In the wake of Brexit, European Union initiatives to reform the media market, and potential policy shifts around free trade globally, this presentation addresses key issues facing the international distribution industry, focusing on the UK as a case study. Programming exports have long been identified in the UK as a policy priority by industry and successive governments, not only to maintain production levels of first run originations, but also to boost ‘soft power’ and overseas receipts. However, commissioning of original TV content remains largely the preserve of mainstream broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4), although they may not be the main funders of exportable drama, documentaries and children’s content, because of producer investment, tax credit and other supports. In spite of the fragmentation of audiences and revenues worldwide, the arrival of over-the-top digital distribution to new players such as Netflix and Amazon has boosted overseas revenues. Building on the identification of audience fragmentation and over-the-top delivery as key drivers in a transforming international distribution landscape, this presentation investigates first the extent to which UK distribution has changed over a ten-year period, pinpointing continuities in the destination and type of sales alongside changes in the role and structure of the industry as UK-based distributors adapt to a changing broadcasting landscape and global production environment. At one level increasing US ownership of UK-based distributors and the arrival of OTT players like Netflix, highlights the tensions between the national orientations of UK broadcasters and the global aspirations of independent producers and distributors. At another level VOD has boosted international sales of UK drama. However, the combination of Brexit, EU initiatives and wider policy changes at a global level might suggest that the future of UK created content is rather less certain based on future exclusion from EU funding supports, the potential shift of key players away from London, and the difficulty of building revenues and audiences in emerging markets beyond the US and key EU markets.

Jeanette Steemers is Professor of Culture, Media and Creative Industries at the Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries, King’s College London. A graduate in German and Russian, she completed her PhD on West German public service broadcasting in 1990. After working for Research Company, CIT Research, and distributor HIT Entertainment, she rejoined academia in 1993. Her books include Changing Channels (1998), Selling Television (2004), European Television Industries (2005 with P. Iosifidis and M. Wheeler), Creating Preschool Television (2010), The Media and the State (2016 with T. Flew and P. Iosifidis), European Media in Crisis (2015 with J. Trappel and B. Thomass) and Children’s TV and Digital Media in the Arab World (2017 with Naomi Sakr). She has published widely on UK television exports, public service broadcasting and the children’s media industry with support from the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. She is a Trustee of the Voice of the Listener and Viewer, and Board Member of the Children’s Media Foundation.