U.K. nets’ outlooks diverge

Channel 4 gunshy about American shows

By STEVE CLARKE

'Pushing Daisies'

LONDON - A grim advertising outlook, sparked by deepening economic gloom, is weighing on British buyers as they head for the L.A. Screenings -- but not in the same way for all.

Channel 4, the U.K. hybrid pubcaster that has cut its acquisitions budget as it plows more coin into local product, claims its buying team is prioritizing the needs of its spinoff web, youth-skewed E4.

"Unless there is a show that is transformational, we won't be buying for the main channel," Channel 4 director of TV Kevin Lygo says. "E4 gobbles up acquired shows, so we'll be looking for comedy and drama that is right for the E4 audience."

Channel 4 is disappointed that new high-profile winter import "Dirty Sexy Money" has failed to make big inroads despite a hefty marketing push.

Conversely, rival terrestrial station ITV1 is onto a potential winner with "Pushing Daisies," the first U.S. acquisition to win a peak-time ITV1 showcase in more than a decade.

"'Pushing Daisies' was visually the most striking and probably the best show of last year's Screenings," opines the broadcaster's buying topper, Jay Kandola.

Though the program's audience share fell from 25% in week one to 18% two weeks later, Kandola remains upbeat about the skein's perf in the highly competitive 9 p.m. Saturday slot.

"'Pushing Daisies' is doing brilliantly for us, especially when you consider that it picks up the majority of 16-34 year-olds (normally light viewers of ITV1) watching at that time of the evening," she explains.

Kandola will be accompanied at the Screenings by ITV executive chairman Michael Grade and the web's new director of television, ex-BBC1 controller Peter Fincham, who joined the broadcaster earlier this month.

With deeper pockets than terrestrial rivals Channel 4 and Five, how much money ITV is prepared to fork out should that "transformational" U.S. show emerge and a bidding war ensue is an intriguing question.

Grade, Fincham and Kandola need no reminding that it's been a long, hard winter for new British-produced ITV1 dramas like "Rock Rivals" and "The Palace," neither of which will be returning. The low success rate of domestic fiction, coupled with tight budgets, may result in the network paying even more attention than usual to what the Screenings yield.