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What the US and Europe TV markets can learn from each other

In an increasingly global market, it is vital to recognize that, while Europe and the U.S. may have many similarities, they also have notable differences. The good news is that there’s a lot to learn from these differences. No matter what your perspective, the “television” space is growing more complex by the day. Applying one world view to fundamentally different markets is a recipe for failure. Thus, it is critical that media executives realize the world is not black and white but consists of shades of grey.

When we talk about television, what we mean by “TV” can vary dramatically, depending on geography, distribution service, device and – increasingly – the type of content being viewed. These variations are critical to understanding opportunities in this space. For the purposes of our discussion here, “TV” includes but is not limited to: 

  • Over-the-air (OTA) broadcast channels
  • Cable & satellite-delivered channel
  • +s
  • FAST channels
  • SVOD services

All of the above may be accessed on mobile devices, laptops/desktops, and connected TVs. They are the primary (and most lucrative) content delivery formats for both traditional and new content creators and aggregators, who are most likely to be interested in our analysis. 

A key component of the challenges now faced by media companies is a false assumption that “one size fits all.” As we explore the strategic complexity of the streaming television market, compounded by the acceleration of AI integrations, taking a “one size fits all” approach is particularly risky.

Instead, each media company must clearly evaluate and understand its strengths and core competencies, and what these mean when moving in a new direction. In order to remain viable, it is imperative media players have the confidence to try new tactics. And, to truly innovate, they also need to get comfortable with the possibility of failure (as the tech industry has been).

The five key strategic questions

As they decide their next steps, media executives should be focused on five key long-term strategic questions:

  1. How can you prepare your media business for success and survival in a rapidly-changing, highly competitive environment?
  2. How can you attract and retain talent?
  3. How can you serve your current customers and acquire new customers?
  4. How can you grow revenue and profitability, sustainably?
  5. And, finally, what exactly is your end goal?

Streaming lessons the United States and Europe can learn from each other

What we present below are six key – deliberately brief – lessons that U.S. and European media companies can learn from each other as they develop and evolve their offerings in the global streaming TV marketplace.

Lesson #1: Ask the right questions

The number one lesson that European media companies can learn from the U.S. is that many major media companies neglected to ask those five questions soon enough. That particularly seems the case when it comes to the last question: The strategies of most of the major U.S.-based streaming companies seem to lack a clearly defined end goal. But the good news is that it’s not too late. In fact, late movers have an opportunity to learn key lessons from the U.S. streaming market and thus serve viewers more effectively.

Lesson #2: Understand the market

One of the major mistakes that the mainly U.S.-based SVOD streaming services made (at least up to now) was the assumption that the world looked like the United States and would act the same way. A study of the history of the U.S. and European television markets would have made it clear that, when it came to paying for television, both markets had fundamentally different characteristics.

For example, Americans are used to paying $100 or more for their television, Europeans are not. Also, European pay-tv penetration has typically been 30 to 40% lower than the U.S. (even lower in some markets). Europeans prefer national language content and use free to air content more. When it comes to streaming, both sides need to first understand the structure of their markets and then work out what solutions work best.

Lesson #3: Media tech is a long-term investment

Technology has forever changed the game for media, and every player in the content value chain needs to become tech-savvy. This means continuously educating oneself – and one’s team – on new developments in technology. AI is a perfect example of a technology that has already impacted media (and will continue to do so). And yet, many major media players still think that AI is something for their tech department or even a new “Chief AI Officer” to manage rather than something about which they personally need to invest time learning and educating their entire teams about.

It’s imperative to everyone in a media company – senior or junior – to understand how mass market consumers connect using technology. For example, have they experimented with writing a ChatGPT or Midjourney prompt? Have they recently visited Walmart, Best Buy or Amazon to learn how most consumers purchase a TV, and thus come to have built-in, bundled access to their products? Do they have TikTok accounts? YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or even LinkedIn? And so on. Technology is a constantly evolving space, both in terms of innovation and consumer behavior. Staying connected to these changes will allow media leaders to make better short-term decisions and long-term investments in their business.

