Handmaidens of consolidation in the UK television production sector

Paterson, R. (2022) Handmaidens of consolidation in the UK television production sector. Journal of Media Business Studies, 19(3), pp. 168-184. (doi: 10.1080/16522354.2021.1952037)

Abstract

This article analyses the role of intermediaries in the evolution of the UK TV production sector tracking the processes which in the past two decades have underpinned consolidation in the UK TV production sector. The research involved elite interviews with executives at ten UK Independent production companies and two financial intermediaries as well as trade bodies and civil servants. The epistemic work of intermediaries shape transactions in a way that aligned with the buyers’ desire to grow their portfolio of companies by establishing the fitness of companies for acquisition. Through classification, clustering and sorting, they confirm the notion (Knorr Cetina and Preda 2001, 30–31) that knowledge can be treated as a commodity – ‘a more or less valid representation of the world which is “inscribed in and constitutive of economic objects as relevant to the practical activities of economic agents” and purposefully assembled.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Paterson, Mr Richard
• Authors: Paterson, R.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts
• Journal Name: Journal of Media Business Studies
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 1652-2354
• ISSN (Online): 2376-2977
• Published Online: 19 July 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Author
• First Published: First published in Journal of Media Business Studies 19(3): 168-184
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
173128		Television Production in Transition: Independence, Scale and Sustainability	Gillian Doyle	Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/N015258/1	Arts - TF&TV Studies - Professor Carl Lavery