Engaging Academia in TV
Are you an academic interested in how you could work with or in the TV industry? Or are you looking for access to the latest academic research for your TV production? This is the event where we bring you all together.
Created in partnership between The TV Foundation and the AHRC, AHTV is a programme of sessions, panels, speed meetings and round-table discussions designed to bring together academics and the TV industry to foster relationships and improve understanding between the two. Each year we tackle different issues and angles on our theme of research in television, whether it is the role of academic research in your genre or the latest insights from commissioners.
AHTV 2024 took place on 6th November at Conway Hall.
AHTV 2024
9.30am - 9.45am
Welcome
9.45am - 10.30
Zeinab Badawi, broadcaster, filmmaker, author and President of SOAS London University
Chair: Dr Saleyha Ahsan, broadcaster, filmmaker and academic researcher
Keynote: Zeinab Badawi
Award-winning broadcaster, journalist, filmmaker and President of SOAS guides us through Africa’s spectacular history and the relationship between academia and TV. Inspired by her work in broadcasting and documentary, Zeinab Badawi’s new book An African History of Africa brings together interviews with historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local story tellers in thirty countries across the continent.
10.45am - 11.30am
Speakers include:
Kit Morey, Commissioning Editor at Channel 5,
Roselind Sinclair MBE, Lecturer in Design Education, Dept of Design, Goldsmiths, University of London
Harriet Scott, Exec Producer, Coming up Roses
Chair: Lucy Vernall, Director, The Academic Ideas Lab
Masterclass
Your Kitchen: 60 Years of Fads and Gadgets
Recounting the journey from idea to screen, members from the team behind Your Kitchen: 60 Years of Fads and Gadgets reveal how they created a series telling the story of British kitchens from the 1950s to the present day, and how Channel 5’s approach to history balances academic insight with mass appeal.
11.45am - 12.30pm
Speakers include:
Ewan Fernie, Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham
Diana Carter, Commissioning Editor and Head of Talent, Hearst Networks EMEA
Lisa Martinson, Producer/Director
Fariha Shaikh, Associate Professor of Victorian Literature, University of Birmingham
Chair: Jonah Weston, Commissioning Editor, Specialist Factual (Science & Adventure), Channel 4
The Art of the Interview
What makes a great TV interview?
We hear from content producers, commissioners and academic interviewees to explore the ingredients required to create compelling interviews at their best.
12.30pm - 2.00pm
Lunch
1.00pm - 2.00pm
Speed meetings: broadcasters and producers meet academics
2.00pm - 2.45pm
Speakers include:
Dr Dario Llinares, The Cinematologists Podcast
Shahidha Bari, Professor, University of the Arts London
Rhian Roberts, Commissioner Podcasts & Formats, BBC Radio 4 and Head of Digital Speech, Audio
Gemma Ware, Exec producer, The Conversation Weekly podcast and Head of Audio, The Conversation UK
Chair: Professor Deborah Sugg Ryan, Professor Emerita of Design History, University of Portsmouth
The Battle for Ears: Capturing Audio Audiences
As the appetite for audio storytelling keeps growing, how are podcast and radio platforms attracting and retaining listeners? How can experts keen to share a passion for their subject reach an audience? In a world of seemingly unlimited choice, are the algorithms really in control? Content creators, commissioners and broadcasters share their tips and experiences.
3.00pm - 3.45pm
Speakers include:
Dwayne Eaton, Commissioning Editor, Sky
Carolyn Payne, Commissioning Editor, National Geographic
Natalie Humphreys, Producer and CEO, Storyboard Studios
Chair: Lara Akeju, Executive Coach, Rising Coaching
What's Happening in TV Right Now?
A chance to hear about the fast changing landscape of factual TV from the point of view of commissioners and an independent producer. Who is watching what, and on which platforms? How is this changing what is being commissioned and how programmes are being made? We explore current trends and what they might mean for the future of factual.
3.45pm - 3.55pm
Closing and Special Announcement
3.55pm - 4.30pm
Join the AHTV team and fellow delegates for refreshments and chat with colleagues and new contacts
Closing Drinks and Networking
Last years event
The 2023 keynote speaker was broadcaster, author and historian Dr Janina Ramirez. Other speakers included Benedetta Pinelli, Commissioning Editor, Sky Arts, Daniel Louw, Commissioning Editor, VP Non-Scripted UK Originals, Channel 5/ Paramount+ and Professor Deborah Sugg Ryan, presenter and historical consultant for A House Through Time and Professor of Design History & Theory, University of Portsmouth.
IMPACT & ENGAGEMENT GUIDE
Increasingly, academics are required to show the ‘real world’ benefits of their work to funders. This involves gathering evidence of impact and engagement throughout the production process. If academics are not able to show the impact and engagement of their work, they may not be able to work with productions in the future.
The Impact and Engagement Guide was written for content creators and commissioners who work with UK academics as a reference guide for what data academics need, and how best they can be supported. It is being updated as REF 2029 guidance is issued.
