Gamble of the week: independent TV production company

This week's gamble is one of the independent production companies riding the wave of opportunity for smaller firms, writes Paul Hill.

The UK market for domestically commissioned TV programmes by independent production companies is worth around £1.1bn a year, and is growing annually by around 5%. This growth rate is likely to accelerate due to the vast potential of digital TV. Historically, the main terrestrial channels (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five) and Sky have dominated the broadcasting market as they've controlled over-the-air distribution. But with the advent of digital and internet TV and the rise of competitors such as Santanta and BT Vision, the balance of power is shifting towards the independents, as broadcasters scramble to generate and buy top-quality content. There are also opportunities for independents to sell their programmes to the highest bidder anywhere in the world and gain from the expansion of sponsored in-programme advertising. So how can we benefit from this trend?

DCD Media (Aim:DCD)

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Paul gained a degree in electrical engineering and went on to qualify as a chartered management accountant. He has extensive corporate finance and investment experience and is a member of the Securities Institute.

Over the past 16 years Paul has held top-level financial management and M&A roles for blue-chip companies such as O2, GKN and Unilever. He is now director of his own capital investment and consultancy firm, PMH Capital Limited.

Paul is an expert at analysing companies in new, fast-growing markets, and is an extremely shrewd stock-picker.