Lesson #4: Do what you do best

When faced with the dominance of Netflix, instead of doing what they did best, many U.S. media companies simply tried to do what Netflix did – but not as well. This approach hasn’t made a significant dent in Netflix’s market dominance, which is measured as present in two thirds of U.S. households, according to Kantar, with 49% in 2023 viewing it as their most important streaming service.

While this short-term strategy has floundered, the top U.S. media companies have a) strong, resilient brands, b) expertise in creating world-class content and content pipelines and c) the best deal-making skills Hollywood can teach. So, their potential remains strong. The same holds true for European media players. If you aren’t U.S.-based, don’t assume that your media company should follow the same strategies as the U.S.-based media giants. Nobody wants or expects your company to be the next Netflix. Instead, your company should be the next version of itself.

Lesson #5 – Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture

CEOs and corporate boards face a multitude of pressures when it comes to decision making. They must actually run their companies and navigate continually changing sectors and wider trends. And, in most cases, they must do so under the scrutiny of shareholders who have a multitude of short and long-term interests. What management must not do is panic.

For European companies, one area this particularly relates to is the treatment of linear television. There is no doubt that linear television faces challenges, yet European executives must also be wary of writing off the medium. While viewing for “traditional” television in the U.S. hovers just above 50%, linear television programs still dominate the schedules in virtually all major European countries. That reflects both the history of how television developed in these respective markets and the demographics involved. Linear can still be a powerful tool for advertisers in Europe in a way that is becoming increasingly challenged in the United States.

Lesson #6: Be humble

Media executives must not fall into the trap of thinking that, just because they view the world in a certain way, then that will be representative across the population of their market, much less the globe. That kind of thinking can lead to severe business consequences. It is good business sense to recognize you do not know everything and act accordingly. If there is one lesson that can be said to be applied equally across both Europe and the United States, it is this one.

The bottom line

The bottom line is that whether European or U.S.-based, media companies are not in need of a one-time strategy implementation or new product launch. As our six lessons illustrate, these companies need flexibility of thought and to be prepared to accept the realities on the ground, instead of implementing “one-size fits all” strategies. As we move into a new phase of hybrid traditional TV-streaming business models and assess how to integrate AI, this is particularly important to keep front of mind.

Advertising | Industry-Research | Perspectives | Video

Get your ad message right so that new TV audiences tune in

In a world turned upside down, TV – in all its current forms – serves as a vital anchor. It is a trusted provider of news and information, as well as a continual source of entertainment and comfort. It unifies families and friends through shared viewing experiences – even when they are in different locations. And it facilitates new routines, which helps people through these testing times.  

TV consumption has spiked, with a Thinkbox.tv weekly viewing report from May 2020 revealing UK viewing is up 21% year-on-year. Even as the country begins to return to a socially distanced version of normal, staying home will be the default position for many. And this will prolong consumers’ reliance on TV.

This trend is positive for advertisers. This is particularly true as 54% of consumers are paying as much or more attention to ads than they were before lockdown began, according to a recent FreeWheel survey. But to make the most of these larger audiences, advertisers need to understand the changing habits, preferences, and expectations of consumers. This will allow them to make informed decisions around messaging, tone, and delivery channel.   

Match the messaging to the moment

Ad messaging needs to relate to what is happening during current times, to be contextually relevant and to resonate with consumers.

Our survey revealed that the vast majority of UK consumers want advertising to be relevant. Three quarters of respondents feel that brands should acknowledge the present situation in their ads. Ads can be used to reinforce preventative measures such as social distancing and hand washing. They can also show customers that brands are there to help them with lockdown related challenges.   

From Nationwide to NatWest, financial services businesses are recognizing the current situation in their advertising. They are reinforcing their support for customers and outlining how they can still access services from home. Supermarkets have also brought the current context into their messaging, such as the Co-op’s campaign to support food redistribution charity FareShare.       

