The BBC has said it is open-minded about supporting calls for a streamer levy to help solve the scripted funding crisis currently gripping the British industry.
BBC Director General Tim Davie told lawmakers on Tuesday that it was a “good idea” to explore ways in which the likes of Netflix could make a “contribution” to local content.
The proposal of a streamer levy has been heavily advocated by Peter Kosminsky, the BAFTA-winning television director and writer behind series including Wolf Hall.
Kosminsky wants Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to hand over 5% of their UK subscription revenue to a cultural fund for British content. He pointed to 17 other territories, including France and Germany, where a similar scheme is already in place.
Davie said he planned to meet Kosminsky “very shortly” to discuss the proposal. “I think the idea that contribution is flowing back into the UK is a good idea. Just exactly how that works and where it goes, I think it requires a bit more debate,” Davie told UK Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
Creative Industries Minister Chris Bryant appeared to pour cold water on a streamer levy earlier this month, saying the government had “no plans” to unsettle the UK’s creative industries ecology.
Kosminsky has suggested that Netflix and others would not fight a levy if it were applied equally across all streaming services. These companies would argue, however, that they already invest heavily in the UK, with Netflix alone making series including Baby Reindeer and The Gentlemen in the country.
The streaming services have pulled back from co-producing dramas with British broadcasters, which is contributing to the funding crunch. This issue has been exacerbated by distributors stumping up lower advances; funding cuts and ad market woes squeezing the BBC and ITV’s income; and chronic inflation keeping the cost of production prohibitively high.
The BBC has admitted that multiple greenlit series are “stuck in limbo” amid the funding crisis, with Deadline revealing that shows including A24’s Shuggie Bain are struggling to get into production.
Davie acknowledged that there are “significant challenges” but the BBC is still “defying gravity” with its output. “We’re having to work extremely hard to maintain our 30-plus dramas, natural history, and all the things we are doing,” he told lawmakers. “We’re not out of the game, we’re doing very well.”
