ULSTER-SCOTS BROADCAST FUND DIGITAL APPLICATION CALL
Date Posted: March 7, 2024
The Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund (USBF) is seeking digital projects that reflect aspects of Ulster-Scots language, culture and heritage and have the potential to reach a local and international audience. These projects will be delivered online and intended for a range of audiences. These might include adults of all ages, school-based learners (any Key Stage) and learners of all ages outside the school system.
Proposals for digital productions should be distinctly different from those intended for linear broadcast including, but not limited to, gaming and interactive content. Without the requirement of and marketing support from a broadcaster, producers should include a social media marketing plan to demonstrate how they intend to reach an online audience.
Specific guidance on the type of projects envisaged is detailed below.
WHO CAN APPLY?
Registered independent companies with a permanent agency in Northern Ireland.
The USBF will accept co-production arrangements where the co-producer does not have a permanent agency in Northern Ireland provided the project and the co- production clearly fulfil all the stated criteria and the project, in the view of the Investment Committee, contributes more significantly to the aims of the USBF than a similar project without the co-production arrangement.
WHAT TYPE OF PROJECTS MAY BE SUPPORTED?
The USBF is looking for digital projects that will contribute to the promotion and understanding of Ulster-Scots heritage, culture and language including:
- Projects with strong Ulster-Scots language and/or literature content
- Projects that will appeal to and have links with both the local Ulster-Scots community and wider Ulster-Scots/Scotch-Irish diaspora
- Projects that reflect significant Ulster-Scots anniversaries such as 2026’s 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence and 2024’s 50th anniversary of the publication of John Hewitt’s Rhyming Weavers
- Projects that include interactive and gaming elements
- Digital or online content that has an association with radio or television content
- Tourism-related content
- Projects intended for school-based audiences and designed to help support teachers embed aspects of Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland Curriculum-based learning
- Content capable of being hosted on – or linked to – existing portals or platforms
CHALLENGES
There are 2 key challenges for these types of project. Firstly, the need to explain how a digital project will reach its target audience. This requires the producer to be explicit about how maximum reach/audience can be achieved. This may involve partnerships with third parties such as recognised interest groups, local councils or organisations responsible for delivering education and promoting tourism.
The second is to evidence the necessary quality of the project without the benefit of a television broadcaster both ensuring and endorsing the standard of the content. This requires the producer to engage with an Ulster-Scots Consultant at all stages of production from development to delivery.
AUDIENCE REACH
The applicant must include a social media marketing plan to demonstrate how it plans to promote its content and reach an online audience. This could be demonstrated by:
- Hosting on or linking to an online portal that already reaches an identified audience
- A dynamic marketing strategy that can help awareness of the project spread in a viral manner (eg collaboration with partners such as councils, tourism bodies and social media influencers)
- With formal education content, a commitment from CCEA and/or the Education Authority to make the materials available and distributed to all interested schools
SUBSTANTIAL AUDIENCE
There is no fixed definition of a ‘substantial audience’ although for general audience content there is some guidance in noting that the success criteria for a television production broadcast is 40,000 viewers. Digital content delivered online is capable of reaching comparable audiences.
Smaller audiences may be acceptable where the audience is highly engaged – evidenced through the interaction. For example, a content proposal that could evidence that it would be made available to every primary school in Northern Ireland and had reason to expect that a significant number of primary schools would actively engage with the content, would be extremely compelling despite the fact that this audience number would be approximately 11,000.
In all instances, there will be 2 aspects to assessing the substantial audience criteria; that is, the level of availability of the content, and the actual number of people likely to be reached. Once again, the availability test will be assessed on rather more than the content’s presence on a website but rather the extent to which an audience can be evidenced to be clearly made aware of the content.
QUALITY OF THE PROJECT
For a digital content application to the USBF to be successful, it must provide compelling evidence that the quality of the project or content will be of the highest level.
The following list may provide some guidance:
- the experience of the team involved in the project is an important factor
- endorsement by other experienced assessors of the relevant content might also address this issue
- in formal education, programming endorsement by CCEA and/or the EA that the content was directly relevant to the curriculum in a manner consistent with the general priorities of the Fund would be helpful
CONSULTANTS
The use of suitably experienced/qualified Ulster-Scots and (where appropriate) Educational consultants is essential. The nature of the project will determine the experience and expertise of the consultant(s) required.
MATCH FUNDING
The USBF requires that all projects include 25% match funding. This can be as company or third party cash or ‘in kind’ equivalent or broadcaster finance.
APPLICATION
Please contact Heidi McAlpin, Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund Executive, ([email protected]) to discuss a potential application before applying. After this discussion a link to the online application form will be sent out.
All applicants must complete an online application form. Please ensure that all supporting documentation is submitted either online with your application or via email to the USBF ([email protected]).
Failure to provide the requested supporting documentation will result in your application being eliminated from the call.
TIME FRAME
All applications including supporting documentation must be received by Friday 19th April 2024. All applications will be assessed with decisions intended to be made by late May 2024.
