THIS WEEK IN CULTURE + THE CULTURE BUSINESS
News Briefing: BBC comedy report
The BBC has published a new report on the impact of its comedy output – and on the impact of TV and radio comedy more generally – concluding that the comedy sector “faces real jeopardy”.
Launched at the BBC Comedy Festival in Belfast, the new report follows the study published earlier this year by the Live Comedy Association. The BBC’s study puts the spotlight on a different strand of the wider comedy industry, and – like the LCA report – makes a number of recommendations for both the industry and government.
In this TW News Briefing, we run through some of the key findings and recommendations.
THE REPORT’S OBJECTIVES
The BBC’s big new comedy report aims to demonstrate the social and economic importance of comedy – and especially TV and radio comedy – in the UK, and why the sector needs supporting and protecting.
It also seeks to highlight the importance of the BBC, and other public service broadcasters like ITV and Channel 4, when it comes to investing in and developing comedy productions, and the talent behind those productions.
Which means supporting and protecting the comedy sector at large also means supporting and protecting the PSBs, and their collective comedy output.
It’s no secret that the BBC and other PSBs are facing many challenges in an increasingly competitive and global market place, which has become dominated by a small number of big streaming platforms.
Meanwhile audiences, especially younger audiences, increasingly access content through digital platforms and social media feeds rather than linear TV channels and radio stations.
Indeed, the BBC’s report says, a PSB-centric ecosystem that has long invested in new comedy productions and new comedy talent “faces unprecedented challenges”, and “funding pressures and shifting consumption patterns threaten the very foundations of British comedy”.
The key message of the report is that, “without decisive action from broadcasters, policymakers and industry partners, the future of this uniquely British cultural and economic asset hangs in the balance”.
POSITIVE IMPACT OF COMEDY
The report begins by setting out the positive societal impacts of British comedy.
“Comedy has the capacity to actively change how viewers are feeling”, it says, citing a Radio Times study that found “22% of viewers reported increased happiness levels after watching comedy”. The BBC’s own research also found that “four in five people say that British comedy helps them to unwind from the stresses in their life”.
Comedy can also help audiences “process complex and polarising subjects”, the report adds. With “news avoidance on the rise”, it says, comedy shows on both TV and radio offer an alternative way to engage with timely issues.
As examples, it cites ‘Alma’s Not Normal’, which tackles drug addition and mental health issues, and Laura Smyth’s ‘I Don’t Know What To Say’, focused on her breast cancer story and people’s responses to grief.
“Comedy also has a unique ability to educate audiences about the lives of others”, it goes on, whether that’s “a small LGBTQ+ community in Middlesborough; a group of teenagers coming of age in 90s Northern Ireland; or a group of working-class amateur musicians in Brentford”.
Those few examples allude to ‘Smoggie Queens’, ‘Derry Girls’ and ‘People Just Do Nothing’. These programmes, while primarily aiming to entertain, can also “change people’s perceptions and break down barriers”.
Then, of course, there is the positive economic impact of comedy.
BBC analysis estimates that the UK comedy TV production sector directly supports around 2050 jobs, “45% of which result from content spend from UK PSBs”.
And those productions in turn support other jobs and businesses in the wider broadcasting and entertainment industries, while the performers they involve will build their own creator businesses that may include other live and digital activity.
In addition to that, the report adds, British comedy exports internationally have a big impact, “both financially and for cultural soft power”.
After all, it continues, “one of the most important and distinctive aspects of the UK creative industries’ exports is the influence of British humour”.
THE ROLE OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTERS
When it comes to comedy productions on TV, radio and other media channels, the BBC is “a central pillar”, the report reckons.
“As the largest commissioner of first-run UK content”, it goes on, “our investment is critical for sustaining the industry, including building the talent pipeline by investing in new and emerging voices in a way that no one else does”.
While the report acknowledges the role played by the other PSBs, especially Channel 4, and the importance of the wider comedy business, especially stand-up and live comedy, it insists that investments made by the BBC in comedy productions are “critical for sustaining the UK comedy sector”.
By its analysis, the BBC reckons that its networks together have “accounted for more than 75% of PSB spend on first-run TV comedy since 2021”, and “over the same period, almost 80% of PSB first-run comedy hours are attributable to BBC network commissioning”.
And while the global streaming platforms run by Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Disney have grown massively in the last decade, the BBC “far exceeds their investment and volumes of first-run UK originated comedy”.
And yet the BBC, and other PSBs, are facing a challenging future.
For the BBC in particular, its core licence fee funding has declined, because the annual licence fee was frozen for quite some time, which meant it declined in real terms when you factor in inflation.
And, of course, it’s not entirely clear how long the licence fee funding model for the BBC will remain viable. While Labour governments are generally more supportive of the licence fee that Conservative governments, it seems certain the funding model will have to change at some point in the relatively near future.
For commercially funded PSBs, advertising revenues have stagnated amid increased competition from online and social media, and for both the BBC and its commercial rivals there is “greater difficulty in securing third-party funding from distributors”.
And, “whilst international investment from streamers has benefited the sector” to an extent, the BBC insists that that investment “is limited to the very high-end of the market” and supports only a small number of productions.
All of this combined means that urgent action is needed from industry and government to safeguard the comedy sector.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The BBC’s report concludes with five main recommendations.
1. Government support for sustainable and futureproof public-service broadcasting, recognising the jeopardy the ecosystem faces.
Interventions might include “significant and sustainable public funding for the BBC”, reviewing the obligations of PSBs, and ensuring that PSB content is prominently sign-posted, including beyond the conventional TV environment.
2. Supporting the financing of scripted comedy at all levels, including updating the tax credits system.
The report says that “tax credits are proven to work, incentivising investment in UK content production and at-risk genres”. Some comedy productions already benefit from tax relief schemes, however, “not all of the comedy market is eligible” and “support is needed across the whole ecosystem, not just the top end”.
3. Partnership between organisations including PSBs, streamers, screen agencies and distributors, to increase the volume of comedy produced in the UK.
The report adds, “We believe that more collaboration and co-investment between PSBs and other commissioners is needed, to ensure that the next generation of great British comedy shows entertain audiences in the UK and around the world”.
4. Investment in comedy-specific skills and opportunities.
The government should work with the BBC, other industry organisations and educators to “futureproof the sector’s skills pipeline”, the reports says. That work should also “address regional skills gaps so that people can build and sustain a comedy career within a creative cluster if they choose”.
5. Exploring innovation in new forms of comedy content.
Although the shift of media consumption to online channels creates challenges for the BBC, it also creates opportunities. The BBC says it wants to be “a go-to partner for the next generation of content creators”, with ambitions to “support for the UK domestic creator economy from skills training to tools, equipment and facilities”.