Welsh TV producers trade body TAC has published its submission to Ofcom’s further consultation on the Channel 4 licence.
Ofcom originally consulted on Channel 4’s 10-year licence late last year and has now issued a second consultation on the idea of raising Channel 4’s Made out of England (MoE) quota, from 9% to 12% by 2030.
The key points of TAC’s response are:
- Ofcom’s proposed raising of Channel 4’s MoE requirement doesn’t go far enough:
- It is too small a rise and too long a timescale – Channel 4 has shown with its 15%+ rise in out of London commissioning over just a few years that it can move more swiftly.
- Such a small rise will be countered by Ofcom allowing Channel 4 to direct fewer resources to its linear channel (which is what this core licence covers)
- Channel 4 should therefore be required to raise its MoE quota to 12% initially by 2029 and then 16% by 2030
- Ofcom dismisses the idea that Channel 4 should have separate nations quotas but does not sufficiently explain why. TAC argues that Channel 4 needs to demonstrate its focus on each nation, especially as audiences in Wales are less satisfied with it than in any other nation. Ofcom and Channel 4 claim that there is not the capacity in nations but Wales alone has around 50 companies active at any time, working with S4C, BBC, ITC, Channel 4, C5 and also international TV platforms.
- TAC maintains, as in its initial consultation, that Channel 4’s overall out-of-London quota should be raised to 50% rather than left at 35%. Channel 4 already has set itself 50% as its ongoing quota and this should be future-proofed against future changes in management.
- Channel 4 should hold at least two in-person commissioning meetings with the sector in Wales per year, one each in North and South Wales. It should also liaise every year with TAC regarding its strategy for commissioning in Wales.
TAC Chair Dyfrig Davies said:
“While Ofcom has made a small step towards increasing Channel 4’s requirements to producers in the UK nations, this will not we believe make a tangible difference. Ofcom instead needs to introduce a suite of measures, including individual nations quotas, a mandatory 50% quota for out of London and a 16% MoE quota, to make a real difference and ensure Channel 4 is commissioning from a wide diversity of producers over the next ten years. To help with this it also needs to engage in a systemised manner with TAC and the Welsh sector on commissioning strategy.”
