The Edinburgh TV Festival, the annual shindig of the movers, shakers, and changemakers of the British television industry, took place last week and change was very much on the schedule, reports Michael Burns.
The headline issues facing the TV industry in the UK are significant – high inflation, market contraction, shrunken ad revenue for commercial broadcasters, freelancers being out of work for long periods, and firms ranging from indies to hire companies to VFX facilities going under. Content is still being made, but it’s now made at the extremes: a few big, expensive shows and lots of lower-cost, high-volume shows.
In his Mactaggart Lecture, playwright and dramatist James Graham talked about the boom and bust of TV, pointing out that two years ago post-Covid, a trend in the industry was over-production. “And now: a drought, a desert,” he said...
You are not signed in
Only registered users can read the rest of this article.
FIFA World Cup: A cyber criminal’s cash cow
Alongside financially motivated cybercrime, politically motivated hacktivists are also likely to target organisations linked to the tournament through distributed denial-of-service attacks, website defacements, and disinformation campaigns.
AI and sports piracy: “It's whack-a-mole, except now the mole is running an algorithm”
Illegal sports streams in Britain have more than doubled to 3.6bn in the past three years, according to a recent report from the Campaign for Fairer Gambling. But is there any correlation between the increase in piracy and advances in tech? Is AI more effective as the sword or the shield? Anna Tobin reports.
From screens to spaces: The rise of immersive experiences in live events
From AR-powered sports coverage to immersive theatre and AI-driven fan engagement, broadcasters, organisers, and rights holders are rethinking how live experiences are created and extended beyond the event itself.
.jpg)
SVOD vs AVOD: The reinvention of live sports viewing
The live sports landscape is the crown jewel of entertainment, and as it evolves, streaming platforms are driving its next phase of growth.
Content Everywhere: The long and the short of it
Short-form video platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts have transformed how audiences consume content. According to recent data from YouGov, rather than replacing traditional viewing, short-form clips are becoming an important step in the viewing journey, helping audiences discover shows and inspiring them to tune in.
.jpg)