How We Commission
Paper proposals (‘offers’) come into the ITV Controllers from the ITV companies and hundreds of independent producers (‘suppliers’). These proposals describe the programme idea; any star names (‘talent’) attached to the project; the part of the schedule for which it is designed; and an estimate of what it might cost.
By law, a minimum of 25% of commissioned programmes in certain qualifying categories have to come from independent producers. Other than this, commissioning is entirely based on the merit of the idea and no special preference is given to productions made by ITV companies.
The Controllers select their strongest offers and bring them to a round of meetings held usually twice a year in the spring and autumn. Here the Director of Channels, with advice from schedule, research, finance and legal specialists, makes final choices about what will be commissioned for network ITV. A price is then negotiated, a delivery date agreed, a contract signed and the programme can go into production.
• Follow this link to download PDFs containing guidelines for producers and further information