The charity behind the Edinburgh TV Festival, The TV Foundation, has announced its 17 founding Class Confident organisations.
The Class Confident movement aims to remove barriers for people from working class backgrounds to get into and stay in the TV industry.
The founding members are: All3Media, Banijay UK, BBC, BBC Studios, Channel 4, Fremantle UK, Hat Trick Productions, ITV, Multitude Media, Paramount, Purple Productions (part of Objective Media Group), South Shore, Studio Lambert, The Farm, The Garden (part of ITV Studios), XXIV Communications and Zinc Media Group.
The Class Confident movement is a way to recognise and support organisations that are innovating and leading “the cultural shift we need to make the TV industry class confident.”
To join, organisations must show how they are meeting the Class Confident Actions, a series of prompts to remove barriers for people from working class backgrounds to work in TV. The Actions were launched by The TV Foundation at the Edinburgh TV Festival 2025 and can be found on the TV Foundation website alongside details on how to the apply, for companies across the industry to get involved.
The TV Foundation’s report Let’s Talk About Class: Appealing to the UK’s Largest Audience, found that nearly 1 in 4 people in senior TV roles have the cultural and economic advantages of a private school education, over three times higher than the 7.5% of the general population who are privately educated.
Successful applicants will join a peer-learning network to share best practice and learn from the challenges they have faced. They will also benefit from discounted rates to the Edinburgh TV Festival 2026.
The TV Foundation is now inviting companies across the TV industry to apply to becoming Class Confident. The application form is available on the TV Foundation website. thetvfestival.com/tv-foundation/class-social-equality/
Gemma Bradshaw, Impact Director, The TV Foundation: “When we first started talking about working class voices in the industry it was a taboo topic. Now some of the biggest players in the industry are putting their hands up, ready to do more. We’re thrilled to see so many organisations already taking action to improve class representation and we’re keen to hear from more TV companies that want to join us. This is not a checklist or the end point; it’s the start of a movement to make the industry accessible to all.”
Jon Creamer
Share this story
