Chapter 75: Chapter 75 Cooperation or Buyout?
Barron gave Bonnie some time to consider joining his own production team.
But no matter whether she is willing to join in the end, the plan will always move forward.
At the beginning, Barron wanted to produce the variety show "Traitor" by himself and then cooperate with a TV station to broadcast it.
Just like the "separation of production and broadcasting" that China later promoted, that is, TV stations purchase program content from other producers and broadcast it on their own platforms, it actually originated in Britain.
In 1982, Channel 4 in the UK was launched. The biggest difference between this government-owned commercial TV station and the BBC and ITV is that all of its TV programs come from independent production companies, which ushered in the era of separation of production and broadcasting in British television.
Over the next decade, Channel 4's "catfish effect" continued to grow. In 1990 and 1996, the government successively promulgated the British Broadcasting and Television Act, which made clear provisions on the separation of production and broadcasting in terms of the proportion of purchased programs, TV station ownership, program copyright, etc. These laws became the institutional motivation for promoting the prosperity of the British television industry.
For example, the Broadcasting and Television Act passed in the UK in 1990 made a hard rule that the proportion of purchased programs for all television channels must not be less than 25%.
Today, the proportion of outsourced programs for BBC and ITV has reached 50% and 60% respectively. Corresponding to this are thousands of independent production companies across the country and constantly creative British TV programs.
So after learning about these situations, the first thing Barron thought of was to set up his own program production company, join the TV station's content provider, and then accumulate experience so that he could enter the TV station field.
As for the program production team, it is actually not that difficult. The most difficult part is the creativity.
After more than 20 years of development and improvement, the separation of production and broadcasting in British television has formed a complete industrial chain.
In this chain, independent production companies are responsible for creativity and production, TV stations are responsible for purchasing, editing, broadcasting and advertising, and model companies are agents for program copyright sales. The three parties each have their own responsibilities and a clear division of labor.
Here, it is almost impossible for a production company to also act as an agent for program advertising and marketing rights, as is common in China - most production companies in the UK only deal with creativity and programs, while advertising is entirely handled by the TV stations.
Their philosophy is to do their job well and to maximize creative research and development and program production with a professional spirit.
In the production of programs, in addition to companies that excel in creativity, there are also a large number of small and medium-sized secondary contractors and freelancers in the British television industry who are responsible for specific production matters. Among them are those who specialize in camera work, lighting, editing, and so on.
After receiving the order, the creative company will usually subcontract the specific matters of program production to a professional company.
Therefore, in the UK, most TV programs are the result of collective collaboration between many companies and individuals, and it is rare for a program to be entirely produced by one company.
The same can be done for Barron's future content production company, which only needs core members. Other professional work can be outsourced to other secondary contractors or temporarily hired as freelancers.
The backbone of British television production is a large number of freelancers, including core planners such as production directors, producers, directors, screenwriters, as well as grassroots workers such as cameramen, sound effects, lighting, props, makeup, and post-production.
They are neither affiliated with a TV station nor permanent employees of a production company. Instead, they are completely free-flowing professional TV people.
Usually, after an independent production company receives an order from a TV station, the first thing it needs to do is recruit a project team. The first step is to determine important positions such as production director, producer, director, etc. based on the budget and program type. They will then recommend reliable and capable grassroots employees, such as cameramen, lighting, sound effects, props, hosts, artists, etc.
All the staff work together on a project, and after the project is over, everyone will disband and become free people again. This is the combination model of British TV people.
Freelancers are the norm in the UK. Whether it is a TV station or an independent production company, the ratio of permanent employees and freelancers hired each year is usually 20:80.
Many production companies usually have only a few people, but once they get an order, the number of employees will soar to dozens.
Every type of job is a circle. Only by working hard to do their job better can freelancers build a good reputation and gain a foothold in the circle.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, Barron does not have to worry about the professional qualities of the people he hires, because he only needs to ask around in the circle to find staff who meet the qualities he expects.
Even if he needs a more stable team, he can find the most suitable members during this running-in period.
However, there is one thing that makes Barron a little hesitant about this method at this time. Although the copyright of the program finally produced at this time still belongs to the production company - unless it is specifically stipulated in the contract.
However, this situation is still mostly industry convention and has not yet been regulated at the legal level, so disputes may arise as a result.
This situation will not be finally determined legally until the Communications Act is enacted next year.
Another thing is that after Bonnie returned to London and finally agreed to join Barron's program production team, Halo registered the copyright of the planning details of the "Betrayal" variety show that Barron had finally written, and submitted the plan to ITV. The other party showed some interest, but for this kind of reality show that had not been verified by the market before, the prospects were not particularly certain.
Therefore, the other party finally said that after the program is produced, they will decide whether to adopt it after watching the finished film.
Every TV station has its own purchasing editor. As senior professionals, these purchasing editors have great power. On the other hand, although these people are more experienced in market control, they inevitably have their own preferences and do not necessarily have an overly risky and radical style of action.
Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, Barron decided to adopt another form of cooperation based on the advice of his team, which is to purchase the TV station's broadcast time and directly launch his own program content within the corresponding time.
Here, Barron's TV station of choice is still ITV.
The British Independent Television, abbreviated as ITV - although it is also named Independent, it has nothing to do with the Independent Newspaper Company under Barron's name.
ITV was officially launched in 1955. It is the earliest commercial television station in the UK and one of the largest comprehensive television stations in the UK.
It covers the whole of England and is one of the biggest competitors of BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).
The operation of ITV is very interesting. At the beginning, it was composed of 15 operators, each with its own independent logo and identification - these subcontracted TV stations independently produced programs and even filmed TV series.
However, so far, only 4 of the 15 operators have been able to maintain independent station logos and identities - the other 11 operators have merged with Independent Television Limited to become Independent Television First (ITV1).
The reason for choosing this TV station is that ITV has a very interesting way of operating.
The ITV Network was founded in 1955 and is currently made up of two companies - ITV Corporation and STV Group, with a total of 15 regional franchises in 14 regions (one each in London on weekdays and weekends, and only one in other regions) and 1 national morning show franchise.
However, not all companies can always get the franchise. Every once in a while, the independent television management department will bid for 15 regional franchises. If you successfully win the franchise for a certain area, you can broadcast programs in that area for the next period of time.
In 1990, the Broadcasting Act 1990 was passed in the UK.
In addition to establishing the Independent Television Commission to replace the Independent Broadcasting Authority, allowing the establishment of a fifth analogue television channel (Channel 5, now owned by Paramount), and requiring that a quarter of BBC programmes must be produced by independent television production companies, the Act also reformed the bidding for the ITV franchise.
The bill stipulates that ITV's franchise will be allocated based on potential value instead of being determined through secret bidding.
Therefore, every once in a while, you can get the broadcast time on the ITV network through bidding.
What's interesting is that according to Bonnie's information, Night Television, which is responsible for the one-hour broadcast time from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the ITV network, is being investigated by the Independent Committee for Monitoring the Regulation of Telephone and Information Services in the UK because of suspected violations of the program. The reason is that their prize-winning guessing program, in which viewers participate through a hotline, is suspected of cheating by pre-determining the grand prize winner or arbitrarily raising the rates, deceiving viewers into calling the hotline and making a profit.
The independent television station said that if the program violates the regulations, it will be suspended.
Then Summit Media will have the opportunity to take over the program in this time slot - of course, provided that their bid can satisfy the independent TV station.
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