NETFLIX 2020: What You Need To Know Now! is my updated study of how Netflix buys documentaries. Netflix has been a black box for the documentary production community. My new research reveals much more about Netflix’s strategy, programming decisions, budgets, deal terms, preferred producers, and the business model that drives it all. The new study …
TRUE ROYALTY: The Netflix for Viewers who are “Super-engaged with the Royals”. A Podcast with CEO Gregor Angus
TRUE ROYALTY is a London-based subscription video service dedicated to British Royalty. Co-founder GREGOR ANGUS describes True Royalty as a “clearly-defined interest” or mega-niche. His analysis points to tens of millions of hyper-engaged Royal TV viewers. They are concentrated in the U.S. and Commonwealth countries. True Royalty’s business case was endorsed by U.S. box office …
Sue Dando shares her programming strategy for CBC-Canada’s The Nature of Things, in its 59th season. A Podcast from Sunny Side of the Doc
Sue Dando has been the head of The Nature of Things, CBC Television’s flagship documentary science and nature series, for seven years. The strand is one of the most successful television series in the world: it is now heading into its 59th season. Sue shared her strategy and commissioning process at Sunny Side’s Science-themed Meet The …
Chris Hoelzl shares Smithsonian Networks’ Programming Strategy. A Podcast from Sunny Side of the Doc
Chris Hoelzl is SVP, Program Development, Smithsonian Networks (USA). He is responsible for the development of original productions, co-productions and the acquisition of completed programming. He shared his strategy and commissioning process at Sunny Side’s Science-themed Meet The Executive session, estimating that 5-10% of Smithsonianʼs annual 200 hours of production is Science-based. We are publishing …
ZDF’s Ricarda Schlosshan shares Terra X’s Programming Strategy. A Podcast from Sunny Side of the Doc
Ricarda Schlosshan is a supervising editor and commissioner for Terra X, the popular primetime documentary slot of German public broadcaster ZDF. Ricarda described what Terra X is looking for at Sunny Side‘s Science-themed Meet The Executive session. She shared the details of Terra X’s pipeline: 45 new programs per year Each film is 44 minutes, …
U.S. TV Universe Update. Plus the Distribution Footprints of Channels that Buy Documentary & Unscripted Programs
The widely-used Nielsen Household and Persons Universe numbers provide an important context for the economic health of the channels that commission, coproduce and acquire documentary programs. My valued colleague, Byron Media‘s John Morse, shared the data and context. TOTAL U.S TV UNIVERSE: The total US Universe of TV homes increased from 119.9 Million a year …
NETFLIX DOCUMENTARIES, UK: The Top 20 Originals in 2019 from Parrot Analytics. Plus UK & U.S. Demand for Documentaries Compared
The demand for Netflix documentaries in the UK reveals more similarities than differences compared with the U.S. That’s according to research firm Parrot Analytics which measures online audience demand for programs across all platforms. Parrot’s Demand Expressions® is a valuable workaround for Netflix’s notorious black hole for information about its audience. Measuring Audience Demand Today’s …
Ratings Snapshot for U.S. Channels in 1Q’19: Average Primetime Audience & Distribution Footprints for 40 Factual Channels
The distribution footprint and average primetime audience of Cab/Sat channels are key measures of scale and performance. These metrics are of intense interest as Realscreen West kicks off in LA and Sunny Side of the Doc approaches in La Rochelle, France. Today’s coverage and ratings snapshot is for 40+ U.S. networks, from Factual leaders like …