USA to fund British online TV?

Will US media companies and investors be major funders for British online television shows?

It’s a natural fit. US media owners already look to the UK for new broadcast television formats.

From the front page of Broadcast: “NBC Universal is scouring the UK indie sector for potential acquisition targets.” NBC Entertainment chief Ben Silverman knows the UK market well from his time in the London office of William Morris and was instrumental in taking shows such as The Office to the USA. He wants factual entertainment, drama and scripted comedy.

NBCU is a co-founder, with BSkyB owner News Corp, of the online distributor and video search engine Hulu. (See our in-depth analysis of Hulu's war with Google.) And also distributors want new shows to distribute.

Similarly, a new digital media investment group was launched last week by Saban Capital Group, owned by media entrepreneur Haim Saban of Power Rangers fame. Says The Hollywood Reporter, the group will “scour the U.S. and international markets for opportunities across all investment stages – from early-stage fundings” (our emphasis).

That’s already a lot of scouring from big media companies with deep pockets. What they’re typically seeking are formats that they can export around the world, given the UK’s strong track record in format creation. And those formats can be for online shows.

British online television shows are currently funded by the BBC or Channel 4 and produced by large-to-medium indies, such as Endemol and Illumina Digital. There is no sign yet of US-style dedicated online television studios being set up with millions in venture capital.

An influx of US funding could set the scene for innovative smaller indie television and new media companies launching online television shows specifically with a view to incubate them here and gain US investment to expand globally.

In the late 1990s, a whole host of UK Web design companies were sold to expanding US counterparts and we’re now seeing UK Web 2.0 startups in a similar situation.

Last.fm was bought by CBS and travel social networking site Where Are You Now? is reportedly in talks with several buyers for £100m. One of them is AOL, which has just purchased Bebo, which itself funds original UK online shows – KateModern, Sofia’s Diary and The Gap Year.

If it can happen for Web 2.0, it can happen for online television.

Is American money the way forward for the UK’s online TV startups? Stayed tuned....