Season_Screen_TV_Review_№6-web

ANALYTICAL
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE TV-PROGRAMMING STRATEGY
oriented at the global audience in accordance with their
interests and demands such as Fox TV, Da Vinci Media,
TRACE Urban.
For example, Da Vinci TV gives their preference
to creative educational product of high quality
predominantly oriented on children and family and
TRACE Urban dedicated to the many means of expression
of urban culture: music, fashion, sport, film, dance, etc.
As we can see both, as Da Vinci as well TRACE Urban,
control their feed content very carefully trying to find
balance between consumer demand and declared values
of the channels.
Predominantly all channels agreed that the biggest
rate they usually receive from national talent, comedy
(stand ups) and reality shows as well as from quality
serials. That’s why they use this main content in a prime
time.
Concerning the sources which TV channels use to
fill up their “magician box”, it depends on the regional,
cultural tradition and off course their purse. Thus the
region of Latin America used to buy media product at USA
or make it by itself.
Post-Soviet countries traditionally exchange their
products or make it jointly such as Ukraine and Russia
(there are still a lot of joint media projects despite the
political disagreement between the states).
Most channels produce their own content, and those
who want to establish new partnerships with the ability
to enter new markets make their projects in coproduction.
Coproduction is also a way to use for production
common budget. Accordingly there are much more
chances to release their movie or program in cooperation
with one or two partners.
1+1 TV Our strategic goal is to fill the grid by over 80%
of the national product and 65% — of our own. Localized
product has a better ranking potential and own product
best fits the brand.
We do not produce content ourselves at this moment
but we have planned to work in co-production in the
future. We are interested in web series suitable for the
whole family. Our current plan is to focus on brand
building since our channel is still young. We have many
requests in co-production and we will surely consider it
when the timing is right.
TRACE TV The positioning of TRACE Sport Stars
has been largely characterized by our exclusive access to
sport’s biggest names. With this in mind we produce a lot
of content ourselves, involving traveling, partying, and
celebrating with the stars. We also have a very beneficial
partnership with Australian production company Inverliegh
who supply about 100 hours of content per year. In
total the content broadcast on our feeds is 60% production
and 40% acquisition.
For our music channels, to accompany the streams
of popular urban music, we regularly bring in the artists
for interviews. This means that about 10% of content on
the music channels is produced by TRACE. It’s important
to be first and foremost music channels but also offer
something different in our Guest Star interviews.
Also we have tried to localize our feeds when and
where possible. You see this today with the multiple
feeds across TRACE Urban, TRACE Sport Stars, and TRACE
Gospel. The programming is also adapted to the market it
serves with regular celebrity features that are popular in
the feed’s region.
TV GLOBO In co-productions, the highlight of 2015
was the novel “Salty Sea”, co-produced with SIC, Portugal,
which was the most watched program in the country in
2015, with over 1.7 million viewers a day.
The client portfolio was enriched with 75 new
companies. Thus, growth of the year, compared to 2014
was 10%.
DA VINCI MEDIA GMBH We decided to produce our
own short-form series. We also wish to become more local
in certain markets and introduce more diversity. This is
why we are producing our own 26-episode children’s
series on famous scientists which doesn’t cover the
usual known Western European celebrities like Newton
or Einstein, but also women which have so far been
marginalized, as well as scientists and inventors from
Asia, India or the Middle East.
Latina TV At the present time Latin America can be
totally satisfied by the fact that here is almost 80% (not 90
%!) of national content at her TV screens.
Fox TV Currently we are working with 4-5 titles per
year including The Walking Dead, Outcast or Wayward
Pines. All this series are brand defining shows that have
a lot of marketing effort behind, we premiere at the
same time in all the markets and they have strongly
contributed to the success of the channels around the
world. I think that local scripted production on pay TV
is one of the big factor successful in our market, but it’s
an expensive format and we need to be sure of doing it
without too many risks.
