If Sky doesn’t renew its HBO deal, do its own scripted originals have the ‘It Factor’?
Opinion
Sky’s UK commissioning team has undergone a reshuffle, but what will the impact be on its original scripted content?
Despite Sky’s current TV promotional campaign, I’m not entirely sure the broadcaster has actually “Got It”, if “It” equates to an unbeatable selection of original scripted shows.
Whilst Sky possesses an enviable selection of ratings-generating imports such as The Last of Us, Succession, The White Lotus and House of the Dragon, the UK commissioning side looks decidedly lacklustre.
New acquisitions, in addition to re-runs of Game of Thrones and the like generate most ratings for Sky’s entertainment channels.
With the clock ticking to 2025 and the end of the mutually profitable output deal with HBO, time is fast running out for Sky to either cobble together an eye-wateringly expensive compact to retain key titles, cement an agreement with another producer with similar heft, or come up with a slate of genuine home-grown hits.
Exclusive live sport remains the chief pillar of Comcast-owned Sky in the UK, but scripted buzz-worthy hits are an important element in both retaining existing subscribers and attracting new customers.
With the financial travails of parent company Warner Bros (-$2.1bn in Q4 2022, in addition to falling ad revenue) the option of rinsing Sky for an exorbitant extension on the 2025 cut off point may be an appealing one, especially if limited to two to three years max.
Déjà vu all over again
With departure of Sky drama boss Cameron Roach in early 2021, it was generally hoped that new scripted jefe Gabriel Silver would usher in an era of both higher quality and ratings than under Roach and predecessor Anne Mensah, but this sadly was not to be.
Silver left Sky in December 2022, in February he joined Tiger Aspect Productions, with little in the way of legacy.
Scripted originals Django, A Town Called Malice, Funny Woman, The Midwich Cuckoos, Romantic Getaway, and This England all received mixed receptions and unremarkable ratings.
Last year’s Boris Johnson drama This England and 2023’s Django came in for particularly heavy press disparagement, especially wounding to a company hungry for awards and critical kudos.
Both Roach and Anne Mensah have yet to really establish themselves in new, post-Sky roles.
Roach’s BBC1 Waterloo Road re-boot proved a ratings and critical dud, whilst Mensah’s sojourn at Netflix UK has thus far failed to produce any acknowledged hits, although this year’s young-adult supernatural show Lockwood & Co may yet finally have broken her duck.
Hope Springs Eternal?
Will new hire Katherine Butler turn the ship around?
Butler was previously creative director at The Ink Factory, which primarily concerns itself with monetising the work of espionage author John le Carré via TV and film adaptations. Her other credits are impressive but skew to the art house side of the street, rather than the popular fare Sky so desperately craves.
To quote from Mike Nichols’ Wolf (1994): Raymond Alden (played by Christopher Plummer) says: “You’re clearly a man of taste and individuality, which I prize, but these days, not only in corporate America but all around the globe, taste and individuality are actually something of a handicap.”
Will Randall (played by Jack Nicholson): “Well, just out of curiosity, on what basis did you pick my successor? Vulgarity and conformity?”
Sky UK’s other new scripted signing, EP Adrian Sturges, has form with underperforming drama in the shape of Chimerica (C4), The Third Day (Sky Atlantic) and one-season wonder The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (Netflix).
Not exactly the best of omens.
Call me an old sourpuss, but upcoming shows Lockerbie, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Tudor/Jacobean biopic Mary & George and a rebooted The Day of the Jackal all fail to set pulses running.
Contrast Sky’s strategy with Amazon Prime, where Clarkson’s Farm had three entries in the Barb Top 50 for the week 6 -12 February 2023.
Stephen Arnell began his career at the BBC, moving to ITV where he launched and managed digital channels. He continues to consult for streamers and broadcasters on editorial strategy. He currently writes for The Spectator, The Independent, and The Guardian on film, TV and cultural issues. He is also a writer/producer (including Bob Fosse: It’s Showtime for Sky Arts) and novelist.