On a Thursday afternoon a small production company pitches a documentary series about a family-run ferry service. The commissioning editor likes it, but asks for three changes, a lower price per episode and a sample tape of the family on camera before anything is signed. Six weeks later the tape is good and the series gets a green light. The commissioning editor is the person at a broadcaster or streamer who decides which programmes get made, and on what terms.
What a commissioning editor does
Broadcasters make few programmes themselves. Most are commissioned from independent production companies. A commissioning editor looks after one genre (drama, comedy, factual, entertainment, children's) and has a slice of the channel's money to spend on it. They read proposals, take pitches, and pick the few ideas that fit the channel and the slot. Big projects go up to the channel controller for approval.
Once a show is commissioned, the commissioning editor stays involved. They give notes on scripts or edits, approve the key people such as the series producer or the presenter, and watch cuts before the programme is delivered. The production executive at the broadcaster follows the money and the schedule alongside them. The full route from pitch to transmission is described under TV commissions.
Responsibilities
- Read proposals and take pitches from production companies
- Choose ideas that fit the channel, the audience and an available slot
- Agree the price and number of episodes, with business affairs
- Approve key creative staff and the format of the show
- Give editorial notes on scripts, rough cuts and fine cuts
- Sign off the finished programme before delivery
- Build relationships with production companies and new talent
How the role touches the budget
The commissioning editor decides how much the broadcaster pays, not how the production spends it. Broadcasters often work with a tariff, a usual price per hour for a type of programme in a type of slot. The editor agrees the licence fee (what the broadcaster pays for the right to show it) with the production company's executive producer, and the business affairs manager turns that into a contract. The editor will look at the production's budget summary to see whether the money ends up on screen, but the detailed cost control stays with the production company.
How people become commissioning editors
Most were producers or executive producers at production companies first, often for years. That background matters, because a commissioner has to judge whether a team can really deliver what it pitches, for the price it quotes. Some move across from development roles such as head of development.
At a streamer
Streamers use the same job under titles like content executive or commissioner. They often pay the full cost of a production plus a premium and keep more of the rights, so they look more closely at the budget than a traditional broadcaster that pays only part of it.