Set the right tone for the vertical   

Just because consumers want ads to relate to the current situation in some way, that doesn’t mean messaging needs to be sad or negative. In fact, humor should play a central role in advertising. True to form – the majority of Brits (58%) say they want to see ads that make them laugh. Many brands have taken a fun and light-hearted approach to messaging such as Maltesers with its “Look on the light side” campaign and Hotels.com with its humorous “Just stay home”’ messaging.   

Setting the right tone often depends on the vertical in which a brand operates. Despite ongoing uncertainty, a quarter of consumers want to see TV ads relating to travel. They also want emotive ads that make them dream, providing beacons of positivity in challenging times. Just because viewers can’t go to their dream destination right now doesn’t mean travel brands shouldn’t maintain awareness and advertisements.

Online search data reveals that millions of travelers are in escapism mode, discovering and dreaming of life without restrictions. So, reaching out to these consumers now can make all the difference in the medium to long-term. Sandals Resorts is one travel brand continuing to spend on TV ads. They acknowledge the reality of the current situation, but remind viewers that their holiday havens are ready and waiting.

Choose the right delivery channels

The term “TV” now encompasses a wide range of delivery channels. These include traditional linear TV, broadcaster video-on-demand (BVOD), and subscription streaming services. Much media attention is currently given to the rise of video streaming. However, FreeWheel’s survey found that linear TV is still the most watched type of platform, with 34% of consumers selecting this as their first choice compared with 26% for paid streaming services and 14% for catch-up TV.

In the current climate, audiences rely on broadcast TV for important updates, with over 27 million viewers watching the Prime Minister’s “road map to recovery” announcement on Sunday 10th May 2020 and almost 13 million viewers watching the Queen’s VE day address. Primetime remains a significant moment for people to connect with others. In France, primetime audiences broke the all-time viewers record on Monday 13th April 2020: 36.7 million watched French President Emmanuel Macron’s speech, on TV and online. That represents a 94.4% market share according to Mediamétrie.

Advertisers can make use of multiple channels to reach consumers when they are fully engaged in TV content. And they can use different platforms to reach different audiences or demographics. As TV content across all channels becomes more addressable, advertisers will be able to target audience segments defined by specific criteria, regardless of the platform they are using or the content they are watching.    

Tune in

In these unprecedented times, consumers are turning to TV – in all its forms – for information, entertainment, and routine. And they want to hear from brands; only 8% say that it should be a priority for brands to stop advertising. Armed with important consumer insights, brands can make use of a boom in media consumption to reach and engage TV audiences with useful, appropriate and contextually relevant messaging. Media and brands have an important role to play, they have demonstrated that they can be agile, reinvent themselves and be creative. In future, companies that listen to viewers are more likely to better match viewers’ user journey, expectations, and needs.

Advertising | Featured Post | Innovation

How digital, streaming services are pushing linear TV to innovate

The idea that digital is the new TV is no longer just an idea, but a reality for many media consumers. A recent report from the measurement company Zenith predicts that next year will be the first year that internet usage globally will eclipse TV time; the same will be true in the U.S. by 2020.

However, that doesn’t mean linear TV — to pinpoint the old-fashioned kind of television programming long associated with the word “TV” — is heaving its last breath. Yes, scaling up against the tech behemoths like Google, Facebook, and Netflix, which are squeezing into the programming space, is a tall order. But linear TV companies can survive by accelerating innovation their own way. They must focus on targeted and addressable ads, emphasize brand safety, and become more like their streaming competition.

Deconstructing TV Advertising

Traditional 30-second commercials still have a place in U.S. television programming, particularly around high-profile events like the Super Bowl. However, alongside the growth of over-the-top television has been the tendency for people to skip over ads with the press of a button. As early as 2010, 86% of TV viewers skipped over ads while catching up on programming saved by their digital recorders. Streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are attractive in part because there is no advertising.

At least not in the form advertising blocks or commercial messages. But there is a less obvious form of advertising happening on streaming services more often than ever: the old-fashioned product placement. Whether show characters eat a certain kind of food or use a particular app, advertisers are working it to get their products written into storylines. KFC’s deal with Netflix to appear in “Stranger Things” is a clear example of product placement in action.

