Discovery’s new streamer discovery+ released early subscriber data: 11 million have signed up in the few weeks after launch. I ask veteran programming exec Dan Salerno: What can we learn from the numbers? Is discovery+ ‘cannibalizing’ the channels’ program pipeline and ultimately revenues? Where are the documentaries that made the Discovery brand? Dan gives a …
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BBC director general Tim Davie yesterday mounted a spirited defense of the pubcaster’s value to British audiences versus the streamers led by Netflix. His presentation and white paper BBC Value for Audiences gained wide coverage in the business media, where the initial focus was on $556 million in proposed cuts. Cut Documentaries Davie later spoke …
Nielsen released their Top 10 Streamed Programs for 2020 (U.S.) in three categories: Originals, Acquisitions and Movies. Their key metric is Minutes-Streamed-per-Show. In the Originals category, the Top 10 is led by OZARK with 30.5 billion views in 2020. TIGER KING is #4 with 15.6 billion views. When I looked deeper into the data, I …
David Attenborough is a promotional hook for Monday’s long-awaited launch of discovery+. The 94-year old legend narrates A Perfect Planet, a blue chip series that stands out among the new streamer’s higher quality programs. I am in awe of Attenborough’s lifetime contribution to documentary filmmaking. I earned a credit on one of his hit series. …
by Dan Salerno “Netflix users watched more than 3 billion minutes of The Crown in the week of Nov. 16-22”. That’s The Hollywood Reporter’s headline for its coverage of Nielsen’s latest streaming rankings. Nielsen noted that two thirds of The Crown’s viewers were over the age of 55. That inspires a question: Does the older …
For last week’s World Congress of Science and Factual Producers I reached out to Ed Hersh, industry vet and consultant, to share his top takeaways. It’s always been one of the go-to gatherings of documentary producers, commissioning editors, and funding foundations, but this year it was online instead of in some exotic global city. We …
Here is a selection of the recent torrent of news coverage and social media posts that responded to Netflix‘s cross-promotion of THE CROWN and the documentary DIANA IN HER OWN WORDS. The mix, from The Guardian to TikTok adds up to an valuable Case Study of the landscape through which producers, buyers and comms teams …