Deadline: BBC Comedy Boss Calls For Tax Credit Plus “Package Of Measures To Safeguard Future”

Story from Deadline:

BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie is to spend the year identifying a “package of measures that industry, government and regulators can come together on to safeguard comedy’s future,” while calling for a comedy tax credit.

Petrie used a set-piece speech to declare that the cost of half-hour TV comedy has “risen enormously,” while stressing his new-look commissioning team is “working hard to raise [program funding] as much as we can whilst retaining the breadth of comedy on the BBC.”

“Despite the TV industry receiving the welcome news that a form of high-end TV tax credit will be retained, I know that comedy producers remain concerned about the rising costs of making comedy for television,” he said at the BBC Comedy Festival in Cardiff, where he unveiled shows from David Mitchell, Ricky Gervais and The Duchess star Michelle de Swarte. “It goes without saying that we do too, and we feel equally concerned that [UK regulator] Ofcom has deemed comedy ‘at risk’.”

Due to difficulties with attracting third-party funding, Petrie pointed out that comedy is one of the worst hit genres. Of the five-strong slate he unveiled at the Comedy Festival, only one show, Hulu co-pro Dinosaur, is co-produced with a major network.

“As the chief corporate clown in television comedy,” Petrie added, “I feel a huge sense of responsibility to help try and protect our incredible genre.”

He appeared to contradict BBC Director General Tim Davie by stating he will not raise budgets simply by putting more money into fewer titles.

Since taking on the role two years ago, Davie has championed a ‘fewer, bigger, better’ approach, with a focus on high-impact content rather than spreading budgets too thin, but Petrie said this would have a “negative effect on our incredible comedy community.”

“Betting on hit ones is a mugs game,” added Petrie, channeling EastEnders star Danny Dyer.

Instead, Petrie plans to “focus on working with the other UK broadcasters and the indie community to identify a package of measures that industry, government and regulators can come together on to safeguard comedy’s future.”

This could include a “comedy tax relief,” he added, which would be separate from the existing high-end TV tax relief in that it would apply to shows that cost less than £1m ($1.2M) per hour – currently excluded from the existing relief.

Other potential ideas include changes to deal terms and underlying cast and writer agreements, Petrie went on to say.

He continued with a clarion call: “Comedy is hugely important to TV and the national cultural landscape. It is a public service that is just as vital to the fabric of our nation as any public utility – and you may disagree but I think we pump out a lot less sh*t than most water companies.”

Petrie, who joined the BBC two years ago, was opening his second Comedy Festival, this time in Cardiff, where the likes of Jesse Armstrong and Sharon Horgan are set to deliver keynotes tomorrow.