And the revenue makes the trend clear. While the actual number of product placements executed this year declined, the value of each integration has been increasing since 2009, according to Patrick Quinn, president of PQ Media. He predicts the U.S. product placement marketplace will exceed $10 billion this year, thanks largely to more valuable plot integrations — which, essentially, amounts to a more creative form of advertising. So, for linear TV to thrive, it will need to get even more clever with product placements and make them a bigger part of the mix.

Working the Data and Brand Safety

At the same time product placements are booming, and some advertisers are becoming less incentivized to spend money on the diminishing demographics tuning into traditional TV, digital has also had a leg up in another realm: targeted advertising. The wealth of data our digital footprints leave behind has made it easier to cater ads for the niche interests of an individual.

But that’s not to say there isn’t opportunity for cable providers to experiment with targeted ads as well; AT&T, for example, already sells addressable TV — the linear TV version of targeted advertising — through DirecTV, which it purchased a few years ago. With AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner finally approved, this is the chance for AT&T to up the ante and try to scale this up further. The telecom giant has already been working to build a team to focus on addressable ads.

Indeed, one of AT&T’s rationales when purchasing Time Warner was that it needed a bigger advertising platform to compete with the Facebook-Google duopoly. What it lacked prior to scale is what Time Warner can offer: inventory. The pool of content that Time Warner brings to AT&T’s ad platform gives it a fighting chance against Google’s dominant ad buying platform. While Google has had to deal with objectionable content appearing alongside adverts on YouTube, AT&T has the chance here to emphasize its brand safety. And that is what the company, and others, have been pointing out.

A (Realistic) Look to the Future

Still, even if addressable advertising presents a huge economic boost for linear TV — according to the investment bank Credit Suisse, it’s a potential $100 billion opportunity — that doesn’t mean anything AT&T wants to do will happen overnight. Aside from DirecTV and other apps in their own ecosystem, channels under the AT&T-Time Warner banner will have to work out deals with cable companies — which distribute the majority of Time Warner programs — if it wants to use AT&T’s data to beam ads to every house in the country.

While “audience-based” TV ad buying is growing, it’s still minuscule in comparison to traditional TV ads. It makes up only about 10 percent of total TV advertising, according to research from eMarketer. “In terms of the future, it continues to be much more of an addressable (data-driven digital) world as consumers go over-the-top, but that doesn’t mean traditional demographic targeting won’t still play a massive role in the TV advertising ecosystem,” Aleck Schleider, SVP of client and data strategy at the video advertising platform Videology, told Axios’ Sara Fischer. “Especially because the digital TV ad space is still so fragmented and demographic advertising is very unified.”

What’s more, it may very well be that TV commercials still have a future — but in a shorter form. A recent study by the Advertising Research Foundation found that six-second ads on broadcast and network TV capture more attention per second than standard 30-second commercials.

Bottom line: The best bet for linear TV companies is to forget about being linear TV companies and put digital innovation at the top of the priority list. Working toward quality addressable advertising is one way. So too is emphasizing the brand safety issues that tech giants are struggling with (while ensuring that there’s action behind the talk). And maybe the best bet is working to make advertising better, whether it’s with more creative ad integrations in network TV or shorter commercials to appeal to our ever-decreasing attention spans.

Industry-Research

Do the UK’s public service broadcasters effectively serve the people?

The convenience and flexibility of watching television continues to grow with the ability to time shift and stream programming. These patterns hold true for viewers of public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom; Channel 3 services, Channel 4, Channel 5, S4C and BBC. According to their mandate, public service broadcasters must offer quality programming which informs an understanding of the world, stimulates knowledge and learning, reflects the strength of the UK’s culture and represents diversified viewpoints.

PSB channels are committed to the practice of fulfilling the programming criteria. The Office of Communications (Ofcom), the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications, assesses public services channels’ yearly performance in its report, PSB Annual Research Report. The report evaluates three key areas to gauge effectiveness of the of public service channels: 1) audience opinion 2) viewership and 3) programming and spending.

