Industry

In the first of a regular series of surveys to test the health of the international TV industry, the TellyCast/ WorkShare Consulting Content Industry Monitor found that less than one in ten (9%) of executives wish to return to full time, permanent office working following the pandemic.
The results showed that the vast majority of TV industry office workers are looking forward to a balance of working environments in the future with nearly half of all respondents preferring either 3 days per week (26%) or 2 days a week (21%) back in their regular pre-pandemic office space.
The survey also found that there is a mountain to climb in terms of diversity in TV with a massive 83% of respondents seeing a lack of BAME (Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic) representation in the industry.
60% of TV executives have worked longer hours during the pandemic with an increase in stress during the pandemic with 55% reporting an increase in stress. Perhaps a contributing factor was video calling as 43% found they went on too long.
Other key findings in the TellyCast/ WorkShare Content Industry Monitor, which is available for free download from www.tellycast-podcast/downloads, include the influential events side of the industry.
Virtual events were no match for the real thing with 64% finding them a worse experience than their in person counterparts, but 53% are resigned to seeing them as a big part of the industry going forward.
Industry behemoth events MIPCOM (51%) and MIPTV (47%) were the first and second choices as events the industry still plans on attending, followed by Edinburgh TV Festival (30%), Realscreen (26%), IBC (23%) and NEM and NATPE with 19% each.
However, safety is a major concern for prospective delegates as 60% think that live events should require COVID testing as an entry requirement and nearly half (47%) felt events should be for vaccinated attendees only.
Finally, on a buoyant note, nearly one in five (19%) of respondents are generating revenues exceeding those pre-pandemic and 34% expect this to take 12-18 months from now to see revenues return to pre COVID levels. Additionally, 77% are either extremely confident or confident about retaining employment in the next 6 months with little sign of the recession hitting jobs confidence in the TV industry this summer.
Commenting on the survey, Jonathan Broughton, MD of Workshare Consulting said: ”The Content Industry Monitor represents an amazing opportunity to understand the readiness of the industry to return and to tackle critical questions in the market. Whether that be a return to physical events or working in an office this partnership with TellyCast has been an amazingly revealing and rewarding experience.”
TellyCast’s Justin Crosby said “I wanted to mark a year of TellyCast podcasts and by teaming up with WorkShare were doing exactly that with our Content Industry Monitor. It’s packed with revealing insights into a year in TV, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. I hope industry executives will find the survey as fascinating as we do”.