITV is very much open for business and we have the resource to invest in ideas for the channel.”

Last month, Netflix, Sony and WarnerMedia all unveiled their own respective US$100m support funds for producers struggling with cash flow during the coronavirus lockdowns.