6 January 2012
The lasting appeal of soaps may have won the battle on Christmas Day, with BBC's EastEnders beating the costume drama Downton Abbey on ITV. However, television ratings for 2011 make it clear that the year belonged to ITV.
Sifting through the list of top ten dramas across all channels, we see seven titles that belong to ITV with the remaining three spots going to BBC dramas.
The list of top ten new dramas of the year also reflects the same scenario, with ITV bagging eight spots out of 10.
However, does ITV's success with viewers at large also translate into a desirable situation for blind and partially sighted viewers of ITV?
Sue Betteridge, Head of Advance Planning at ITV spoke to Sonali Rai in early December 2011 about the launch of audio description on ITV channels eleven years ago, the developments made since then, the current scenario, planning for the future and more…
Question. A number of television networks are struggling to cope with multi- channel environment today with new programming being launched every week, every network is trying to capture the attention of the audience. In this scenario, what is the atmosphere like at ITV?
Well, I feel a great sense of optimism and enthusiasm at ITV right now.
Audience share is up 2% year on year across the ITV channels, ITV1 drama is on a high after excellent audience figures for Downton Abbey and Doc Martin, and ITV2 got record ratings for Celebrity Juice and The Only Way is Essex. Viewings on the ITV Player are at a record high of over 36 million so far this year.
So things are definitely looking up here - there is a buzz of excitement around and a new feeling of pride in our company and what we do.
Question: Let's put this success in perspective for viewers with sight loss, in 2006, ITV audio described about 9 percent of its programming, and five years on, the first quarter of 2011 has seen an increase by more than 10% which is excellent, so what kind of resources have been put into this development?
We try to choose the programmes to be described with consistency - we've got a policy for each channel based on its audience profile.
We tend to concentrate on peak time when viewing figures are highest and aim to hit 20% of audio description across all channels, though of course, as with everything, we have to keep an eye on the budget.
We have a contract with ITFC to provide minimum guaranteed hours for each access service, and within this we try to maximise the amount of audio description we can do on new programmes - and then of course there are repeats of described programmes, where there is a natural build-up of 'stock'.
RNIB also deserves a pat on the back for encouraging increased provision by lobbying the broadcasters and politicians, though with the available resources we've always wanted to do the best we can.
Question: Going back to the early days, can you talk a little about the days when you first launched audio description on the ITV network?
The very first programme to air with audio description on ITV was on 1 July 2000 and it was, of course, Coronation Street!
This was followed by Emmerdale and Heartbeat and also in those early days, Peak Practice, Inspector Wexford and Where the Heart is. All the old favourites which come up regularly on ITV3 these days.
....and did you receive any feedback on the quality of audio description from your viewers?
I've consulted James O'Hara from the ITFC on this because he was involved from the start. I'm sure lots of your members know the sound of James's lovely Scots brogue very well from all the describing he's done over the years.
At the very beginning the ITFC set up its own focus group of eight people, and then after about six months, feedback started rolling in from the official group set up by Ofcom, which was funded for three years so the service providers and broadcasters could keep abreast of how AD was performing and being received.
One of the first really useful suggestions was that people wanted facial expressions described which of course the describers immediately started doing.
The majority of comments were encouraging and positive, from people who were delighted with the service.
I've got some of James's favourite responses here:
'It just gets better and better, you are making audio description into an art form.'
And here's another:
'We can see every facial and body gesture, see all the different colours and imagine ourselves in all the different places and settings.'
And another said about Sharpe's Peril:
'You can feel the sun on the back of your neck and smell the cordite from the bullets.'
One man had watched a Christmas edition of A Touch of Frost with no AD, and then he watched the repeat with AD. He said there was such a marked difference that it was like a completely different programme, and everything had fallen into place.
James still gets regular calls from the public about AD, mostly positive and encouraging.
Question: So does this feedback help at all, is it passed on to the actual describers…
These days most of our feedback from the public comes through the ITV Viewer Services department, and we investigate with the AD unit at ITFC. The feedback really helps both us and the audio describers understand the issues and how vital a good service can be.
Question: What are the most common complaints that you get on audio description?
Audio Description complaints are comparatively few but are usually around why a programme doesn't carry audio description or that it was advertised as audio described but the description did not come through.
For the former, we will look at the reasons why the programme wasn't selected and if there is a viewer demand we'll certainly consider doing it in the future.
If audio description fails on transmission we investigate what happened and try to ensure it doesn't happen again for any future repeats.
Question: Are there any plans to make more potential users of audio description aware of the provision of this service so that more people can benefit?
Yes, ITV is currently leading the UK broadcasters in a planned on-air awareness campaign likely to happen in the first quarter of 2012.
Broadcasters will carry promotions tailored to their particular audiences but with a common message for a stronger impact. The central campaign message is aimed at encouraging anyone who might benefit from audio description to find out how to access it.
It is so good to get all the stakeholders working together towards making AD more accessible.
Question: How about home entertainment, we know ITV has released a few titles with audio description on the DVD, can we expect a few more in the coming year as well?
Yes you can! Our recent DVD releases with AD have been Vera (Series 1) with Brenda Blethyn in the title role, and the 30th Anniversary edition of Brideshead Revisited. (Great presents!)
In 2012, we will be marking the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic with a major four-part drama on ITV1 written by Julian Fellowes (of Downton Abbey fame), which will be audio described on air and we hope on the DVD released shortly after transmission.
The plan is to do about thirty hours on DVD in 2012 with a mixture of new and archive titles which we very much hope will appeal to your members.
Question: How about the ITV Player, can viewers of the ITV Player also expect to see audio described programmes online in the coming future?
Well, having now got subtitles up and running on the ITV Player this year, we are working towards introducing AD and Signing in 2012.
Our technical people are working on it and I understand they are getting advice from the RNIB on general accessibility across our various platforms and devices. It's too soon to say whether we will be able to deliver AD on the ITV Player in 2012 but we are certainly trying to make it happen.
That's it from the ITV quarters this time!
Thank you Sue for your time and we wish you and everyone else at ITV a very happy new year!
We will be adding new interviews every month so watch this space if you would like to catch up on more behind the scenes talk!