According to its most recent report, a full 73% of those who have ever watched a PSB channel reported being satisfied with the programming. Viewers reported strong levels of importance and delivery correlating to the objectives of PSB channels. The highest rated in terms of importance were “it provides a wide range of quality and UK made programming for children (88%)” and “its news programs are trustworthy (86%).” Viewers highest scores for delivery were “it provides a wide range of quality and UK made programming for children (85%)” and “its programs help me understand what’s going on in the world today (74%).”

statements of purpose - chart 1

The report also looks at time spent watching broadcast television, with demographic breakdowns, as well as the quantity and quality of public broadcast content. In all, viewers watched 3 hours 36 minutes of measured broadcast TV in an average day in 2015, almost a half hour less per day than in 2010. As we have also seen in the U.S., viewership declined notably for adults 25-34 (19%) and adults 35-44 (17%) during this same time period. These declines were attributed to adult usage of on-demand services such as BBC iPlayer, All 4, Netflix or Amazon, especially among those aged 15-24s and 25-34.

Further, according to the BARB data, viewing of national and international news on broadcast TV increased year-to-year to 96 hours per person 4+ after a three-year decline. Total viewing hours to broadcast TV news also increased (approximately 3 hours) among adults 35+ to 142.5 hours per person in 2015 in contrast to the declines among Persons 16-34 (32.4 hours in 2015 from 33.5 hours in 2014). Where are the younger viewers going for their news? Six in ten Persons 16-24 reported using the internet or apps for news compared to 51% who cited using television.

In 2015, the PSB channels broadcast 31,974 hours of first-run UK originated network programming, an 8% decrease from 34,689 hours ten years ago. A shift in genre production from big-budget dramas to relatively low-cost original programs allowed for a decreased spending with sacrificing too many programming hours.

Importantly, public service channels must support six core characteristics:

  1. high quality
  2. original
  3. innovative
  4. challenging
  5. widely available
  6. distinctive

These values act as important guidelines in delivering effective programming. Adhering to these characteristics, as well as, noting the changes and differences between younger and older adult viewership, will allow PSB channels to meet the expectations of its viewers.

Perspectives | Revenue

Digital ad sales up, newspapers too, but tv is another matter

For so long, the narrative on advertising spending has been a major shift toward digital, with print media bearing the brunt of the losses. But recent figures from the Standard Media Index (SMI), which monitors 80% of all U.S. spending mixed things up a bit with digital rising fast (up 29%), but newspapers also rising (up 18%) while TV ad spend slipped 4%.

The growth of digital advertising, at least, comes as no surprise. But newspapers had a rare bright spot in the report, and TV is showing some weakness.

Digital Gains
According to Shelleen Shum, an analyst with eMarketer, the value gained by digital spending doesn’t match the value being lost in traditional media. Television still wins when it comes to reaching a massive audience quickly, for example, and some advertisers may be wary about the accuracy of measuring and targeting digital advertising despite its rise. (eMarketer, for example, previously estimated that digital spending in North America would rise by 16.8% to reach $62.07 billion in 2015). Adding to that are concerns about fraudulent advertising on the web, as I’ve written about before.

Because digital advertising is often touted as more cost-effective, it also shakes up spending throughout the advertising world. “When advertisers shift budgets to digital media, they expect to save on their overall ad spending. Digital media thus has a deflationary effect on the broader ad market and can hurt the pricing power of traditional media,” the Wall Street Journal’s Nathalie Tadena wrote, citing feedback from the director of global forecasting at Magna Global.

Still, according to Magna Global’s research, digital media ad revenue will surpass that of television’s a year faster than predicted. It’ll become the biggest media category next year, generating $66 billion in revenue.

