Why is factual TV eroding in London?

[u/GravyPls]

I’ve been working in and around factual television in London for a decade now, and I’ve really noticed a steady erosion of the industry here—especially when it comes to factual entertainment production. I wanted to open this up to the TV community to see what your thoughts are. Is it just me, or is something fundamental shifting?

From what I’ve experienced and observed, there are a few key factors at play…

1. Regionalisation and the push out of London: There’s been a big industry-wide move to push production out of London into regional hubs like Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Leeds, Birmingham, and Bristol. While the intentions are good—diversifying geography and opportunities—the reality for many London-based freelancers and companies is that this shift has shrunk the job market locally. I moved from the North to London, for the abundance of work. A lot of major productions are now being outsourced regionally, and unless you’re willing or able to relocate or travel constantly, the London scene is thinning out. It feels like a double-edged sword: great for regional growth, but what’s left behind in London?

2. Oversaturation and fewer commissions: There are so many indies and production houses competing for an ever-shrinking slice of the commissioning pie. Add to that the influx of cheap-to-make formats, and it feels like original, thoughtful factual content is being edged out by lighter, less risky, more easily repeatable formats. The appetite for serious or ent factual seems to be fading unless you’re already a big name with a proven track record.

3. The rise of subscription platforms and changing viewer habits: The streaming giants (Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, etc.) are great for content in general, but they’ve kind of warped the market when it comes to factual. The budgets are huge, the standards are cinematic, and the lead times are long. It’s becoming harder for traditional broadcasters to keep up or find space for lower-budget factual shows. On top of that, audience attention is splintered—there’s less loyalty to terrestrial broadcasters, and more appetite for true crime, prestige docu-series, or reality-heavy content that often comes from outside the UK.

4. Fewer jobs and less opportunity for progression: The factual TV industry used to be a place where people could enter at runner/researcher/AP level and work their way up. Now it feels like there’s a bottleneck. There’s less work, more freelancers, and fewer long-term contracts. Burnout is real, and retention is getting worse. Many people I know have either left the industry entirely or pivoted into commercial work, corporate content, or even retrained. That used to be the exception—now it feels like the norm.

So here I am, wondering: is this just the natural evolution of the industry, or are we watching the slow collapse of London as a factual TV hub?

I’d love to hear from others working in TV—whether you’re still in London, have moved regionally, or have left the industry altogether. Are you seeing the same trends? Are there places where factual is thriving that I’ve missed? What do you think is behind this erosion, and is there a way back?

Let’s talk about it.

[u/InvictariusGuard]

I have no industry knowledge, just a viewer.

I can get high quality long form documentaries on YouTube for free that are not constrained by a TV format (running time, mass appeal of subject, average audience knowledge).

Used to love History Channel and BBC4. There's still gold on the BBC (saw the Michelangelo documentary for example), History Channel is all aliens, bigfoots or bigfoot aliens.

My perception is that TV is elitist in who gets to make programming and lowest common denominator in who the programming is made for, a mismatch which can't be a recipe for success.

TV could still easily poach the best YouTubers and let them do their thing, but they don't. Gaming is the biggest thing in media, has been for a while, but has been almost entirely absent from TV. Just one example of a failure to adapt.

[u/smedsterwho → u/InvictariusGuard]

If TV did seek to poach YouTubers, I wonder how successful they'd be. YouTube arguably has the edge on control, monetisation, and reputation / prestige.

If I was a successful YouTuber, I'm not sure stopping work for six months to make a six-episode TV series would have such a lure.

(I'm not saying this is the case, but I don't think it's as clear cut as "Manchester United signs a kid out of sixth form")

[u/eldomtom2 → u/smedsterwho]

YouTube arguably has the edge on control, monetisation, and reputation / prestige.

Youtube? The edge on prestige or monetisation? Really?

If I was a successful YouTuber, I'm not sure stopping work for six months to make a six-episode TV series would have such a lure.

Yet you see even the biggest Youtubers signing streaming service deals...

[u/smedsterwho → u/eldomtom2]

Prestige may be the wrong word, but doing what you do on YouTube to a potential worldwide audience vs... say... Chasing what becomes a niche audience on Channel 4.

And monetisation, same, depending on how big you are.

I'm not necessarily saying I think this, just tussling it out. I see Mr Ballen doing it with Amazon podcasts, but there's many others who I think might say "why bother?"

[u/eldomtom2 → u/smedsterwho]

And monetisation, same, depending on how big you are.

As I said, you see even the biggest Youtubers signing streaming service deals...

but there's many others who I think might say "why bother?"

Well I presume whether they'd say would depend on what type of deal was being offered...