The numbers don’t lie: UK TV production is haemorrhaging talent while AI consulting rockets at 26% annual growth. For long-term contractors caught in the IR35 squeeze, the question isn’t whether to adapt — it’s how fast you can move.

By Ben Anchor — Tuesday, 1 July 2025 · Listen to the podcast episode

I’ve been wrestling with something uncomfortable lately. Not the usual deadline crunch or the perennial ‘will they renew?’ anxiety that freelancers live with. Something bigger. The creeping realisation that the industry I’ve built a career in — broadcast — might not want me in ten years. Or five. Or honestly, next Tuesday.

This week’s State of the Nation podcast forced me to sit with that discomfort. We pulled apart the latest PACT census data, the IR35 tangle, the exodus of talent. Then we pivoted — hard — to look at AI consulting, a sector growing at 26.2% annually and projected to hit $91 billion globally by 2035. The contrast is brutal. One world is contracting, literally and figuratively. The other is a land grab.

So here’s the question I keep circling back to: if you’re a seasoned contractor in broadcast, what do you actually do with this information?

The Squeeze Is Real — And It’s Not Letting Up

Let’s not sugarcoat it. UK television production revenues fell 8.4% in 2023, down £400 million to £3.61 billion. That’s not a blip; it’s a trend. Commissioning budgets are down 10.2% year-on-year, and multichannel commissions — the bread-and-butter work for many indies — collapsed by 35.4%. When half of freelancers surveyed by BECTU say they’re not currently working, and 38% are planning to leave the sector entirely within five years, you’re not looking at a rough patch. You’re looking at a structural shift.

Then there’s IR35. The off-payroll working rules have been a thorn in the side of contractors since 2017, but the pressure is intensifying. ITV is staring down a potential £61 million tax bill related to freelance engagements since 2016. That’s money that could have funded drama commissions, regional production, training schemes. Instead, it’s going to HMRC — or lawyers.

For the individual contractor, the situation is maddening. You’re deemed an employee for tax purposes — so you pay employer National Insurance contributions — but you receive none of the protections: no pension, no sick pay, no job security. It’s the worst of all worlds, and it’s pushing experienced professionals out.

There is a sliver of relief. From April 2025, the threshold for ‘small company’ exemption from IR35 rules rises from £10.2 million to £15 million turnover. That could shift around 13,000 medium-sized companies into the ‘small’ bracket, meaning they’re no longer responsible for determining IR35 status — that responsibility reverts to the contractor. It’s not a cure-all, but it does open up some breathing room for freelancers working with those firms. Treasury still banks on IR35 bringing in £1.8 billion annually, so wholesale repeal seems unlikely. But a less aggressive HMRC stance for firms with good processes? That’s something.

The AI Boom — And Why It’s Not Just for Engineers

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, AI consulting is going absolutely stratospheric. Future Market Insights projects the global market will grow from $11 billion in 2025 to $91 billion by 2035. That’s a 26.2% compound annual growth rate. For context, that’s faster than the growth of mobile internet adoption in the mid-2000s.

What’s driving it? Every sector — finance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, government — is scrambling to adopt AI, but most don’t have the expertise in-house. They need help with strategy, data governance, algorithmic fairness, integration, and ongoing support. Consultancy.org found that 86% of companies buying consulting services actively want AI incorporated, and 66% would stop working with firms that don’t use it. Adapt or die isn’t hyperbole; it’s just Tuesday.

Here’s the bit that caught my attention: this isn’t a gold rush exclusively for PhDs in machine learning. Yes, technical roles are in demand, but McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI survey found companies are also hiring AI compliance specialists, ethics leads, project managers who understand governance. Skills that many experienced professionals — including broadcast contractors — already have.

Think about what you do as a senior contractor in broadcast. You solve complex problems under pressure. You manage stakeholders with competing priorities. You navigate budgets, timelines, technical constraints, and egos. You understand risk. You’ve probably overseen workflows involving multiple vendors, legacy systems, and tight delivery windows. Those are precisely the skills AI consulting firms need to help clients implement AI effectively — because the hard part isn’t the algorithm, it’s making it work in a messy, real-world business context.

EY, for example, is pouring resources into training its consultants on neural networks, large language models, and practical AI application. That’s the blueprint: strategic thinkers who can blend business acumen with enough technical literacy to have the conversation. You don’t need to become a data scientist. You need to become someone who can guide a client through an AI transformation without breaking their business.

So What Do You Actually Do?

This is where I get stuck. The data is clear. The opportunity is enormous. But making the leap from ‘broadcast contractor feeling the squeeze’ to ‘AI consultant landing six-figure engagements’ isn’t a straight line. It requires reskilling, repositioning, and — let’s be honest — a fair bit of nerve.

McKinsey estimates that 35% of the global workforce needs reskilling to adapt to AI. That’s over a billion people. But here’s the thing: you’re not starting from zero. If you’ve spent a decade or more in broadcast, you’ve built deep expertise in managing complexity, which is half the battle. The other half is learning enough about AI — strategy, governance, ethics, integration — to be credible in the conversation.

The good news? The barrier to entry for learning is lower than it’s ever been. Online courses, certifications, communities of practice — they’re everywhere. The bad news? Time is not on your side. The skills gap is widening, and firms are hiring now. If you wait for the perfect moment or the perfect qualification, you’ll miss the window.

I think the real question isn’t ‘should I jump ship?’ It’s ‘how do I start building the bridge while I’m still standing on the old shore?’ Because the old shore is eroding. The PACT data, the BECTU survey, the IR35 tightening — they’re all telling the same story. The broadcast contracting model as we knew it is under existential pressure.

Maybe the answer is to start small. Take a course. Join an AI community. Offer to consult on a pilot project for a former client. Build the credibility and the confidence in parallel with your existing work. Because the alternative — waiting for the broadcast market to recover, or for IR35 to be repealed, or for things to ‘go back to normal’ — feels increasingly like wishful thinking.

The landscape is being rewired by technology and regulation. The only question that matters is: how are you going to play it?