With the move from linear TV to streaming and video on demand, content is king like never before. That puts enormous pressure on Ireland’s broadcasters, pitting them against deep-pocketed global rivals such as Netflix and Disney.
But “with the right, Irish-skewed content, they can win and gain an audience,” says Stuart Switzer, founder and former chief executive of independent production company Coco TV.
He believes the recent funding wars at RTÉ are clear evidence of the level of stress the public service broadcaster is under.
Budgets were already problematic. To take any well-known series of a UK format, he explains, the budget in Ireland is usually 50 per cent what it would be in the UK, yet the broadcaster is expecting the same production values. “That’s not easy,” he says.
It’s why news that RTÉ has secured multiannual funding has been welcomed by the production sector.
“It’s the first time any state company has ever had multiannual funding and it means that RTÉ, in turn, should be able to make commitments to producers like Coco TV to produce content over an extended number of years,” he says.
Effectively the new model will help underwrite both the financial structures of the broadcaster, and of the production companies it commissions from.
That’s good because the future is about to become even more challenging. Streamers such as Disney, Prime and Netflix are not selling advertising opportunities to advertisers in Ireland. But that will change.
Once it does, “the money will start to follow the eyeballs, meaning media people will pull money away from linear TV into new broadcasters,” warns Winterlich.
“It means RTÉ and Virgin are going to get less money than they are today, making their content budget shrink even more.”
As a result, broadcasters will be open to new funding models, including branded content.
What might seem to purists an appalling vista that blurs the line between editorial and advertising has in fact always been with us, whether in the form of a word from our sponsor or the items given to every member of the audience on certain TV shows.
It’s just that broadcasters are taking a more sophisticated approach, with ad-funded content making way for brand partnerships, and product placement evolving into a more subtle and narrative driven alignment of brand values.
“You can produce really interesting stories that people actually want to watch, which have synergies with the brand’s own messaging,” explains Dentsu’s head of branded entertainment, Sinéad O’Connor.
“It’s not about brand placement, or seeing the actual logo, it’s about having the same sort of alignment with a story or show.”
It’s not just content either, but intellectual property, she says, pointing to Sky’s deployment of Minions to showcase the speed of its broadband. O’Connor is currently working with a client keen to licence Angry Birds IP as a way to promote its brand.
“So there are lots of new models and I think broadcasters are open to it, but probably need more reassurance and trust that, in working with a brand, we are still going to deliver very strong editorial-quality content,” she says, pointing to the success of Barbie the movie as showing just what is possible.
Funding changes afoot
Changes in the way the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland provides funding is also having an impact on the sector, points out Winterlich.
The BAI recently earmarked €5 million in funding to broadcasters and programme makers to support content that raises awareness of climate change. Similar call outs have been made for programming on diversity.
But for Switzer, one of the most interesting potential developments is a tax incentive for unscripted programming, which includes both factual and entertainment genres.
Given that the film industry has benefited from tax incentives for four decades, a move which has, over time, helped put Ireland on the global stage in terms of quality and capacity, it’s a move he would welcome.
It is an exciting possibility, but any incentive must be much more than a subvention for incoming US gameshows, with service provision by an Irish company. These capital inflows are fickle and the owners of these productions will produce them in whatever country gives them the best deal, Ireland today, and somewhere else tomorrow. The incentive must be focused on creative Irish companies and assist them to develop new formats and concepts, we own the Intellectual property.
Any fiscal incentive must comply with state aid rules, which involves passing an EU Cultural Test. Switzer says it’s hard to see how see how offering service provision to incoming US games shows could pass this test, so he is confident the incentive will prioritise the development of creative Irish Production companies.
While it is great for advertisers to have so many alternative advertising platforms coming on stream here, they need to understand how important local Irish content is to them, says O’Connor.
She points to the relationship Ikea has with RTÉ’s Home Rescue, a Coco TV production, as an exemplar brand partnership which successfully leveraged Irish content.
“The collision between creativity and commercialism is a wonderful space,” agrees Switzer.
To compete, Ireland’s broadcasters need to prioritise a digital-first strategy, even more than they are already doing, says O’Connor. “It’s the only way they are going to survive against the competition,” she says.
The good news is that they are already having large success on their digital players, perhaps more so than people realise, she points out, with young people in particular watching that way.
But success means investing not just in technology, but in content too, she adds
The demise of appointment TV opens up another opportunity for brands, in that they are not limited by TV schedules. For production companies, the fact that Irish content travels well is another boon.
And just because companies such as Netflix have deep enough pockets to fund their own productions, it doesn’t mean they will never consider ad funded shows.
Dentsu Global has already worked successfully with Amazon Prime Video on the-brand funded series, Live Italian, in partnership with Birra Moretti, which the beer brand was able to activate locally, points out O’Connor. It represented the Heineken group’s first ever brand-funded show and aired in a number of international markets.
“I think if the editorial is of sufficient quality they will take a tape sale even if they are not involved from the outset,” she says.
“RTÉ’s increased commitment to spend in the independent sector is an interesting development and the potential of a tax incentive for the unscripted sector is an exciting development, as is the potential of a content levy on streamers, to try to create Irish or European content so that we’re not all looking at US content.”
On top of that, the fact that RTÉ is to outsource more production to the independent sector is “fantastic” news too, he adds.
“It’s not quite a golden time for Irish production companies,” he says. “It’s silver, but we’re moving towards gold.”