TV production is a continuous process, which needs
a permanent modification at filing the stories and
technical terms. But what remains the same in this
process is an ever increasing consumer demand. And no
matter how much we have of the finished product, there
is always something missing. So, what are the challenges
which channels meet today and what are the problems
they need to handle with? — We asked this question
to our experts and now can clearly understand their
expectation and aspiration:
TRACE TV Content that successfully represents
the culture of a niche audience. This is a gap we are
bridging with TRACE Play for the Afro-urban audiences.
Mainstream content is exactly that — mainstream. We
have shown with our linear TV channels that serving a
niche audience; serving them well, can give you the base
for a successful multinational organization.
I would recommend manufacturers, especially those
from a minority background to consider developing into
more niche areas, cultures that are underserved by the
mainstream media. Stay true to your culture, stay true to
your brand and you can create something great, just like
we have with TRACE.
Thus, if you’re still looking for a media market niche
for realization or have a drive to grow up your business,
Oliver`s advises would be certainly useful for you.
Da Vinci In general, educational content for a 6+
audience isn’t easy to come by, with most producers
still focusing on pre-school, especially when it comes to
animation. We would love to see strong math programs
for older kids, shows about different careers / professions
but also programs about health and fitness that parents
can watch together with their kids. There is no limitation
in terms of genre or format for us — so long as it’s entertaining,
educational and has that certain something to
stand out, we’re happy to have it for Da Vinci Learning.
International Producers Group We have probably
more than 400 channels in the US and each have their own
demographics and programming. The broadcasters and
VOD companies I deal with are looking for high quality
newer HD programs and series about Science, History,
Crime, Investigation, Medicine, Travel with People and
Cultures including food, Current events, Sports, Military,
Nature and Wildlife, Health and Retirement, Gay and
Lesbian programming, programming for women, and
the one I do not even bother with, Reality non scripted.
Programs with on camera hosts generally do not work
unless they are speaking English and the host has to be
enthusiastic, authoritative and look and sound like they
know what they are talking about. If the programs have
a voice over narrator, a mid Atlantic English voice is OK,
but the narrator should have some acting ability to be
convincing. In many cases, a broadcaster may want to use
their own American narrator and record over the one on
the program.
We should also to mention concerning the localization:
Fox TV I think that local scripted production on pay
TV is one of the big lacks in our market, but it’s an expensive
format and we need to be sure of doing it without too
many risks.
Finally, there are some precise advises from our experts:
NBC Universal I can’t wholly take credit for the
answer to this question, as it comes from something
Brandon Tartikoff once said in an interview 25yrs ago.
“The end of network television will come if all it is
an endless sea of sitcoms and reality shows.”
It’s important to develop original ideas and content,
don’t fall prey to the trap of chasing a trend. Viewers want
to be entertained; they don’t want to have to sift through
an endless schedule of content that is simply a variation
of the same basic format.
That being said, I’ve always said you can’t go wrong
with monkeys, people for some reason love monkeys!
However, to be aware of the precise aim, we should
be able to analyze the market and our target audience.
To be able to predict what will be important in a year at
least. Naturally, without an understanding of the current
favorites it would be difficult to do. Therefore, we offer
you to get acquainted with some of the products that are
holding the audience today. It will be useful as for production
as well for TV channels.
NBC Universal We’ve recently acquired from
Warner Bros. the unscripted series Little Big Shots, which
airs originally on our sister channel domestically in the
US. We identified this series early, prior to the launch
in the US, where it quickly became the highest rated
new unscripted series in 18-49 of the past 5 years. Here
in Asia, the series also premiered to fantastic ratings on
DIVA. What makes this show work is simple, KIDS. It’s
not a program that puts kids in unusual adult situations
or is filmed in such a way to target only children viewers.
This is key; this is what makes the series appeal to
audiences of all ages. There’s no pandering to a specific
22 ▪ Issue 6 JUNE 2016
Season Screen TV Review
sstrnews.com
Issue 6 JUNE 2016 ▪ 23