For almost 50 years, the great and the good of British broadcasting have descended on Edinburgh each summer to discuss the trials and tribulations of the TV world. David Attenborough, Tina Fey, Emily Maitlis and Rupert Murdoch are among those to have previously given speeches at the city’s TV festival.
Yet amid concerns about the industry’s lack of working-class voices and the high cost of a hotel room in the city, the event’s organisers are thinking the unthinkable: the Edinburgh TV festival could be leaving Edinburgh.
Other potential UK venues are being asked to make a pitch to host the 2027 edition of the event, which is a highlight of many media executive calendars.
Organisers said the decision to look beyond Edinburgh was part of a “strategic review” looking at “how best to serve delegates and the wider industry amid major shifts across the TV sector”. They said it was a chance to “broaden access”.
Edinburgh is not being ruled out – organisers are at pains to point out that it can also make a bid. However, the effort to increase accessibility and reduce costs means that London is effectively out of the running.
The Edinburgh TV festival is owned by The TV Foundation, a charity tasked with helping people from all backgrounds gain access to the sector.
“As an event created by and for the TV industry, we have always championed inclusion and action on accessibility and representation,” said Campbell Glennie, the chief executive.
“Reviewing our location is part of that same commitment, exploring how we can reduce costs for delegates and make the festival open to more people than ever before.
“This is not necessarily about leaving Edinburgh, or Scotland, but about finding the right solutions. Our goal is to broaden access, strengthen our charitable work, and ensure the festival continues to be the foremost agenda-setting event of the TV year.”
The decision is further evidence of Edinburgh’s pricey reputation for summer visitors. Accommodation is at a premium in July and August, as the TV festival coincides with the Edinburgh fringe and the city’s international festival.
Recent research has highlighted Edinburgh’s status as an expensive city to visit. The US government allows its diplomats $674 (£515) a day for lodgings in Edinburgh in July and August, more than any other city in the world. The figure outstrips destinations including Monaco and the Cayman Islands.
Edinburgh also ranked as one of the most expensive city breaks in western Europe, according to a Post Office Travel Money study. It found an average visitor would have to pay £399 for two nights in a three-star city centre hotel in June.
The decision to look beyond Edinburgh follows pleas from prominent TV figures about the need to diversify voices in the industry. The playwright James Graham used last year’s MacTaggart lecture, the flagship event of the festival, to warn of a lack of working-class involvement in TV.
The creator of Sherwood and Dear England warned that the industry risked losing touch with viewers unless the trend was reversed, arguing the working class was “a culture, similar to that of growing up in a particular faith or nationality”. He said class background is rarely mentioned in the sector.
Research commissioned after his speech found that nearly a quarter of top UK television executives went to private school.
As well as concern over access to those from deprived backgrounds, there continues to be an army of freelance workers with decades of experience who say they are continuing to struggle financially because of huge challenges that have hit the TV world since the Covid pandemic.
Rapidly changing media consumption, combined with price inflation driven by the streamers and the decline of linear television watching, have led to big changes in the number and type of shows commissioned.
