A YouGov survey has shown indies rate Channel 4 as the best broadcaster to work with.
The results of the Channel 4 Indie Survey, undertaken by YouGov, reflected the effort and work the broadcaster has put into further improving its dealings with production companies in 2021. The survey, which received more than 100 responses, also showed that Channel 4 has consistently improved in its dealings with indies since 2019.
Emma Hardy, Director of Commissioning Operations:
“We’ll take valuable learnings from the survey results but to have seen consistent progress over the past two years shows we are moving in the right direction and speaks volumes about the changes we’ve introduced and the hard work of the commissioning teams who have made huge efforts to improve the experience for indies when dealing with Channel 4. It’s particularly pleasing that the majority of responses are from smaller, independent production companies which are exactly the types of businesses Channel 4 should be nurturing.”
Channel 4 received the highest score from indies for the overall experience of working with a broadcaster or content provider. More than two-thirds of respondents (68%) gave Channel 4 a score between 7-10 out of ten, up more than 20% on the previous survey’s results.
And it revealed that Channel 4 is making an impact where it really matters – with smaller, independent production companies. Seventy-four per cent of respondents were independent rather than being part of a group and more than half had a turnover of less than £5m. Nearly half, 46%, had their head office outside of London.
Nearly three-quarters of responses (74%) came from the most senior people in the business at CEO, Managing Director or Creative Director level. Since appointing Rebecca Thompson as Head of Indie Relations, Channel 4 has implemented a wide range of changes to improve its dealing with production companies. Some of the improvements included Indie Relations surgeries where production companies meet with Rebecca to find out about working with Channel 4, a bi-monthly newsletter to keep indies up to date with new briefs, opportunities and Commissioning Editors and programme performance reports so indies can see how their new shows perform.
Further changes are still to be added they note, including new internal systems and processes aimed at supporting the faster turnaround of decision-making, an information pack for new suppliers, outlining key information about working with the channel and additional training and development schemes to support indies at different stages across the UK.
Rebecca Thompson as Head of Indie Relations:
“We’ve taken significant steps to improve how we do business with indies and it’s fantastic to see that this is already having such a positive impact on indies’ overall experience of working with Channel 4. We’ll be introducing more measures this year to improve our communications and systems and keep up this momentum.”
