5 thoughts about... the TV BAFTA's 2025
Alex is the Managing Director of major UK talent agency InterTalent. He represents his clients alongside overseeing the agency's creative strategy, day-to-day operations & acquisitions.
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Welcome to a brand new sub-section of Dealmakers: 5 Thoughts...
In between my regular Agent-specific newsletters, I’ll also be bringing you my quick 5 thoughts on a particular topic within the industry. That means double the Dealmakers coming to your inbox.
I’ll be dropping you a line about this new addition PLUS more exciting changes next week!
As a proud BAFTA member and with many of our clients involved in nominated shows or invited by sponsors, it was another incredible Sunday evening at the 2025 TV BAFTA’s representing our InterTalent team. Attending one of the world’s most iconic award ceremonies will never get old. It’s a privilege.
TV is going through a really difficult time, but it’s nights like these that make us keep persevering. As ever, the broadcast itself was top quality - great choice of award presenters, worthy winners and outstanding musical performances from Tom Grennan & Jessie J. I saw a lot of friends on the red carpet and made some new ones at the dinner and party.
Reflecting on an incredible day in the blazing hot sun, here are my 5 thoughts I had after the TV BAFTA’s…
1: YouTube & Digital channels still left out. In recent years, we've seen Netflix, Disney+, and AppleTV+ earn more BAFTA nominations, which is brilliant. It took longer than it should have to get these platforms properly into the awards race in the UK, but those platforms are producing some of the best work around, and it's important to see that recognised alongside BBC, ITV, C4 & 5. From Mr Bates v The Post Office to Baby Reindeer we are seeing genre-defining work in many places.
But when it comes to other platforms - digital channels and YouTube in particular - recognition is still extremely rare. Shows from Discovery+, National Geographic, UKTV, Amazon Prime, or even major YouTube channels with bigger audiences than TV are rarely nominated.
How do we fix this? Should there be a dedicated Digital Channel Programme award? And are the current nomination lists truly reflective of the distribution landscape in 2025?
2: Could M&S win a BAFTA? Brand Funded Projects are rising. BFP’s are bigger than ever—both in terms of brands fully or majority funding TV shows, in addition to shows that are now made specifically for a brand’s own channel. At what point will we see brands feature prominently within BAFTA nominations? For example, if Cooking With the Stars were nominated, should Marks & Spencer be credited? Could M&S win a BAFTA? Of course, the outstanding production company (South Shore) would be front and centre still but will we see the day that a brand win a BAFTA?
I can watch TV shows on a brand’s own channel (Footasylum are a great example of this and were nominated for Channel of the Year at last year’s Broadcast Digital Awards). Should there be a BFP category?
3: Don’t forget the kids: Children’s TV deserves its spotlight. This year BAFTA introduced two new categories celebrating the best of children's television. Children's: Scripted was won by CBeebies As You Like It at Shakespeare's Globe and Disability and Me (FYI Investigates) won for Children's: Non-Scripted. I loved this. Perhaps more than anything else on the night. Children’s television is underrated nowadays. It’s pivotal and sadly channels are taking away their children’s output. I think that’s a mistake. Not only is children’s TV incredibly hard to make (especially animation) but it plays such a pivotal role in the lives of young ones. It’s an important educational tool and I think 2025 is the perfect time to shine a light on this great genre. No one has ever made kids’ TV better than the UK. We’re losing it from terrestrial but, thankfully, there are still many places to find great projects. I hope these awards remind everyone of their importance.
What are your thoughts on the current situation surrounding the lack of Children’s TV in the UK?
4: Creators on the carpet: BAFTA meets Gen Z. BAFTA stands for credibility, prestige and global influence. For the first time I noticed so many influencers and content creators (not in the TV world) invited to attend, primarily to make content and give reliability to the BAFTA’s in a world where young people are moving away from TV. I also saw various things on the red carpet and behind the scenes being made specifically to clip up onto socials.
I love that BAFTA have recognised that they need to get young people’s attention and working with the best content creators and focusing on the right trends will really help bridge the gap between what is usually a much older demographic (TV and BAFTA’s in general) and youngsters who are making their content online.
Do you think this is a good move?
5: When AI wins a BAFTA… what then? How long until we see BAFTA give serious thought to allowing projects influenced by AI? Ever? Never? What will the cut off point be as to how much AI will be too much AI?
Right now, there's no clear framework, and the lines are blurring fast. BAFTA will need to take a clear stance on what’s acceptable.
For the first time ever, I have opened the Dealmakers chat, which you can find on the Substack app. I would love to hear your thoughts on these topics.
How else do you think BAFTA can stay relevant in an ever-changing landscape and be truly reflective of how content is now created and distributed?
📥 I would love to hear from you. Any ideas, thoughts and feedback via alex@intertalentgroup.com are always most welcome.
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See you next time.
Alex
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