In the news this week, ITVBe to be retired with The Only Way Is Essex and The Real Housewives set to move to ITV2, Bertie Gregory shares how climate change impacts production, and remembering Ted Kotcheff.
Read all about it in this week’s Digest.
News
• ITV is to retire linear network ITVBe from its channel portfolio in June, with tentpole brands The Only Way Is Essex and The Real Housewives set to move to ITV2. (Broadcast)
• Netflix and Creative Wales have released a report showing Netflix productions in Wales have contributed over £200 million for the UK economy since 2020. (Televisual)
• South Korean shows overtake UK content for Netflix popularity. (Broadcast)
• Sheffield DocFest and Climate Spring are to launch the Climate Spring Documentary Pitch at Sheffield DocFest 2025, in which four creatives will pitch their documentary idea with one winner receiving £10,000 development funding and support from Climate Spring. (Televisual)
Features
• UK drama commissions in 2024 were up almost a third year on year, according to figures from GlobalData. Broadcast analyse the stats. (Broadcast)
• Bertie Gregory says climate change has disrupted animal behaviour and made them “less predictable”, having a wider impact on production delivery and budgets when it comes to nature documentaries. (Broadcast)
• How tariff uncertainty will hit TV & streaming. (Broadcast)
Director Interviews
• PJ Hogan, how we made Muriel’s Wedding. (Guardian)
Obituaries
• We were saddened to hear of the passing of member Ted Kotcheff. (Guardian)
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