BBC One faces sitcom drought

...as rivals compete for pitches

The BBC says it is facing a sitcom drought – as all the best ideas are being pitched to ITV, Channel 4 and Sky.

And BBC One is most affected because creators are thought to fear the high risk of exposure on the flagship network.

The corporation’s controller of comedy commissioning, Cheryl Taylor , says she is feeling the pressure as Sky and ITV have become more active in making new sitcoms.

‘Comedy is the genre du jour,’ she told trade magazine Broadcast. ‘ITV, Sky... everyone is coming to the party.

‘But because it's a small gene pool for talent, on and off screen, that puts pressure on the biggest, brightest, shiniest shows. It's a sellers' market in comedy at the moment, which has impacted the number of scripts we are getting.’

BBC One controller Danny Cohen has repeatedly complained about the lack of mainstream comedies being pitched to his station, because writing to make five million viewers laugh is ‘one of the hardest things in all of entertainment’.

Only last month he told staff: ‘Comedy, of all genres on BBC One, is the one we are most undersupplied with. I can't fill the slots almost because we don't get enough high quality scripts or comedy.’

BBC One has only one new mainstream sitcom planned for this year: Citizen Khan, , about a self-appointed Muslim community leader in Birmingham.

However Taylor said she was committed to finding ‘sassy, witty, pre-watershed shows’ to fill the void.

Published: 5 May 2012

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