My Edinburgh

As viewers’ editor at Channel 4, one of the annual fixtures in my diary is a trip to the Edinburgh International TV Festival. Each year, the great and the good of the television industry gather in the Scottish capital to ponder the future of the business and discuss the many challenges we face in keeping hundreds of channels afloat in order to entertain and delight our audiences.

Traditionally, the festival kicks off with a keynote speech, delivered by an industry big wig, that’s intended to provoke or even outrage the gathered faithful – this year’s speech by James Murdoch (a very big wig with News International) did not disappoint, with a ringing endorsement of rampant commercialism as the best way to fund and protect good television.

During my time in Edinburgh, I attended a number of interesting sessions including one by the BBC’s Robert Peston about the reporting of the credit crunch, another about whether the way broadcasters interpret and apply the Ofcom Broadcasting Code is stifling creativity (your views on this welcome!), and an extremely timely session, chaired by Davina McCall, on the past, present and future of reality television. You can watch selected clips here.

One of the highlights of my trip, this session looked at the impact that reality TV can have on the lives of its participants. Those on the panel included Anna Nolan from the first ever Big Brother, Raef Bjayou from The Apprentice, Jungle winner Christopher Biggins, Steve Brookstein from The X factor, Heat magazine’s TV editor Boyd Hilton magazine, and celebrity agent Jonathan Shalit.

The consensus from the panel was that reality television has matured as a genre and that, as such, the audience, participants and media all now have clear expectations about what is likely to occur during and after a series has aired. This ‘new reality’ lies in stark contrast to the experience of BB1 housemate Anna Nolan, who told the audience she’d had no idea while in the house that people would even bother to watch the show, much less did she expect to forge a career in TV as a result of her appearance on the show.

Jonathan Shalit (who represents clients including Biggins, Myleene Klass, Jamelia, Konnie Huq and N-Dubz) talked about the necessity for celebrities to select carefully before agreeing to take part in reality shows. His rule of thumb is that clients should only take part in a show if the event itself – be it dancing, ice skating, or living in the jungle – is something that they will enjoy; genuine enjoyment will always translate well on screen, and the reverse is also true if someone takes part solely to boost a flagging career.

The conclusion of the discussion was that things have moved on greatly, from the ‘leap into the unknown’ that was the first Big Brother to the familiar genre that is now firmly established as a part of British television. And with the recent announcement that Channel 4 will bid farewell to Big Brother in 2010, the discussion further emphasised the way in which the series has helped shape the TV landscape over the last 10 years.

With the big finale of Big Brother set for next summer and many other changes and developments likely to take place across the ever-evolving television industry in the next 12 months, I’m looking forward to yet more thought-provoking and lively debates in Edinburgh 2011. If you get a chance to watch some of the debates from the festival, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the issues that were discussed.

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