How to think outside the box

Published on Saturday 26 April 2008 14:36

INTERVIEW: BLAIR JENKINS

The man charged with shaping the future of Scottish broadcasting looks to the US for inspiration, he tells Nathalie Thomas

FOR a man so heavily focused on the future of the Scottish broadcasting industry, Blair Jenkins spends a surprising amount of time talking about American television.

Sporting a golden tan, he has just returned from a two-week holiday in Florida, where he lapped up coverage of the race for the White House and how it has become one of the big television events of the year.

It is clear from his enthusiasm that he caught a heavy dose of election fever during his stay and that it got him thinking about the job he is tackling: finding a way of putting the Scottish back into Scottish television.

"I'm a news junkie," he says. "I watch CNN, I even watch Fox. I have a particular interest in the US presidential elections, so I can get much more about that (from them] than I can get on the UK news."

What struck him in particular was the way even social networking sites are following the Clinton versus Obama story, encouraging those who do not share his addiction to television to find other ways of accessing on-screen information, a feature of the new age of electronic media.

Today Jenkins is in Edinburgh to talk about homespun output and how it could be improved. As chairman of the commission set up last year by First Minister Alex Salmond to investigate how Scotland can revive its waning broadcasting industry, Jenkins has travelled east from his office in Atlantic Quay in Glasgow for a series of meetings with politicians and other interested parties on the role played by broadcasters in Scottish democracy.

When we meet he is taking a breather over a latte after an early morning meeting with Ted Brocklebank, the Scottish Conservatives' spokesman on broadcasting. Next stop is an evidence session with Robin Harper, media spokesman for the Green Party. That evening he will go to the Storytelling Centre on the capital's Royal Mile for one of several public meetings planned around the country on the "democratic imperative" of Scottish television and radio. It will climax in a debate involving ITV News editor-in-chief David Mannion in Glasgow on May 6.

This latest round of meetings marks the third and final stage of the commission's work before it delivers a blueprint for reforming Scottish broadcasting to Salmond's Government in the summer.

The commission's 10 members have already published two interim reports on the state of commissioning and the cultural impact of Scottish broadcasting. The language so far has been colourful, accusing the television channels of a "dereliction of duty" towards Scotland, and pointing the finger at the BBC for passing off programmes with no economic or cultural ties to the country as Scottish.

Jenkins is expecting this final stage to be no less controversial. Up for debate over the course of the next few weeks is the possibility of a separate Scottish digital channel that would look at UK and world news from a Scottish perspective.

He is careful not to say anything that would pre-empt the commission's forthcoming proposals, but indicates that a separate approach to news in Scotland is likely to be a key focus of attention.

He cites the recent reporting of the Grangemouth strikes as an example of why Scotland needs at least a national news programme viewed from a Scottish perspective. Although Grangemouth was one of the biggest stories of the week in Scotland, the BBC in London gave more attention to the teachers' strikes, which affected only England and Wales.

"Many people, including those who aren't in favour, would say that the UK news bulletins are finding it increasingly difficult to report the UK (news] in a single bulletin which is accurate and relevant and appropriately prioritised for the whole of the UK."

He has personal experience of how Scottish news programmes struggle to make the grade. Before chairing the commission, he was head of news and current affairs at BBC Scotland. He walked out in 2006 in protest at budget and job cuts, though he concedes that efficiency drives are a fact of life across the industry. "It's not just a BBC issue because it applies just as much to ITN news and (the news] on Channel 4. Any UK broadcaster would say this is a very difficult thing to do. How do you contextualise the whole of the UK as policies and legislation have developed so much?"

BBC director general Mark Thompson is already looking into how news needs to adapt to devolution. He has commissioned Professor Anthony King of Essex University to investigate how programmes such as BBC Breakfast can be as relevant in Glasgow as they are in Gloucester.

King is due to report over the next couple of months but Jenkins admits that getting the commercial channels to change their ways may be more difficult. This is not only the case for news, but for all productions.

In the wake of the commission's second report in March, STV owner SMG delivered it a blow when it announced it would only produce more Scottish programmes if there was a commercial rationale for doing so.

At an evidence session to the commission's members in January, ITV chairman Michael Grade controversially stated that ITV does not order more programmes north of the border because "the ideas aren't there". He said Scotland had a "talent exit problem", with most of the best people being lured away to London.

Thompson has pledged about 50m to increase the proportion of BBC programmes produced in Scotland to 9% of total output, but Jenkins is clearly ruffled by the problem posed by the commercial channels.

ITV is a potentially valuable customer for independent Scottish production companies but, without a licence fee, it will be difficult for the commission to encourage it to buy programmes that may not be profitable.

Ofcom's current review of public service broadcasting could provide some answers, but Jenkins accepts that it won't be easy.

"As Ofcom has identified, the levers of influence over ITV are diminishing as it becomes more and more commercial," he says.

The commission is unlikely to come up with any quick solutions about how to get Grade onside, Jenkins admits. With ITV's diminishing share price constantly on his mind, he is under pressure to produce commercial hits and is unlikely to do the Scottish sector any special favours.

However, Jenkins' own experience of commercial television – he was director of broadcasting at STV – tells him that ITV can be won over in time if the BBC keeps its word on the 50m.

"The ripple effect of the additional investment will be profound," he says. "If we get to 9%, our view as a commission has been that that new investment will create the kinds of production companies in Scotland which can then build their business nationally and internationally.

"There are some existing companies in Scotland – such as IWC and Comedy Unit – and I think they'll do even better in future because they'll be encouraged to invest in their own resources and talent against a backdrop where they can see more network investment in Scotland."

As well as growing existing companies, he is convinced the additional investment, which is also likely to be boosted by a commitment from Channel 4 to double its spending north of the border, will lead to a boom in new TV companies in Scotland.

Similarly, it will lure many Scots-born producers working down south back to their homeland, he argues. "There are some companies that are located outside Scotland currently who will set up in Scotland and add to the overall strength of the creative sector. Shed Productions, a successful network drama company run by some talented Scots, has won one commission for a Scottish-based network drama with the apt title of Hope Springs. It looks fairly clear that they intend that as a first step towards establishing a permanent presence in Scotland".

Jenkins also wants more Scottish companies to look towards America for growth opportunities.

He says several companies have broken into the tough US market. For example, IWC has won what he describes as a "big" commission from the Discovery Channel.

Does he think Scottish companies could compete better in both the domestic and international markets if broadcasting was devolved and the SNP Government had full control over Scots' license fees?

It's a subject that has arisen, he says, but the commission will be keeping politics firmly out of its recommendations this time.

However, he does recognise that the SNP is likely to look into that possibility after the recommendations are published. He concludes: "We think (as a commission] it's very important that what we do is the work of looking at what needs to change, what's important to change. Having done that work it's then a perfectly valid question to say OK, is that achievable under the existing political and regulatory framework, or do you need to change the existing political and regulatory framework?

"The need for any shift of powers in broadcasting then becomes a perfectly valid debate in the political forum."