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It was a good year for producers with broadcaster backing, with revenues up virtually across the board, while the BBC overtook C4 as the best broadcaster to deal with.
Being owned - or part-owned - by a UK broadcaster was generally good for business in 2016.
Of the 13 production companies that were either majority owned by Sky or had C4 as a minority stakeholder through its Growth Fund, all but one increased their revenues year on year. The one that didn't, Barcroft Media, reaped an identical amount to 2015.
C4-backed Lightbox Media and Renowned Films were both 67% better off, while Voltage was up 22% and Arrow Media 16%.
The fastest-growing of the C4-backed producers was Popkorn TV, a popular-factual indie that received Growth Fund investment back in 2014. The Rich Kids Of Instagram producer's income was up 119% year on year to £3m, with its UK original programming hours increasing from four to 22.
Popkorn TV executive producer Rory Wheeler says the growth was driven by a "concerted push from straight factual docs into more formatted factual and series", and by taking a "broader view of the multitude of interesting channels out there that are commissioning". The upshot was a 20 x 30-minute series on Dave and a 6 x 60 minute series on E4.
Rich Kids of Instagram (PopKorn TV)
C4's Growth Fund helped Popkorn in terms of financial planning and back-office structure, and this primed the company for growth, says Wheeler. But its success is "thanks to the tireless work of a finely tuned development team and our great relationships with some very talented commissioners," he adds.
The C4 Growth Fund also holds a stake in Spelthorne Community TV and Eleven Film, which did not qualify in 2016.
The percentage increases at Sky-owned companies were not as dramatic as those seen by firms backed by C4,...