Newspapers and TV
Given the situation, traditional media can stay competitive by enhancing digital outputs. Newspapers’ ad growth suggests that consumers haven’t given up on them entirely even though circulation rates have been going down. SMI’s Jeff Fennessey told Media Life that newspaper print advertising was up 18% in September because “consumer electronics and entertainment both doubled their spend in the quarter, which really drove these exceptional results.” That even outperformed gains of 10% on the digital ad side for papers.

While the print bump is nice, newspapers know they need to continue to focus on developing digital audiences. Joan Shorenstein Fellow Matthew Hindman pointed out in a research paper for Harvard’s Shorenstein Center that if “faster load times lead to higher traffic”—which research consistently suggests — that’s an indicator of where there’s room to grow.

Barrett Golding, a fellow at the Donald W.  Reynolds Journalism Institute who ran a performance test on U.S. newspapers sites and visualized the sluggish load times, pointed out that many large news sites such as CNN have already invested in making sure their pages load quickly and effectively.

Television, meanwhile, hoped to attract big audiences and advertising with hit programs, football broadcasts and the presidential debates. But SMI found that it hasn’t happened yet, with the 4% overall drop in TV ad spending.

Even the upfront ad buys for TV, which kept prices high for some years, have finally lost their luster.

“The system has typically kept TV commercial prices high — even though advertisers feel they’re locking in discounts because they are buying in bulk,” Business Insider’s Lara O’Reilly wrote. With upfront spending having dropped by 10% in 2014-15, and television advertising purchased closer to the time of broadcast during the “scatter market” growing by 10%, that’s a signal that focusing on the scatter market — which tends to be cheaper — will become more important.

To be sure, just because digital advertising is rising more than any other type of media doesn’t mean that non-digital advertising, including television, is at a loss. Television’s staying power, in fact, comes from the fact it it can work digital advertising to its advantage. Online video is capturing much of the money being put into digital advertising, and television broadcasters and networks tend “to own the best premium video content,” as O’Reilly wrote.

In other words, it’s not necessarily about traditional versus digital advertising, but about how all media outlets can take advantage of multiple platforms—digital and traditional—to capture and hold gains.

Innovation | Perspectives

3 Ways the Digital Newsroom is Evolving

A recent American Press Institute report showed that although audiences are increasingly viewing news on laptops (69%) and cell phones (56%) television remained the number one news source, with over 87%. According to a 2014 Pew Research report the top six most known and trusted news sources were all television outlets.

Your area’s local TV station most likely has the dominant news brand in your market and despite their usefulness, hot new devices and clever apps have yet to change that. TV news has the dominant, trusted brand, visual quality, and local star power to retain audiences. But in order to keep that position, TV stations are having to operate in ways that go beyond “traditional.”

Today, local newsrooms need to think not just about appearing on multiple platforms, but also in terms of making the local newscasts that are the staple of their brand better suited to a digitally-savvy audience.

So, how are they meeting the challenge? Here are three ways:

  1. TV needs to maintain its status as the most stunning visual media.

Showing is always better than telling and touchscreen presentations are an easy way to do that because those on-air touchscreens used by many TV news anchors are much more than just a fancy display. Touchscreens allow vivid, animated presentations for elections, sports, 3D modelling, local events, traffic, and weather all to be created on the fly and put directly into the hands of the on-air talent.

Touchscreens not only make it easier to create and use animated presentations, they show on-air personalities using technology similar to what audiences use at home, which builds the perception of broadcasters being on the right side of the technological curve.

  1. TV needs to be a social activity.

storytellerSocialSocial Media is used by 73% of the people in the U.S. Viewers on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are enthusiastically uploading pictures and commentary as quickly as stories develop. Social media comments, images, and videos can (and should) be integrated with news broadcasts. This is accomplished through touchscreen presentations using complex filtering to grab user-generated content as it becomes available. The result is that viewers are transformed into a virtual army of on-the-scene reporters and, perhaps even more importantly, increasingly dedicated viewers.

