Realscreen Winter 2025

WINTER 2025

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WINTER 2025

Soundtrack to a Coup d’État was among your non-fiction faves in 2024 (Photo: Terence Spencer)

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100 YEARS OF NHK

REALSCREEN AWARDS HALL OF FAME/ACTION AWARD

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TRENDWATCH ’25

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Your take on the best of 2024; NBCU’s Rachel Smith shares the brief for Bravo

Realscreen salutes the careers and contributions of Cris Abrego and Dawn Porter

The producers and platform executives driving innovation in the year ahead

DIALOG SPOTLIGHT Meet this year’s cohort for the Realscreen/NATPE Global DIALOG program

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Can AI solve FAST’s discoverability problem?

WINTER 2025

Partnership with brands becomes a priority; the possible prognosis for cable nets

Japan’s public broadcaster celebrates its centennial

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FIRST LOOK

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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: TRENDSETTERS ’25 100 YEARS OF NHK

ON THE COVER It looks like another year of accelerating change for the entertainment industry. Where is nonfiction headed next?

Cover design by Mark Lacoursiere.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Challenge accepted

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ending off a year into the recesses of the past always comes with a tinge of wistfulness mixed with the occasional fond, not-yetsepia-tinged memory. But with 2024, it’s safe to say that for many of us, its passage into our collective rear-view has been accompanied with a healthy dose of “Good riddance” and “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Every year presents its own opportunities and challenges, but the past year seemed to double up on the latter, with the speed of change accelerating yet again. That was made evident in the last quarter of 2024, with Comcast’s move to spin off its NBCUniversal cable nets into the tentatively titled “SpinCo,” and with Warner Bros. Discovery separating its linear networks from its streaming and studios businesses.

Each change along these lines comes with a fair share of uncertainty, and in the above case, questions loom large concerning how the spinning off of linear assets impacts the production community and, of course, the executives at the networks in question. And now that the spinoff parade has begun, who knows where it ends (for more discussion on this, see our “Trendwatch ’25” report, beginning on page 15).

Yes, change can be scary. Still, it serves us better to put the emphasis on activating imagination and innovation — two qualities that are inherent in the renewal process — as opposed to focusing on the discomfort that can come with it. That’s why, with both this Winter 2025 issue and this year’s edition of the Realscreen Summit in Miami, we are putting the onus on the strategic forward thinking being applied across the unscripted and nonfiction content business — from creative, cross-continental collaborations to bringing in brands as partners to power new programming.

And while it appears that no corner of the industry will be immune from disruption, as we see via the range of producers, programmers, distributors and agents avidly exploring new approaches to creating and sharing content, whatever challenges emerge in the course of the ecosystem’s evolutionary rollercoaster ride need to be accepted, and met with — dare I say it — enthusiasm.

Be well, Barry Walsh Content director and editor-in-chief Realscreen

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Winter 2025 Volume 28, Issue 2 Realscreen is published 2 times a year by Brunico Communications Ltd., 100366 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 1R9 Tel. 416-408-2300 Fax 416-408-0870 www.realscreen.com

EVP Realscreen Mary Maddever mmaddever@brunico.com Content Director & Editor-in-Chief Barry Walsh bwalsh@brunico.com Art Director & Training Supervisor Mark Lacoursiere mlacoursiere@brunico.com Associate Editor Andrew Tracy atracy@brunico.com Special Reports Editor Justin Anderson janderson@brunico.com Contributors Brendan Christie, Jonathan Verk Lead Event Producer Tiffany Rushton trushton@brunico.com Associate Publisher Joel Pinto jpinto@brunico.com Marketing Manager Karyna Dovnich kdovnich@brunico.com

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A LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

UPCOMING EDITORIAL FEATURES

Embracing the ride

As

we usher in the Winter 2025 issue of Realscreen, I find myself reflecting on our editor-in-chief’s powerful call to action: “Challenge accepted.” It’s a phrase that resonates deeply as we all navigate an industry that seems to redefine itself daily.

