Documentary Research- 'A walk on the wild side' by Richard Kilborn

'In today’s heavily commercialised broadcasting environment, wildlife programming – like all other TV genres – has become increasingly subject to the demands of ratings-conscious schedulers.'

'...others have argued that most wildlife filmmakers have mainstream film and television backgrounds, which may partly explain why the genre is so heavily dependent on mainstream film/television conventions'

'Another indication of the changing landscape of wildlife film/program making is provided by the relative decline of "blue chip" programming (Clarke, 2000: 16). (Blue chip refers to the big-budget programs with high production values, perhaps best represented by David Attenborough series such Life on EarthBlue Planet). It is important to add emphasis, however, to the relative nature of the decline, since the big battalions like Discovery and National Geographic and others are still interested in acquiring blue-chip productions.'

'The ever more stringent demands from broadcasters to suppliers concerning the exact type of required product has led to a marked polarisation in the wildlife-for-TV market. This directly results from broadcasting having become an increasingly schedule-led operation.'