Top five limiting factors for ’indies’ in the sector:
- Increasing competition for a diminishing number of commissions
- Production funding increasingly problematic and complex
- Recruitment and retention of key skilled staff
- Funding growth and development
- Industry regulation
New research, commissioned by Vantis, the AIM listed accounting, tax and business advisory firm, has identified the top five issues and challenges facing companies in the independent TV production sector.
Vantis conducted interviews with key management of London-based ‘indies’ to identify the primary issues and challenges that these businesses face in the sector.
These research results ranked commonly occurring business ‘pain points’ for the ‘indies’ as follows:
- Competition in the marketplace is an increasing concern. Due to the high number of new entrants in the market, TV production companies are particularly vulnerable to the competitive landscape even though there are more opportunities to exploit their content across a variety of media.
- Commission finance – there is clear evidence of discounting by broadcasters in the sector, causing increased pressure on cash flow and profitability.
- Recruitment and staff retention – TV companies are finding it increasingly to find the right development teams, including executive producers.
- Growth management – of the companies Vantis spoke with, 80% are looking to grow; but with a lack of funds for overall development and difficulty in raising capital to grow online businesses, TV companies are finding growth management a major issue.
- Regulation – many TV production companies are facing a strong challenge when it comes to regulation, as broadcasters continue to increase the burden of compliance and regulation.
In addition to the above issues, Vantis’ research also revealed that many London-based ‘indies’ are finding office space to be a problem. With the unpredictability of funding for programmes, some companies find they have too much or too little office space for their staff from commission to commission.
Sarf Malik, a partner in Vantis’ Media Group comments, “Although most of our predictions for the research were validated, it was interesting to discover that an increasing number of companies are finding it difficult to employ the right people who are specifically skilled, have great ideas, and are also capable of delivering results. Understanding the key issues facing ‘indies’ is integral to Vantis providing the best advice to its clients in the sector.”
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