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 …
The Nyoongar Stadium Documentary project is an inspiring story of how new digital screens, multi-platform distribution and an imaginative approach to outreach combined to create a well-funded documentary format. The Challenge: Perth’s state-of-the-art football stadium was being built on a traditionally significant meeting ground of the Aboriginal first nation Nyoongar people. How could West Australia’s …
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 …
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, …
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 …
Greg Boustead is director of Science Sandbox, a portfolio of strategic grantmaking at the Simons Foundation, focused on outreach and engaging new audiences with science. He shared his strategy and grant-making process at Sunny Side of the Doc’s Science-themed Meet The Executive session. We are publishing Greg’s very informative session as a podcast, though without …
It’s always a pleasure to share the UK’s highest-rated documentary and unscripted programs. Here is my ratings snapshot for 1H 2019. #1-50 are followed by my brief Takeaways. Then #51-100. Why UK Matters! The UK is the #2 English-speaking television market. It enjoys a well-funded Factual sector that has been a creative innovator for generations. …
The sharing of costs and rights on editorial partnerships is becoming increasingly important in the ‘Netflix Era.’ Our STORMBORN Case Study is an inspiring example of a successful coproduction. It’s the story of how a medium-sized Scottish production company developed a compelling Natural History concept that attracted the multiple partners who could realize a limited …