Many of TLC’s competitors have embraced a similar view of building their schedules around common themes that in some ways speak to a brand identity. Bravo is where you go for fashion, food and to gawk at women with too much time and money. We TV is where you head to see over-indulged brides behaving badly.
Williamson says networks with heavy concentrations in that type of format are challenged to keep it fresh.
“With some of these docu-reality series, they’ll be hits for a season or two and start to wane in popularity,” she said. “It seems that TLC has realized that and has been cycling through new ideas.”
Still, being known for a type of programming doesn’t preclude cable networks from branching out into new formats. And they may have no choice but to diversify to remain competitive.
Change or die?
As much as viewers eat up reality shows, their appetite for well-executed, scripted shows is just as voracious. AMC proved that with the success of such original series as “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.”
“AMC has been on a tear for original-scripted programming,” said Noah Everist, associate director of media investments at ad agency Campbell Mithun.
AMC’s slate of top-rated series such as “The Walking Dead” delivered a 30 percent increase in advertising revenue in the first three months of the year.
“High-quality scripted shows are always in high demand from advertisers,” said Todd Gordon, executive vice president and U.S. director at MagnaGlobal, an advertising firm.
Brands enjoy the cachet of being tied to premium programming and the audience it delivers. Still, advertisers essentially chase ratings and will hitch their wagons to any show that can deliver numbers.
“Top-rated reality shows like ‘American Idol’ and ‘Survivor’ are among the most desirable places to advertise,” Gordon said, “but in general there is more demand for scripted programming.”
As a result, more cable networks are testing the waters.
The History channel made its foray into original scripted programming with “Hatfields & McCoys,” a miniseries that averaged 14 million viewers across its three-night run starting on Memorial Day. The historical drama about warring families set a new record as the highest-rated entertainment show on ad-supported basic cable, according to Nielsen.
History, known for documentaries and reality series such as “Pawn Stars,” is slowly diversifying its lineup. Plans call for History’s first full-scripted drama, “Vikings,” to hit the air next year.
“History has an uber-arching theme. When you go there, you have a frame of reference for what you’re going into. If you’ve already bought into ‘Hatfields & McCoys,’ you’re likely to stick around for the next show. . . . That’s how you build an audience,” Everist said.
History’s sister channel Lifetime — both are owned by A&E Television Networks — keeps adding formats to its repertoire, although it’s not always clear whether there is an overarching theme. The network runs dramas such as “Army Wives,” syndicated series such as “How I Met Your Mother” and reality shows such as “Project Runway.”
Rob Sharenow, Lifetime’s executive vice president of programming, describes the network’s holdings as “a balanced portfolio of investments.” He said the advantage of having a varied slate of genres is “in a down market for one genre, you have yourself covered with the other."
Sharenow explained that Lifetime is also hedging its investments by diversifying its formats. Producing a reality show such as “Dance Moms” comes at a fraction of the cost to produce a scripted series such as “Army Wives.”
A scripted series can pencil in at $1 million per episode, whereas reality shows come at 10 to 20 percent of that cost, estimates Williamson, of Central Michigan. Cable networks are taking that expense into consideration as they wade into dramas and sitcoms.
Bravo, for its part, is starting out with two scripted shows due out next year. The network that built the “Housewives” franchise is sticking to its lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-naughty theme. One show, “22 Birthdays,” follows wealthy families as they throw lavish parties, while “Blowing Sunshine” looks at the interactions of staff members and patients at a private rehab center.
“The best brands have a great portfolio of different types of experiences,” said Jerry Leo, executive vice president of program strategy and production for Bravo. “We’re strong now with six nights of original programming and it just made sense to take it to the next level. We’re close to the top 10 and believe scripted [shows] will catapult us there.”
Leo said Bravo never aimed to be a reality network; it just wanted to garner a strong enough following to justify the cost of scripted programming. After six years of growth, he said the company has the financial wherewithal to endure the risk of bankrolling a fictional series.
“Scripted is a natural fit for Bravo because the brand lends itself to drama,” said Gordon of MagnaGlobal. “It’s a little bit harder to think of a scripted series that would fit the TLC brand.”
It’s not like TLC hasn’t dabbled in scripted programming in the past, but those attempts have mainly been reenactments in documentaries.
“We are always open to exploring different formats, as long as they fit our brand promise,” Winter said. “We just don’t have anything in the works at present.”
For now, TLC plans to build upon its successful franchises. Winters said the network is expanding its Friday night block of wedding shows to Thursday, with two hours of “Four Weddings,” a bride competition. The network is also rolling out three more wedding shows next year, including “Maids of Dishonor,” a show about — you guessed it — troublesome maids of honor.
Tried and true
While it has been years since TLC has cracked the top 10 cable network ranks, Nielsen routinely lists several of its shows, including “Long Island Medium” and “Say Yes to the Dress,” as top prime-time cable programs among women.
Those shows have helped boost ad revenue, which SNL Kagan pegs at about $323 million, up from $297.4 million at the end of 2011. The channel airs in 99 million homes in the United States and 227 million abroad.
“TLC is parked in an area that is pretty versatile, has lots of potential and possibility for a wide audience,” said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “Even though they are a specialized network, they are specializing in an area that’s viable.”
Whether that area remains viable for much longer is hard to tell as viewers are fickle. They may tune in for three wedding shows, but six? Titillating often turns into tawdry, and repetition gets . . . well, repetitive.
Everist of Campbell Mithun says specialization may soon lose its value to advertisers.
“Viewership is fragmenting, and as things get more fragmented you can have a proliferation of more niche properties. The question becomes can they make money?” he said. “At some point, you’re going to get so fragmented that the audience reach you have becomes less valuable to general market advertisers.”
If TLC were to hit a long, dry spell with its shows, Thompson imagines the network may feel compelled to vary its formats. Switching up its tried-and-true formula will also depend on whether viewers reach a saturation point for reality TV.
Source
Despite his recent split from Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise remains focused on his family. Before preparing for role in the action film All You Need is Kill (set to start production in a few weeks in the U.K.), Cruise, 50, spent several blissful days vacationing at Disney World with daughter Suri.
