The revenues of independent producers in Britain reached their second-highest total last year, despite spending by British broadcasters falling below £2 billion ($2.7 billion) for the first time since 2020. The Pact figures come as the UK producers’ body warned that the BBC must avoid a situation of “managed financial decline”.
Charter’s census shows UK TV revenues were reported at £1.99bn for 2025, down 4.7% from £2.09bn the previous year, but significant growth in international TV and non-TV revenues pushed the overall figure up 4.1% to £3.81bn.
That’s a figure that was only surpassed in the Covid-fueled year of 2022, when the figure was just under £4bn, with shows like Netflix Adolescence Among the biggest results of 2025 and others such as Agatha Christie’s Seven Faces Making noise this year.
The figures reveal the increasing reliance on global broadcast commissions, with traditional public broadcasters under significant financial pressure and facing stark choices about their production.
Pact, which represents the majority of UK independent TV producers, revealed that international revenues were £1.57bn, up 15.8% on the £1.35bn of the previous year and just behind the £1.62bn in 2022. This figure represents 41.1% of total revenues.
Warner, who was presenting the statistics for the first time since replacing long-serving John McVay, put that down to investment from international broadcasters. He warned that commissions from traditional local networks have fallen for the third year in a row, putting great pressure on small and medium-sized production companies.
The slowdown was caused by multiple factors including “the contraction in the advertising market, the shift of viewers away from broadcast television and continuing inflationary pressures on production costs.”
Warner also noted that sign-ups now generate 72.3% of all initial commissions from outside the UK, representing £916 million, a figure that has risen from 27% over the past decade.
The statistics highlighted how global streaming companies like Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ have become top shoppers according to this metric. In the early to mid-2010s, most commissions came from US cable giants, who were soliciting shows for channels across their international footprints.
Meanwhile, UK production companies also benefited from the recovery after the Hollywood strike and from the return of international finished tape sales to “usual levels” after a sharp 26.8% decline in 2024 due to an easing production backlog.
Non-TV revenue (which includes online publishing, talent management, promotions, PR and feature films) was £258m, a significant rise on last year’s £224m and higher than the previous record of £236m posted in 2013.
Furthermore, the secondary rights market rose by £65m to £575m, as the reality of a market where producers have to be more entrepreneurial has been revealed.
“(The growth) is a testament to demand and content in the UK, but it may also indicate that producers may be increasingly relying on future rights revenues to help finance production,” Warner said.
During a presentation to the press, Warner was told that the producers faced a major threat to the trade terms that had boosted their business and allowed them to retain the rights to shows sought by British networks since 2003.
Channel 4, often considered the independent sector’s closest friend to the broadcast and publisher model, is still working on plans to launch an in-house division, while Sky is buying ITV, and BBC director general Matt Brittain has questioned whether its trading terms rules are fit for purpose in the modern era.
“(Terms of trade) fundamentals remain critical to the health of the independent sector and have fueled the growth of the independent sector over the past 25 years,” Warner said, adding that Pact was in ongoing discussions with each broadcaster and pointed to a new deal it closed with Paramount’s 5 in March.
Warner said the amount of third-party funding entering budgets was among “the most significant changes we have seen in recent years” and added: “Now we see broadcasters contributing much less in terms of the initial financial cost of production.”
Warner added that the picture will become clearer once Channel 4’s internal unit is established, an agreement is reached with the combined Sky and ITV companies, and talks with the BBC on terms are concluded.
“In an environment where India is increasingly contributing primarily to the cost of production, it needs to be in a position to recoup that investment itself, and rights become even more important,” he said.
The BBC is under pressure
The Charter census figures will make unwelcome reading for Britain’s public broadcasters, especially the BBC, which is looking to save up to £500m in costs amid a funding crunch.
Buckt again suggested that the BBC should look to replace the current license fee funding model, which is under pressure as increasing numbers of viewers refuse to pay, with an alternative such as a household tax similar to that in Germany. “There is a strong logic in moving in this direction,” Warner said in response to a question about the deadline, adding that it would remove the opportunity to evade payment.
“At the moment, I don’t see there being much of an alternative being offered other than just continuing the way we are, which threatens continued underinvestment in income and expenditure.”
This means “less money to spend and therefore less money to spend,” Pact policy director Emily Aoyama added, adding that this represented a “managed retreat.”
This year was the first in a quarter century that McVeigh was not CEO of the Producers Organization. Warner replaced him in March of this year.
