Application Deadline:  24th July 2026.  Applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the course is full a waiting list will apply.

What is Television Format Development*?

This new 20-week course will provide you with a keen sense of the world of television and audio-visual content and with the skills, knowledge and know-how to develop and pitch a viable project for unscripted TV. 

 By the end of this course, you will have the ability to critique all the relevant skills that a development producer needs to navigate the development process, and will have developed an idea from its nascent stage right through to the level of an industry standard pitch.  

The course is designed to guide producers through each phase of the creative development process for unscripted entertainment, reality and factual entertainment formats including talent shows and quiz shows, chat or music or ‘reality’ specifically: from creative ideation techniques, through market-matched concept development, generating funding applications, learning to read industry trends, understanding the commissioning and funding landscape and key players, designing effective pitch decks through to building confidence in direct pitching. 

The course will also give you a solid grounding in the adjacent skills of edit-producing, voiceover scripting, responding to channel or commissioner notes, etc. as part of the process of stress-testing a format before the final pitch.  

With AI becoming an ever-increasing factor in all aspects of media production, we will look at some of the ways AI can feed into the work of development producers.  

Given the fast-changing media landscape, the course will also give you insights into the opportunities and challenges presented by the different platforms, how audience engagement is changing, as well as looking at how unscripted formats are adapting to suit these new platforms.          

The course has been developed in partnership with the Cultural and Creative Industries Skillnet (CCIS), with lecturing support from key industry experts in development, funding and commissioning. 

*subject to validation (June 2026)

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Please note this is course is already supported through state funding and therefore falls outside the scope of the Alumni Lifelong Learning Discount.  However, if an applicant does not qualify for the subsidy, the alumni discount may then be applied.