UK producer body Pact hails Ofcom’s move to update PSB commissioning guidance

UK producers’ association Pact has welcomed media regulator Ofcom’s decision to revise its guidance for public service broadcasters (PSBs) on commissioning codes of practice, claiming the original proposals would have cost the UK production sector £356m (US$482m) in lost revenue.

John McVay

As reported by C21 earlier this year, Pact claimed that the codes of practice set out in January would destroy the domestic TV industry’s ability to exploit backend programming rights.

Pact’s concerns related to Ofcom’s plans to change the rules around how different categories of rights could be acquired by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Paramount-owned 5 and S4C in Wales when they commission an independent production.

As part of its consultation, Ofcom sought to help the country’s PSBs compete with streaming giants, in line with the recently enacted Media Act.

One part of the strategy was to allow PSBs “greater flexibility” in how primary and secondary rights to programming are negotiated as part of the terms of trade, first established in 2003 and last revised in 2020.

Ofcom also originally proposed removing the ‘matching rights’ provision, which would give PSBs the ability to match third-party offers for certain rights to content they have commissioned, as well as bundle primary and secondary programming rights together.

Pact warned Ofcom that the changes could undo 20 years of growth within the UK indie production sector and undermine the entire TV business by allowing PSBs to “warehouse” rights and undercut a producer’s bargaining power.

Now, after listening to responses from Pact and representatives of the UK indie production sector, Ofcom has revised its guidance, claiming the new framework allows PSBs “greater flexibility and freedom to deliver their quotas for independent productions via their on-demand players.”

The revisions also update the language used in the guidance to align with current commissioning practice and terminology.

Furthermore, Ofcom is no longer pursuing the removal of the matching rights provision, or its recommendation to relax the prohibition on PSBs seeking to bundle primary and secondary rights when negotiating commissions.

Pact has welcomed the revisions, saying that the original Ofcom proposals would have had a detrimental effect on producers’ ability to raise finance and the diversity of supply to indie producers.

The trade body believes January’s guidance would have undermined the original intention behind the Terms of Trade agreement and resulted in the UK TV ecosystem losing revenue totalling £356m by 2026.

John McVay, outgoing chief executive of Pact, said: “We are very pleased that Ofcom has listened to the concerns of the sector. Their proposals would have had a substantial impact on programme financing and how producers negotiate with the PSBs.”