The TV world has been abuzz recently with the details of broadcasters’ new media deals with Pact, the independent producers’ body, over new media rights. The reasons for these deals are not only so that broadcasters can offer programmes for download themselves, but after an agreed amount of time (in the case of ITV and Channel 4, 30 days ) indie programme makers will be able to pursue other new media deals.
The first of these has now been mooted. Broadcast reports (sub. req.) that RDF Media is to set up its own broadband site, possibly operational by the end of the year.
Still in the planning stages, it’s not clear yet how customers will pay for the content. RDF is apparently “exploring pay-per- view, pay-to-own and subscription models… [and] has also not ruled out making the service available outside the UK.” There’s also talk of expanding the service to other indies in time.
Although RDF owns Touchpaper TV, makers of dramas such as Rocket Man, The Queen’s Sister and NY:LON as well as Julian Fellowes’ A Most Mysterious Murder, they’re surely better known for their reality hits, Wife Swap, Shipwrecked (through subsidiary RDF Television) and the Phil’n’Kirsty property shows Location, Location, Location and their spin-offs (from IWC Media). So they should be encouraged by a US research report that claims users of video-on-demand (VOD) services are 27% more likely to watch reality formats than your average viewer.
