Budget cuts menace TV producers

Independent television producers are facing big upheavals as television networks rein in budgets for local programming and Government funding is reallocated.

The industry is tipping that the situation will lead to production company failures this year.

A harsh advertising slump during the economic downturn has hit network revenue and forced reviews of what shows they commission from the independents.

Cuts go to the heart of the creative industry sector, which relies heavily on subsidies.

"Production companies are right to be nervous," said one TV network insider familiar with the situation. "There will be a big shakedown later this year and nobody will be surprised if a couple of small to medium-sized production companies fall over."

The executive director of the producers' body Spada, Penelope Borland, said the market for making shows had become tighter.

TVNZ has still not announced the changes to its commissioning schedule due as part of its drive to save $25 million.

Some of the money has been stripped from news and marketing budgets but commissioned shows are bound to suffer. Producers who make shows for TVNZ - whether they receive subsidies or not - still do not know whether their productions are safe.

Apart from that review and the continuing advertising downturn, TVNZ has to address the loss of shows that were part-funded from the $15.5 million direct grant for TVNZ charter obligations.

The newly contestable fund was launched last week, rebranded as the Platinum Fund. It will be aimed at commercial prime-time programming and available to all TVNZ but also to TV3, C4, Prime TV and Maori TV.

The funds' new managers at NZ OnAir announced last week that it wouldtarget dramas, top-end documentaries,and short research-based series.

"It will be focused on shows that are hard to get up and running," said NZ On Air chief executive Jane Wrightson.

The Platinum Fund does not represent new money for the industry but decisions on subsidies should be more transparent.

So independent producers were more relieved than excited last week when the criteria for the fund were formally launched.

The fund has been planned for several months. With a new Government and declining Government revenue leading to a tighter allocation of taxpayer funds, some producers were concerned that the $15.5 million would be scrapped.

There was a sense of relief that this funding was still available and had not been removed from the industry altogether, Borland said,

For Prime, Maori TV and MediaWorks the revamped subsidy scheme is a real boon.

They will benefit with subsidies to programme-makers, allowing them to commission local shows from independent producers at a fraction of their cost.

INDUSTRY IN CRISIS

* The TV production industry is in a shakedown this year, with advertising cuts limiting TV network spending on local shows.

* The industry is underpinned by $74.3 million of taxpayer subsidies from New Zealand On Air.

* Producers are relieved the Government has shifted TVNZ's exclusive rights to and control of $15.5 million of charter money.

* The money rebranded last week as the "Platinum Fund" will also be available to fund shows on Prime TV, TV3, C4 and Maori TV.