BBC S&PP strikes Endemol deal

The multi-million pound contract is for 577 episodes of the Channel 4 gameshow and will see S&PP provide accommodation, site management, catering and hospitality services.

Post-production on the show will still be managed by The Farm - which maintains nine Avid suites and 10 staff on site - reporting to BBC S&PP. The BBC subsidiary has also picked up the Bristol studio lease from Endemol.

Richard Johnston, Endemol UK chief financial officer, said: “We gained the studio by accident as part of an E4 output deal in 2004 and subsequently used it as the set for Deal Or No Deal. Studios and facility provision is not our business model, whereas it clearly is for the BBC [S&PP], so we were delighted at this conclusion.”

S&PP finance and commercial director Warren Newbert added: “We are looking at where indies are in-sourcing facilities and post, and offering them an alternative means of outsourcing to a specialist provider. We can provide the studio and post as well as the wrap-around services you’d expect from four walls.”

Of the decision to retain The Farm, which has provided post on the show since 2005, Newbert said: “The Farm has significant knowledge of the programme from an editorial perspective, and therefore we felt the production was
stronger with The Farm on board.”

Although the contract is built around Deal Or No Deal, BBC S&PP is looking to accommodate other productions on the site, which is owned by development company Verve Properties.

“We want to strike a good balance between contracted versus spot work, and a balance of work using facilities we own, plus outsourced-style deals,” said Newbert.

The series of Deal or No Deal currently being filmed has switched acquisition formats from Digibeta to XDCAM to enable a tapeless production until fi nal Digibeta delivery.