US consolidation will mean long UK commissioning delays, warns Curve’s Lewis
Consolidation in the US content industry will lead to long delays in the commissioning process for UK-based producers and could threaten British storytelling, Curve Media founder and co-MD Camilla Lewis has claimed.
The veteran executive believes that recent and potential major M&A deals in the US, combined with subsequent rounds of lay-offs and cost-cutting, will have a significant impact on the TV ecosystem in Britain.
This week alone, Paramount cut around 1,000 staff – including some big-name senior executives – following its takeover by Skydance, and the US media giant, backed by billionaire investors the Ellison family, now has Warner Bros Discovery in its sights.
With UK producers already suffering from a severe downturn in green lights from US buyers, industry disruption stateside will lead to more uncertainty, said Lewis, who makes unscripted content such as Chess Masters: The Endgame at Curve Media.
“[The UK production sector] is under stress and it means one word only: delay,” the former Fremantle and BBC Studios executive told BBC Radio 4’s The Media Show this week. “It means things are taking a very long time to happen.
“So if you are in production and you want to keep staff and make a programme, you’re not being told ‘no’ necessarily, but it’s just all a bit wait, wait, wait. Paramount has had huge delays in commissioning.
“I do remember the happy days when you could go in with a simple idea and be commissioned within days.”
Lewis described recent M&A activity as an arms race with an emphasis on scale, leading to deals such as the “weird mishmash” of the Warner Bros and Discovery merger in April 2022.
Consolidation among the major US players has already caused many streamers to row back on local commissioning strategies in international territories. There will be fears that this week’s turbulence could further impact investment in the UK production sector.
“I don’t know exactly where it’s going to land but, certainly, we’re in a period of deep consolidation,” said Lewis.
“What the Paramount-Skydance merger will look like is really hard to say at this point because it’s just happened. Lots of jobs have been lost, with people like me in the industry thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, what does that mean about budgets and programmes?’
“I really do worry about [consolidation limiting creative risk taking by the US streamers]. I’m hopeful for a future where we don’t just get wall-to-wall American content all the time.
“Historically that’s what ends up happening. The American powerhouses say, ‘Oh, we’re going to patronise the local market’ then end up deciding that the power needs to remain in LA. So it’s very hard to keep parochial content fresh, exciting and diverse. That’s where all the hits come from.”
