Nine set for its own series on border security

EXCLUSIVE:

Nine has a new Factual in the pipeline set to be its own version of Border Security.

Nine is keeping its powder dry on the series except to confirm it will be a locally produced series.

Speaking recently at Screen Forever, Adrian Swift, Nine’s Head of Production and Development said, “The things that we tend to lean into are the blue lights, RBT, Emergency, Paramedics. We’ve got a new sort of version of a Border Sercurity show coming,… these are big universal things that we all experience, police, hospitals, airports, all those kinds of things. ”

But he also warned about rising costs in the Factual space.

“The amount of money I’ve got to spend on shows is getting less and less and shows are becoming more and more expensive. It’s getting to an inflection point where something’s going to have to give. The reality is that billions of dollars have flowed out of the industry, not to ad funded streamers, not because the fragmentation of rivals, but to Google and Facebook. They have just sucked billions of dollars out of the industry. Plus we’re in a cyclical advertising decline.”

However Factual can remain cost-effective by semi-branded funded shows or come with distribution deals attached.

“I guess that’s the good news,” he suggested.

“Australian factual is really easy to distribute all around the world because we make great Factual shows here, and I think certainly for us free to air types, factual works in our schedule wherever we put it. We love it more than ever in 2024.”