The Bookseller.com

17th May 2008

Katherine Rushton is chief reporter on Broadcast, and was formerly senior reporter at The Bookseller.

Sofa switchover

24.04.08

Richard and Judy have a lot to answer for. The book industry has become semi-dependent on the power of their Channel 4 sofa chat—and now TV's golden couple are leaving for the relative obscurity of digital TV.

The lure for them is straightforward: each will receive a reported £1m initial fee, and they will be able to cram five days of prime-time programming into a two-day shoot. But will the pair lose in influence what they gain in time and money?

At the moment, Richard and Judy average 1.9 million viewers in their 5 p.m. slot on Channel 4, but when they head for an 8 p.m. slot on one of UKTV's pay TV channels this autumn, they can expect a significant drop. So far this year, peak ratings on UKTV Gold have been just 380,000, and even the most optimistic of industry pundits are predicting an average of 500,000 viewers for Richard and Judy's new slot when it launches.

The book industry has reason to furrow its collective brow—smaller audiences add up to smaller sales, after all—but the outlook isn't quite as dismal as it seems.

Digital TV may be the hinterland of the current television landscape, but that is rapidly changing in the run-up to digital switchover in 2012. According to Ofcom, 87.6% of UK households had access to “multi-channel” TV at the end of last year, compared to just under 70% at the end of 2004. That's already an impressive take-up rate—but it's set to accelerate as each UK region approaches its local switch­over deadline. Plus households will be forced to update any second and third TV sets still on the analogue television spectrum. If the seepage of viewers from terrestrial to digital channels is inevitable, maybe it is better to have a flagship show on a channel poised to build its share, than on one facing steady erosion.

Besides, just how important are those figures in any case? Richard and Judy's impact on sales is well established, but do viewers really need to see the show first-hand? Each book club selection spawns such a glut of print and word-of-mouth discussion, as well as retail support, that any title that lives up to the hype will enjoy its fair share of sales. And for those that don't, the book club has evolved into such a mammoth beast that the R&J stickers of approval alone guarantee some level of success.

Perhaps the real question is not what the book industry will do to fill the Richard and Judy void, but what pressure this puts on terrestrial broadcasters to compete for the book club mantle.

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