  1. TV needs to immediately gratify.

Arguably, all content consumers today expect real-time information. But when it comes to news, time is of the essence. As information about events emerge, social media provides a way to keep on top of events as they unfold. However it is also important for on-air talent to demonstrate their expertise and integrate the video coverage and on-the-scene reporting that viewers expect, despite the demands of the increasingly rapid news cycle. From Amber alerts to elections, crime coverage, severe weather and national disasters, today’s broadcasters need to leverage digital tools to deliver real-time information.

At AccuWeather, we’ve worked with TV news for 30 years to help them not only with accurate weather forecasts, but also by developing digital tools that help them continue to evolve their craft. The future of the complete digital newsroom is already here. This year, at the 2015 NAB Show, AccuWeather will introduce a number of new features and enhancements to help create a complete digital newsroom, including street-level, 3D traffic, social media and UGC integration, real-time polling, and drone HD video.

In the landscape of local news, TV may still be king. But it won’t stay that way if it ignores the power of digital. By leveraging the power of their brands while embracing the changes in their audiences’ behavior and expectations, local TV news stations will stay dominant news forces in their markets that can grow with rapidly evolving media technology.

Loren Tobia AccuWeatherLoren Tobia, VP of Display Sales & Services at AccuWeather, has over 25 years of experience in broadcast news, as television news director for stations including WTVH Syracuse, NY; KMTV Omaha, NE; and WSAZ Huntington, WV. Loren was also chairman of RTDNA in 1996 and has been treasurer of the same organization since 2001. He is a former member of CBS News Affiliates Board, a former member of the Bloomberg News Affiliate Board, and the former chair of West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters.

Innovation

Investigation Discovery Debut Podcast Goes Deeper into the Mind of a Murderer

It’s a great time to launch a podcast given the proliferation of mobile devices and a consumers who are hungry for audio content. But the timing could not be better to launch a true crime podcast, as evidenced by the massive audiences that tuned in to the Serial podcast from the creators of This American Life. Investigation Discovery (ID), a go-to destination for fans of mystery and suspense, had several podcasts in development and was even exploring the possibility of radio programming when Serial exploded, setting a slew of records for podcast downloads.

“I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said Serial had nothing to do with our decision to start with this podcast,” says Kevin Bennett, general manager for Investigation Discovery of the channel’s first foray into podcasting. To coincide with the release of its new series, Mind of a Murderer this month, ID has released a companion podcast narrated by the television show’s host, renowned criminal psychologist and trial consultant Dr. Michelle Ward. While the podcast had been in development since the show’s conception, the unprecedented success of Serial “proved there was a big audience for this genre,” prompting Information Discovery to maintain an aggressive timeline for the release.

Bennett says he was not surprised that a podcast in the crime, mystery and suspense genre is one of the best and most successful to date. “There’s no shortage of really compelling stories in this genre. These are dramatic real stories, with real human stakes, well told,” says Bennett who is confident that Mind of a Murderer fits the bill. In it, Ward interviews violent murderers, hoping to gain insight into the reasons people kill. Bennett says that while the television program focuses a bit more on the backstories of the interview subjects and victims, the podcast provides an opportunity for Ward to delve deeper into her reactions to what she discovered during her interviews and research.

The podcast was planned as an integral part of the Mind of a Murder project from the outset For each episode, Ward and the producers take “a different editorial bent” to deliver a compelling audio experience for an audience that seeks to understand the underlying psychology driving murderers. Some content will be extras, which have been edited out of the television program for time. But Ward and the producers also identify additional information better suited to audio-only delivery.

Bennett says he has aspirations for Investigation Discovery to be “the mystery and suspense brand, like ESPN is to sports.” To achieve that, he says they work hard to “reach our audience through a wide range of digital platforms from our main website and Crimefeed.com to social media. Podcasts are a natural extension of that approach. Now we can be with audiences wherever they are.”

While the podcast does not currently contain advertising, Bennett says that they are exploring the possibility of cross-platform advertising deals. Right now, however, the primary objective is to continue to expose the ID brand to a broader range of people and give existing audiences more. In other words, he’s not measuring the success of this podcasting imitative in revenue alone. “We monitor not just how many people are listening and watching but also talking about us. And, more importantly, what they are saying. We want people to feel like they are getting something more from ID.”

