The Economic Impact of the UK Film Industry - BFI - British Film ...

Economic Contribution of the UK Film Industry
July 2007
stations. The Australian system requires that 55% of airtime on television between 6.00am and
midnight be locally produced. This therefore provides another test of the cultural valuation people
place on domestic audiovisual media. The study found widespread positive views about the likely
cultural benefits of Australian film and television. By contrast, the view that Australian films and
television were of higher quality was less widely held. Hence, there was some evidence of
discrimination between the value people placed on national-originated culture in principle and that
that was actually delivered. Some 65% of respondents approved of the level of expenditure
committed to supply Australian programming, with only 15% wanting a decrease. The mean and
median values placed on Australian television output broadly equated to its current costs.
• Other studies of domestic television have found equally supportive results. A contingent valuation
analysis 36 on Irish Public Service Broadcasting found that the annual willingness to pay for the Irish
public service broadcaster significantly exceeded the current fee. Another study, undertaken to value
the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 37 , found that local Canadian content had a relatively high
value placed upon it relative to the current level of hours it received.
Contingent valuation studies have generally therefore found evidence that people value the cultural
content of indigenous audiovisual content highly, and often significantly more than the price they pay for it.
8.4. Conclusion
Our estimates suggest that, on average, the presence of UK films boost UK cinemas’ box office receipts
by over £50 million a year over-and-above the level we would expect if all films shown were foreign made.
This is equivalent to 6.9% of UK cinemas’ total gross box office receipts in 2006. It provides an estimate
of the monetary value UK audiences place on watching movies at the cinema which inform them about
some aspect of UK culture. If those that rent and buy DVDs of feature films pay the same premium to
watch an indigenously produced film at home, the cultural value of UK film could increase to over £160
million a year.
In addition, the core UK film industry generates a range of wider cultural benefits, through, for example,
improved understanding of British life and education.
36
Delaney, L and O’Toole, F (2004), ‘Irish public service broadcasting: A contingent valuation analysis’, Department of Economics
mimeo, University of Dublin.
37
Finn, A, McFadyen, S and Hoskins, C, (2003), ‘Valuing the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’, Journal of Cultural Economics,
Vol. 27, No. 3, pages 177-192, November.
55