The Competition and Markets Authority is set to investigate how TV production companies work with freelancers.
The CMA has named seven companies, including a number of production companies that work for ITV and the BBC, saying it has “reasonable grounds” to believe they have breached competition law.
It claims they have gone against section 25 of the Competition Act 1998, which aims to stop the “prevention, restriction or distortion of competition”, or indulging in cartel-like behaviour in how it employs freelancers.
The CMA launched a similar investigation in 2022 into broadcasters such as BT Group, Sky, ITV and IMG Media over how they procured freelance services for sports coverage. This is yet to conclude.
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The companies under the spotlight include Hat Trick, which produced series such as Derry Girls and Father Ted, and Tiger Aspect, which produced Peaky Blinders.
The CMA will gather evidence for the initial inquiry until March 2024, and will then assess the evidence.
The inquiry is expected to look at how pay is offered to roles such as camera operators and sound engineers, and how rates are set or fixed for these roles.
It will aim to rule out whether there is any collusion on jobs aimed to keep wages at certain levels that don’t necessarily reflect inflation or the cost of living.
Both the BBC and ITV have confirmed they will cooperate with the CMA’s inquiries, alongside a number of the production companies named.
The inquiry comes at a time when production companies have already been impacted by writers’ and actors’ strikes over poor rates of pay and the threat of AI.
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