Innovation

Virtual Reality Gives Saturday Night Live Viewers—and NBC—a New Perspective

When the producers of Saturday Night Live think your idea is a bit crazy, maybe you should think again. On the other hand, maybe you should just agree that it is crazy—but in a good way. Vice President of Digital NBC Entertainment, Michael Scogin has been interested in the potential of virtual reality for quite some time and was looking for an opportunity to create a VR experience with televised content. Like many in the industry, he’s had the opportunity to test different headsets and devices at industry events and check out some of gaming demos. But at Sundance this year, Scogin saw some of the first truly compelling examples of cinematic applications of VR. He was particularly taken with the work of the team at VRSE.works, which debuted its VR film, Evolution of Verse.

“With all of that to back me up,” Scogin says, “I was ready to convince the team at Saturday Night Live that the time was right for VR.” At the time, the SNL team was working on plans for the 40th anniversary event, which Scogin felt was a one of a kind opportunity to deliver a brand new experience. “When I heard who they were inviting and what they were planning… in particular, how they were formatting the event, I knew that it would be a singular moment in time, something that would never happen again that we needed to capture.”

Scogin also feels that virtual reality is offering the media industry a one of a kind opportunity to experiment with a brand new medium, which he likens to the birth of television itself. However, he points out that even in those early days, many producers simply took radio programing and put it on TV, which was far from the best use of the medium. So he knew that not just any experience was going to be compelling in virtual reality.

Thus, Scogin reached out to the team at VRSE.works, led by Chris Milk, who Scogin knew from his work as the producer of music videos for artists such as Beck, Kanye West and Arcade Fire, and whose VR work had really impressed him at Sundance. Scogin says that, “having them on board helped so much because this is such a nascent medium and they already have such a good sense of what is going to work in VR and what isn’t.” He also cited the fact that VRSE.works is working on every available VR platform at the moment (the VRSE app for iOS and Android, Google Cardboard, Oculus VR, and Samsung Gear VR), which gives the content flexibility and accessibility. It also makes them highly informed about the intricacies of this emerging platform.

With the right technical and creative pieces in place, Scogin returned to SNL’s producers to again pitch the idea of leveraging VR for the 40th Anniversary Special. This time, he says they embraced the idea “in the spirit of innovation and experimentation SNL is known for. It is a testament to them and to Lorne Michaels, who approved it, that they helped make it happen.”

SNLCandid
Photo Credits: NBC Universal

To achieve 360 degree footage from the event, VRSE team mounted a VR camera, which Scogin describes as “essentially eight different cameras capturing different perspectives,” on top of the primary broadcast camera. They also recorded footage from backstage and as the star-studded crowd was leaving after the evening concluded to capture candid moments.

The 40th Anniversary Saturday Night Live Special is being released as a series of virtual reality “experiences,” the first of which—an audience Q&A hosted by Jerry Seinfeld—was released March 13. Scogin says this segment works particularly well in VR because of the interplay between Seinfeld on stage and the slew of celebrities in the audience. The VRSE team employed directional audio so that viewers are provided with cues to turn their head to hear the question and then the response, which helps guide them to take full advantage of the virtual reality experience. “Most people will never get to come to New York and experience the show live, much less the 40th anniversary show,” says Scogin. “But now they can put a headset on and have a hundred different experiences of being there because of what we did.”

NBC plans to release several other virtual reality experiences from the SNL Special in the months to come, in part to extend the life of this one-of-a-kind event, but also because post-production work stitching together the many perspectives is lengthy and both NBC and VRSE.workare still figuring out what will work best. It is essential, says Scogin, they take the time to get it right. “We need to ensure that audiences have great first experiences with virtual reality so that they are excited about it.”

And he is excited about having an opportunity to shape the virtual reality television experience. “There are very few times in media when you have the opportunity to be there early and help define the direction a new medium will take. I think it is great that NBC is experimenting in the space and helping define what virtual reality will be.”

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