From entertainment and cinema to arts and kids, Sky has it all. The content doesn’t make it to Sky by itself though. Sky’s Managing Director of Content, Zai Bennett, works to find the best of the best and bring it to Sky.

Francesca Aita, Head of Marketing, sits down with Zai to ‘spill the t’ on what shows viewers like and dislike. They also talk about Together TV’s Diverse Film Fund for deaf, disabled, and/or neurodivergent creatives and what Sky is doing to make their productions accessible. 

Francesca Aita (Head of Marketing at Together TV): Do you have a standout achievement that you are most proud of or is there a show you are fond of that was a swing-and-a-miss?

Zai Bennett (Managing Director of Content at Sky): In terms of creative success with our shows or films I have to highlight these are never individual achievements. TV is a team sport and my job is to enable other people to be creative, and to help them bring their brand-new entertaining ideas to life and then help them make them famous.

Being involved in Chernobyl was an amazing experience. It’s interesting because at the point of commissioning, Anne (former Head of Drama, Sky) and I were not looking for international facing shows, we were really focused on ultra British stories. Anne gave me the scripts for two episodes, and it was simply incredible, the writing blew us away. Initially we were going to pass on it because we were not making that sort of thing, but we were willing to embrace it and shift our strategy because the writing was so good. Then the incredible thing was seeing the Sky machine lean into it and make it super famous and help augment the brilliant writing and visionary direction.  

The show was wonderfully executed by Jane and everyone at Sister, so we knew it was a fantastic quality piece of TV drama, but we didn’t realise how broad the appeal would be. For us we thought we would be over the moon if we might get a million people to watch it. In the end it had an audience of over four million, which was record breaking for Sky. Then we were hoping it might win AN award, but it went on to be BAFTA’s most awarded show of all time, which was amazing and a tribute to the phenomenal creative team behind it that Sister had assembled.    

Image courtesy of Sky UK.

Francesca: Can you share with us a professionally challenging moment you went through and what did you learn about yourself during that period?

Zai: Every day is challenging. In these jobs, there are always a hundred different things you are dealing with and they can come from anywhere. The Revolution Will Be Televised is a good example from my time at the BBC because it was satire, politicians and the BBC all-in-one. As you know the BBC is sometimes a little conservative. It has a policy unit which is there to help producers make sure shows are compliant, but it can be slightly risk averse. People were amazed we managed to make this high profile political prank show, but what we all did was pull together with the compliance teams, commissioning and production and be seriously rigorous. It was funny because quite a few politicians complained during the making of the show, then when it aired no one complained! The main learning I had on that show was that if you're going to be creative, you need to be clear and consistent as well. They go together. You need a few rules to be creative. It's not just a free for all and Hat Trick and the guys delivered something that felt fresh and dangerous but was entirely justified.

Francesca: Sky today is a very different company to ten or fifteen years ago – perhaps more mature across its customer proposition and its corporate citizenship. Has the kind of content you commission and what Sky viewers want to watch evolved in the same way? 

Zai: I've been here nine years, but even in the nine years it's changed massively. Just before I arrived, Sky had shot series like The Match, Gladiators or The Smoke. TV tastes change and progress of course, during that time we’ve seen the rise and rise of streaming where really high quality HBO level drama became a bit more the norm. Across that time on Sky, we've invested correspondingly much more in high quality premium scripted, which is essentially film on TV. When I joined, we were shooting the last day of Fortitude, which was our first big statement drama. Everything we do here is driven by what customers want. What they want is driven by the market. If Netflix is making House of Cards and Queen's Gambit, then they want Patrick Melrose and Chernobyl from Sky. But we shouldn’t forget that Sky customers ultimately want to be entertained. They've always liked big glossy studio entertainment, but they also want entertainment in drama. Like our original drama, A Discovery of Witches, for example. They're made beautifully, they've got a clear hero, clear villain, and you get a story that satisfies you. They are premium TV, but they are big and accessible as well. At Sky, we constantly talk to our customers, get feedback and try to make sure that we are offering them the right type and amount of shows that they will value. That might be dramas, but also entertainment, documentaries or kids shows as well.

Francesca: TV has an amazing power to shift culture and catalyse social change. Have your shows driven such cultural change and if so, what did you take away from this? 

Zai: TV and film that really resonates with viewers makes them care in some way. If you’re going to care, it’s probably because that content is saying something meaningful and strong to you and it provokes a reaction.

I think Sky Arts is something that really does that.  It’s a great TV channel as it features every discipline of the arts. One hour, you might get treated to a ballet performance capture, then the next hour we have an entertaining painting show, we cover every discipline. It’s subject matter that viewers deeply care about.

We also try to make sure Sky Arts lives in the real world as well as on TV. We do something called Access All Arts Week, a nationwide week-long celebration of the arts, specifically designed for primary schools. We provide loads of free, arts-focused curriculum-linked resources for teachers, from ready-to-teach lesson plans to videos and activity sheets.  We know that access to arts and creative pursuits enhances a child’s prospects whatever they choose to do later in life, so it’s really important that we support arts accessibility; whether that’s by making Sky Arts a free-to-air channel, as we did back in 2020, or by offering real-world experiences such as this initiative. All adding to Sky’s overall brand, as a company that really cares about culture in the UK and Ireland.

Our original documentaries can also be incredibly powerful. There's The Boy Who Lived, which is about David Holmes, Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt man, who ended up with a debilitating spinal injury following a tragic accident on the set of Harry Potter.  He's the most remarkable, positive person. The documentary also tells a story of  David and Daniel’s friendship, which is a very positive male friendship; something which I don’t think you see often enough on television. It's also about how you bring it to life and have it resonate with as many communities as possible. It’s TV that provokes a reaction and shines a spotlight on the best of humanity.

