PBS commissions Science specials and series in addition to the NOVA pipeline. Top 5 Non-NOVA Science: Update “Farthest – Voyager In Space” is a standalone special produced by HHMI Tangled Bank Studios for PBS, and not a Secrets Of The Dead episode. Context: PBS’s average primetime rating is 1.41. That translates as an audience of 2,116,000 …
NOVA is PBS’s signature Science strand. It is presented by WGBH Boston and carried on almost all of PBS’s 350+ stations. Viewers: Despite generally shrinking audiences for broadcasters, NOVA’s 3-Season rating trend is positive: 1.95 HH (2014-15) 1.89 HH (2015-16) 1.99 HH (2016-17). The Median Age of NOVA viewers is 63. This year’s quick turnaround …
Science and History programs are anchors of PBS’s programming strategy. This series of posts covers the audience and pipeline for these two popular genres. The Big Picture Chart: Strands: Science: NOVA. History: American Experience, American Masters and Secrets Of The Dead. Other genres captured in the Series Ranker are Drama (Masterpiece Theater, until recently driven by Downton …
Tasty is enjoying a meteoric rise driven by its low budget, fixed-camera cooking format and Facebook distribution. It is a Case Study in how viewing on Facebook is hurting leading cable channels like the Food Network, and in turn, damaging Discovery‘s valuation. Hands & Pans: Tasty is a BuzzFeed division that produces and shares content related to comfort …
Wildlife programming is an area of strategic focus and growth for PBS: Natural History appeals strongly to PBS’s core audience. And the genre is bringing in new and younger viewers. Ratings Revealed: Is the PBS audience for Natural History as big as many claim? How old are the viewers? Who originates the programs? How many …
The latest Nielsen Universe data reveals accelerating but still modest declines in the subscriber base of most U.S. channels that commission or acquire factual programs. Cord-cutters and cord-nevers are a tiny fraction of the cord-keepers. Multichannel Economy: Channels will continue to spend on programming because they enjoy long-term agreements with cable and satellite operators. For the operators, …
I Am Not Your Negro would have earned my vote for the Feature Documentary Oscar for 2017. ITVS was a key funder of Raoul Peck’s marvelous film which envisions the book James Baldwin never finished, a radical narration about race in America. ITVS’s contribution to independent documentaries deserves a big cheer at this moment when publicly …
The Guardian‘s Head of Documentaries is Charlie Phillips. I caught up with him on the sunny terrace of Melbourne’s Federation Square. It was one of lots of productive conversations with buyers and sellers that I enjoyed during Day 1 of AIDC. Charlie recapped his hot buttons and key terms. I found the information to be …