BEEB DENIES CASH FLOW ISSUE

[10.30 - French Time] Read on Broadcast. Bal Samra, BBC director of rights and business affairs and BBC Vision director of operations, has denied the BBC is experiencing cash flow problems.

The comments of the BBC business chief came after some indie producers told Broadcast they were suffering because the Beeb could not release cash for commissioned shows to go into production, until new money is released in April 2010 or April 2011 (http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/indies/bbc-cash-flow-problem-piles-pressure-on-indies/5010349.article).

A source told the magazine and website that the second series of Psychoville would not air until 2011 for this reason, but Bal Samra said it was a commissioning decision rather than a cash flow issue (http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/finance/bbcs-samra-there-is-no-cash-flow-issue/5011277.article?referrer=RSS).

Besides, Stephen Garrett - boss of Kudos (Spooks, Hustle, Life on Mars...) - told recently to The Guardian why he believes that independent production sector suffers from BBC budget cuts and therefore why "high-quality homegrown dramas such as Spooks could be an endangered species" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/feb/15/stephen-garrett-kudos). And series six of BBC hit Hustle, relocated to Birmingham to contain production costs and get local co-financing, is certainly an illustration of the current situation.

The question now is too see if the BBC drama budget cuts impact in some way or another the awaited series five of Doctor Who, one of the Corporation's most lucrative franchises. This series, starring Matt Smith as The Doctor, premieres in the UK on April 3.