BROADCAST ARTICLE: What can indies do to survive and thrive in late 2024 and beyond?

Victoria Powell offers advice on how to get through the next difficult few months

We have all heard it, echoing around our own heads, uttered hopefully in meetings, or said supportively during drinks with colleagues. Survive until ’25.

What about now though? And what if the New Year fails to ring in with the chime of cash registers? At Indielab, we have had the privilege of working with hundreds of UK indie producers and we can see how tough things are right now.

So, how can indies survive, thrive and embrace the final four months of 2024 and beyond?

Pitching to broadcasters during a commissioning slowdown can be demoralising, but here’s the thing: you have to keep going. You need to be the Sisyphus of your genre. For indies, having the confidence and endurance to curate relationships pays off when you’re up against established studios, super indies and veterans with years of networking under their belts. Make sure to focus on buyer relationships and building them, keep commissioning editors close despite uncertainty and disappointments. In a world of constant rejection, try to take the ‘no’s with ease, play the long relationship game and remember, most importantly, you have what they need.

Make sure you are treating each relationship as unique and really seeking to understand each commissioner’s needs, ways of working and interests. Identify areas of commonality and build on these. Keep developing new relationships with new partners and don’t just rely on the same contacts.

The swinging axe of budget cuts

Broadcaster budgets are falling, while inflation has seen production costs skyrocket. In 2024 a green light means GO – ‘go find some additional production finance’, that is. So it is all the more important to explore other sources of funding and other revenue streams – be that brand-funded, pre-sales, acquisitions or co-production.

In a global market you need to find and foster international collaborators. That starts with doing your research to help tap into the opportunities that international strategic alliances can offer. Develop your distributor network, but also broaden your international network, and get to know international broadcasters, buyers and co-producers for your content. This opens up new territories, funding, talent and potentially tax credits.

The production slowdown, and subsequent reduction in work for the team

With fewer commissions, it’s critical to think outside the TV box. Consider other revenue streams through creating extensions of what you already do - can you create digital channels with your archive? Spin existing talent relationships and IP into podcasts, live events or experiences? Our Indie Voice Survey, published earlier this year, found that 78% of indies surveyed pivoted into new revenue streams alongside linear content this year. Some 37% of these reported revenue growth driven by this activity, within only the first year. Make small investments to trial new revenue streams and iterate and build on those that succeed.

Keeping on top of the rapid shifts in market trends

Victoria Powell

Ofcom’s 2023 Media Nations report showed traditional TV viewing in the UK is falling faster than predicted, and we lost a combined spend of £97bn out of the UK market last year. But for you and your content, success is about how you identify, find and continue your relationship with your audience. When audiences are fragmenting, understanding your USP can really help you identify where to position your content and find new routes to funding.

And in all difficult times, a cup of tea and a bit of introspection can do you the world of good. Consider your unique position in the market – who are your audience, where do they watch, and what are their other adjacent behaviours? What brands fund that content, or pay for advertising around it? What channels are strongest in it? Look at your competitors, who are they making content for, what channels are they on, what brands are associated with their content and how does their audience behave?

Helping to alleviate stress and anxiety

Nine out of 10 employees say they suffer stress at work in the UK. Turbulent times in the industry can exacerbate this, potentially leading to burnout. Make wellbeing a priority for your team. With many mental health issues rising across the industry, it’s vital to ensure appropriate help is accessible, whether it’s specialist mental health support or engagement with national organisations who offer more general help. Plan for wellbeing initiatives around volunteering, leisure, health and lifestyle, which can help mitigate stress and avoid burnout and mental health issues before they happen. Have a mental health first aider on the team, and develop your mental health and wellbeing policy, so all team members are aware what support is on offer and how to access it.

Remember that small and agile can win the race

In difficult market times it’s important to remember that although things can seem incredibly tough, its smaller companies, with creativity and innovation at their heart that can take advantage of new opportunities and move swiftly to adapt to market changes. Alongside the larger studios, small indies also have some advantages, they can move faster, be more competitive and often have the creative edge over cost-burdened medium or larger companies. Keep an innovation mindset, remember that downturns can be times of real opportunity, and take yours.

Through our survey and conversations with the indies we work with, we have gleaned that the key areas of concern for UK Indies include frustration at the lack of engagement from commissioning editors, the need for new sources and wider networks of production finance partners, and a desire to understand more about audiences and audience trends.

We’ve used our findings to curate impactful content for our Growthlab London conference, including a Commissioner Zone (five rooms featuring commissioners ITV, C4, 5, UKTV, Quintus and others) a distributor and production finance market hall, where you can book meetings with major distributors, and a focus on audience and non-traditional broadcasting in a digital-first panel featuring speakers from Mediacom and Channel 4.0.

The conference will provide ideas and inspiration on how to survive and thrive in the UK indie sector, as well as the opportunity to hear from and engage with a huge range of experts to help keep your company on track for success.

Growthlab London takes place at One Churchill Place on 11 September between 1.30-8pm. For more information and tickets visit www.growthlablondon.co.uk