A multimillion pound fund for UK radio and television is now open and accepting funding applications.
image: Open Government Licence v3.0
DCMS writes:
The hunt for the next big thing in radio and young people’s television has begun, as applications opened today for a share of a Government financed £60 million fund set up to provide a boost to the UK’s Radio and Television sector. Over the past decade the output of children’s television from public service broadcasters (PSBs) in the UK has been in decline, with them spending roughly 40% less than they did in 2006.
As a result a significant amount of programming on children’s channels now consist of repeats. The Young Audiences Content Fund (YACF), being administered by the British Film Institute (BFI), will aim to help reverse that trend and is the first of its kind to specifically focus on television for young people under the age of 18. The Audio Content Fund (ACF) will be used to produce distinctive, public service radio programming that is traditionally more difficult to support on a commercial basis. This includes programmes such as documentaries, comedy, drama and light entertainment. Both funds will also provide a boost to indigenous UK languages programming such as Welsh and Gaelic, with an aim to invest five per cent of the total fund on this.
Minister for Digital and Creative Industries Margot James said: ‘Young people in the UK deserve high quality content that entertains, informs and reflects their experiences growing up across the country today. The UK’s broadcast sectors reach hundreds of millions of people of all ages around the globe and are a tremendous success story that we are justifiably proud of. This innovative project is an integral part of our ongoing support for the UK’s vibrant media sector which we want to see go from strength to strength.’…