Francesca: Sky produces content for Sky Arts and Sky Kids which are very public service in outlook and nature. Where does this sit in the Sky mix, and how do you see this kind of content change in the coming years as viewing habits continue to shift?  

Zai: We don't think of them as public service, we don't sit down and go, “Right, we need to do some public service.” What we think is, “What's the cultural landscape of the UK? And what should we offer that will help elevate the Sky brand?” We want Sky to represent something for everyone in the home. We want Sky to feel like it's a meaningful, important contributor to the cultural conversation of the UK. Part of doing that is being responsible in the arts, news and in kids. Looking ahead, I don't think viewing habits will shift considerably in terms of the way people view, they already have the tools to consume exactly what they want, whenever and wherever they want to. People still love things like half hour comedies, and one hour dramas, these are enduring formats that work for story-telling, it’s now just all in your pocket!

Francesca: A successful TV show needs to generate conversation and you have your own “recipe” for this. Can you share a time when this really popped and what triggered it?

Zai: The secret sauce at Sky is the Sky machine. Sky is one of the top advertisers in the UK. People often want to work at Sky because of the calibre of our marketing and communications campaigns, they are great marketing jobs, and there’s a lot of amazing people here who do it. When you turn Sky on, it’s where all those parts of the machine come together. 

It’s not just about spending money, it’s also about doing creative and interesting things. From hosting a huge premiere of our Jacobean drama Mary & George in the only major surviving part of James I’s Whitehall palace, to building a replica of the Angel of the North in the guise of England footballer Jill Scott, to celebrate her joining A League of their Own. We’re always trying to be creative in the ways of advertising and generating interest in our new shows.     

Ultimately I think a lot of the success of a show is really down to the show itself and what it is trying to say, how it’s delivered or how it entertains. Then it’s about how you can elevate it and sell it. During lockdown, when Gangs of London happened, TV viewing was massively high. Gangs felt fresh and new, it was delivering ‘gang’, ‘drama’, but with filmic balletic violence that was only ever seen at the cinema. If it was for you, you could go deep and really get into it.

We've got another show called Smart TV with Rob Beckett, Alison Hammond and Josh Widdicombe. On paper, it looks pretty good. Then in the room when we did a run through, the crowd went crazy and we thought “Okay, we've got something here.” It’s turned out to be a big hit for us, with that one I think it’s the unusual combination of that talent and their very real bond between each other, you can’t fake that.  

Image courtesy of Sky UK.

Francesca: Sky has kindly given a platform to Together TV’s Diverse Film Fund BAFTA-winning short documentaries the last two years. Our focus this year is on deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent talent. What are Sky’s plans to support creatives in this space? 

Zai: We have very important targets on all these areas that we take incredibly seriously. We are aiming for 10% of our production teams to be deaf, disabled, or neurodivergent.

On screen, we have production targets across every genre. Are we hitting them all? No, but we’re doing everything we can to get there. Diversity is our biggest focus point currently. If a show says to us, “We can't get there, we can't do it.”, we try to work with them and find bespoke solutions. Even if it’s not hitting that target we then work with producers on what else we can do to advance this issue.

We've introduced access coordinators for all our scripted shows, and they are available to any of our non-scripted shows that need them. Sometimes a non-scripted show is just a director and cameraman, but everyone has access to access coordinators now and we will obviously fulfil any access needs that come up. One of the things that I’ve really learned is that asking those questions early like, “What do you need?” are incredibly important.

Francesca: Sky has supported Together TV since we launched as The Community Channel in 2000. We’re now on Sky Glass and Stream along with every other major TV platform. What do you think Together TV’s role can be in the media ecology going ahead? 

Zai: I think lots of us broadcasters do parts of what you do at Together TV, but you're the only home with that entirely pure purpose. It's about social activism and volunteering. That is what you do. That is what makes you unique. I think the sort of secret sauce you've got is you are trying to deliver social impact by being entertaining. You're not always just wearing it on your sleeve. It's good to be doing it in an entertaining way. That's much more effective. I think that combination is unique.

Francesca: Sky pioneered sustainability far ahead of other broadcasters. Together TV has supported Sky’s climate change campaigns for years. What is Sky’s approach to highlighting these topics editorially within your programmes? 

Zai: Behind the camera, there's a huge amount of work on making sure our shows are sustainable. We have the physical Sky Studios in Elstree, which is the most sustainable studio built in the UK, we've got lots of expertise that we offer to our productions about how to be sustainable. It's definitely not just offsetting. If you want to film abroad, we explore if we can do it with a local crew or explore a remote directing option. We try to do these things wherever we can.  

We were the first media company to go carbon neutral in 2006 and we’re committed to our ambitious target to become net zero carbon across our operations and value chain by 2030.

We’ve even made the world's first carbon neutral TV. So as a company, we've made that statement of intent and we've done huge amounts as an employer and as a business. Everywhere you look, you will see that, for example if you buy a sky product, the packaging is minimal. 

Francesca: I end each interview with a “pass it on” question provided by the previous guest without knowing who would be interviewed next – they asked: If you could make a film about yourself, who would be the actor who would play you?

Zai: In a completely dream world – and I don't look like this person - but I’d say Michael Fassbender, which would please my wife. In the real world, the only person who's famous I've ever been mistaken for was Ronnie O'Sullivan, the snooker player. So, someone between the two perhaps?!

Revisit other editions of ‘Spilling the T’ to read BSLBT's Chief Executive Camilla Arnold's advice on being a 'deaf ally' and Freeview's Marketing Director, Owen Jenkinson, discussing why TV can be a force for good.