I was going to do a thread on all the info I heard at this year's Broadcast Comedy Forum in London, but Mark has summed it all up here:
https://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/00000373/broadcast_comedy_forum_2010/
Very interesting reading. And good news for comedy writers. 
BTW... Nice meeting Mark and Joel Slack-Smith there.
It's potentially very exciting - but then they seem to say much the same thing every year with little apparent effect or variety amongst the shows that make it to air. Perhaps the economy will push them into doing something different this time, but I don't suggest anyone bets on it, sadly. Still, it does illustrate that there is a certain level of will and intention out there, which can only be encouraging.
I've got something in front of Sky 1 at the moment - so let's hope that bit's true, at least!
"Perhaps the economy will push them into doing something different this time"
I would have thought the current state of the economy would have the opposite effect. Instead of experimenting with new ideas, they might be wanting safe ideas that are going to pull in a steady, reliable audience.
Exactly my worry; but then at the same time, I'm reminded of no-shit-Sherlock studies that show that people want certain types of shows when times are hard, and no doubt channel controllers et al will have that in mind too.
Another point does it really help those struggling comedy writer without a break that TV channels want more comedy? It doesn't matter how matter how popular the subject is, you still that opportunity...
Quote: Tim Azure @ September 26 2010, 8:32 AM BSTIt doesn't matter how matter how popular the subject is, you still that opportunity...
Tell me you double-check the stuff you've been sending out more thoroughly than you check your posts...
Quote: Tim Azure @ September 26 2010, 8:32 AM BSTAnother point does it really help those struggling comedy writer without a break that TV channels want more comedy? It doesn't matter how matter how popular the subject is, you still that opportunity...
...need.
Quote: Tim Azure @ September 26 2010, 8:32 AM BSTAnother point does it really help those struggling comedy writer without a break that TV channels want more comedy? It doesn't matter how matter how popular the subject is, you still that opportunity...
You might want to read that one more time.
Anyway, moving on, of course it helps the struggling writer without a break if there's more comey being commissioned.
More stuff requires more writers - which means more breaks.
If they needed a million new sitcoms we'd all have to write one.
Obviously the ripples of benefit won't reach everybody, but the circle will have widened and all aspiring writers will be nearer where they want to be.
Quote: Lazzard @ September 26 2010, 11:09 AM BSTYou might want to read that one more time.
Anyway, moving on, of course it helps the struggling writer without a break if there's more comey being commissioned.
Wedgied by your own petard!
Yes, well...that's enough of that.
Back to your work.
Interesting article. Particularly intrigued by ITV's apparent move to 45 minute sitcoms - something the then-LWT controller of comedy tried in 1968! The first series of Please Sir! was produced at that extended length, but no one followed suit and it went back to 25 min for the rest of the show's life. Benidorm's been a peculiar anomaly in that sense until now, so it'll be interesting to see how far they take it.
Although by 45 minutes do they mean an ITV hour?
I would assume so, yes. (Which is where it would differ from the Please Sir! experiment: despite a 45 minute running time, episodes seem to have still only been broken up by one ad break, so totalling about 50 minutes. Modern ITV collapses if it goes for more than 10 minutes without seeing an advert.)