The creative media industries and workforce in North East England
Size and shape of the workforce
North East England is home to around 2.5 million people. Employment within the creative media industries in the region exceeds 11,500, representing 2% of the industries' UK workforce.
Women make up 31% of the creative media workforce in the region, 2% of the workforce are from an Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) background and 6% of the workforce self-classify as disabled.
14% of those working in the creative media industries in North East England are freelancers, compared to 36% across the whole of the UK.
Sector by sector
Computer Games
Around 1,000 people work in computer games in North East England. The games businesses are entirely involved in the development side. In addition to the main studios, there are a number of individual specialists in the region.
Facilities
Nearly 900 people are employed in the sub-sectors of post production, studio and equipment hire, special effects and outside broadcast.
A high percentage of regional Tyne Tees Television adverts are made within the region, with a substantial proportion being made by Dene Films in Newcastle. These commissions help to sustain local post production houses.
Film
No one operating in the key sub-sectors of production is reported as living in North East England. Figures are not available for employment in cinema exhibition at national/ regional level.
North East England is home to several established independent film and TV production companies such as Costal Productions and Ipso Facto Films, as well as new companies such as Standing Stone. Few Independent companies in the region have more than five core employees and many are lone traders with working patterns similar to freelancers.
The recently refurbished Tyneside Cinema is the only full-time regional film theatre and is the key hub in the region for audience outreach and education work. It exhibits locally made film and supports other exhibition venues particularly in rural areas.
There are three international film festivals in North East England: AV, Northern Lights and Animex.
Photo Imaging
Nearly 1,200 people work in photo imaging in the region and the majority of these are photographers. The rest are mainly employed within retail, labs or image production.
Most of the businesses are very small, with over 90% employing just 1-5 people, reflecting the high number of freelancers and sole traders in the sector.
Publishing
North East England has one of the smallest proportions of the publishing industry with just over 4,000 based in the region. The majority of those people work within the newspaper sector, with major regional titles such as the Newcastle Chronicle and Journal, and the Metro North East. There are a few small companies with magazine and business media interests but very few book or journal publishers.
Radio
500 individuals work in publicly funded, commercial, and community and voluntary radio in the region.
There are eight commercial radio stations in North East England, including four owned by Emap and two by Radio Investments. The BBC has two local radio stations (Newcastle and Cleveland).
Radio Tyneside is run by volunteers and provides hospital broadcasting for Newcastle and Gateshead. There are two Restricted Service Licences in the region.
Television
Around 400 people work in broadcast TV, cable and satellite and independent production in North East England.
The region houses two terrestrial television broadcasters, BBC and Tyne Tees. The BBC does not make any network programmes in the North East but produces local news programmes, Look North, and bulletins.
Tyne Tees' regional output is wholly factual and a quarter of Tyne Tees non-news regional output is commissioned from independent producers across the region. In 2000, Tyne Tees created Signpost, which is now the leading supplier of on-screen British Sign Language translation, supplying most digital and terrestrial broadcasters and providing services to other organisations outside the creative media industries.
Higher Education
In December 2007, the Skillset Media Academy Network was launched. Skillset is working with universities and colleges to collaborate seamlessly with industry partners to develop new curricula, innovative teaching, world-class research and development, and enhanced business acumen. There are two Skillset Media Academies in the North East, University of Teesside Skillset Media Academy and University of Sunderland Skillset Media Academy.
Data taken from the Skillset 2006 Employment Census, Skillset/UK Film Council Feature Film Production Workforce Survey 2008, Experian 2007, Skillset/Equity Performing Arts Industry Workforce Survey 2005 and LFS 2005. For more information, please visit our Research section.