The British media company, which is behind the 2024 Emmy-winning Nickelodeon Jr. show “The Tiny Chef Show,” and the Emmy-nominated preschool animated series, “Slumberkins,” is another victim of the streaming bubble burst. Cartoon Brew reports that the company no longer has funds to pay its liabilities, and will be shutting down.
Factory Transmedia attributes much of the fault for the shortcomings of the relatively successful media company to market conditions, stating, “Over the last 12 months, broadcasters around the world have severely cut the number of projects being greenlit as the global economy and audience behaviors have changed markedly; these challenging market conditions were a significant factor in the insolvency of the business.”
JPS Chartered Surveyors has been appointed to help sell the company’s assets through an online auction. The sale will include the puppets used for the Newzoids satirical sketch, which ran on ITV in 2015 and 2016, as well as studio equipment, according to BBC.
The more than 20-year-old company, largely considered an animation success story for the Greater Manchester area, had a growing production slate that necessitated opening another studio in 2017 to accommodate its more than 100 employees.
Unfortunately, Factory Transmedia’s demise is reminiscent of the dozens of other staple media companies that fell victim to the streaming bubble’s burst in 2023 (via EMarketer). After Netflix and Disney showcased that the streaming model could be successful, almost every media company attempted to create a streaming service.
While major players such as Netflix, AppleTV+, Max, Paramount, and Peacock reigned supreme, others, like AMC, Verizon, and Quibi, threw money at any idea to fill their libraries with original content to avoid costly licensing fees.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, while these streamers initially experienced success largely because everyone was forced to stay home and watch TV, many streamers saw their numbers plummet. Layoffs, mergers, and liquidations became a common headline in 2023.
Another common headline was the news of streamers removing a majority of their original content to write off the projects. It was a concern among the entertainment community who saw their shows vanish from the face of the Earth (remember, streaming shows do not have any physical form).
No one was safe from the burst of the streaming bubble. Your favorite shows may have been there one day, and gone the next. The production house quietly sits on a digital shelf with movies and series that it announced and filmed. Writers and actors were not receiving residuals. You can only watch an exclusive streaming show by subscribing to a channel in a streaming service you are already paying $15 a month for. Seeming no one is making money. The model that everyone invested everything into broke.
So, what’s next?
Unfortunately, media companies are not sure what to do next. Media companies had hoped streaming would be more profitable, but audiences are growing weary of the content quality. There are a lot of issues with streaming, and Factory Transmedia is another casualty of the streaming war.