The pace of change can feel relentless, and while 2024 may be remembered as a year of seismic shifts — with corporate restructuring and strategic pivots dominating the narrative — it’s also a year that underscored our community’s resilience and creativity.

In the face of uncertainty, the unscripted and non-fiction world has always found a way to adapt, innovate and inspire. This issue highlights the bold, strategic moves redefining how we collaborate, create, and connect, from imaginative partnerships with brands to global production pacts pushing boundaries and forging new pathways.

As the Realscreen Summit approaches, I’m reminded of the magic that happens when industry leaders come together to tackle challenges headon. The conversations sparked, the connections forged, and the ideas born out of this annual gathering demonstrate that enthusiasm for what’s next is the fuel propelling us forward.

Our Realscreen Daily’s coverage serves to continue that conversation, and in 2025 expect to see more insight on topics ranging from AI utilization to collaborating with partners such as brands and media agencies. And we’d love to hear what else is a priority for you right now, as we continue to expand our coverage remit.

As we enter another year on the industry’s rollercoaster, let’s hold tight to that spirit of invention and embrace the ride. The opportunities waiting ahead are worth every twist and turn.

Here’s to a transformative 2025.

Joel Pinto Associate publisher Realscreen

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• Realscreen’s Factual Under 40 • Realscreen’s annual Global 100 • London Screenings Shoppers’ Guide • Funding Focus UPCOMING ADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: LONDON TV SCREENINGS Front & Center — Reach key factual buyers around the globe with this exclusive opportunity to put a spotlight on the unscripted titles you’re showcasing in London.

THE NEW COLLABORATORS Make sure your company is on the radar of key decision-makers by spotlighting your credentials, range of services, and/or projects you’ve collaborated on.

DIGITAL ADVERTISING: Daily newsletter and realscreen.com For information on these opportunities, or if you’re interested in sponsorship or private meeting space at NATPE Budapest, email us at sales@realscreen.com or call 416-408-1376

FIRST LOOK

HOW WAS IT FOR YOU?

While industry contraction continued to impact the unscripted and non-fiction content community in 2024, there were still plenty of high points. Here, execs weigh in on the good and bad of the year that was.

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV was a ratings smash for ID and Max in 2024.

The most positive development in the non-fiction content industry was: Tom Brisley, CEO, Arrow Media: Entering a new era of collaboration. With less money available to make shows, everyone is having to be more ingenious than ever to get their shows away. That’s leading to clever new ways to partner.

Bo Stehmeier, CEO, Off the Fence: Producers starting to engage with one of their new storytelling tools — AI — from a development point of view.

The program people will still be talking about in five years’ time: André Renaud, global VP, finished and format sales, Warner Bros.

International Television Production: Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV (Maxine, Business Insider for ID). This was a powerful series, especially for anyone of the generation I’m in. It’s delicate in how it manages its subject matter, and will have a lasting impact on discussions about industry practices of safeguarding working conditions for young people.

What I’m looking forward to in 2025: Angela Molloy, SVP, development & production, WEtv/ALLBLK: To me, it was an obvious and long-overdue play for Hallmark to step into reality TV. I love it when content and brand align perfectly. Coming out of the gate with Celebrations with Lacey Chabert and Finding Mr. Christmas (hosted by resident hunk and fan favorite Jonathan Bennett) couldn’t be more entertaining, uplifting, fun, or on brand. To take the DNA of successful scripted formulas and so easily adapt it to unscripted, story-driven content is a brilliant way to break through in such a competitive marketplace.

As a viewer I’m often looking for kind, light fare, and these shows are exactly what I expect, in the best possible way. I look forward to what Hallmark continues to do in the space.

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The most troubling development in the non-fiction content industry was: Brisley: Not embracing digital. With more and more viewers watching their content via YouTube, TikTok and the like, not embracing digital is perilous. All producers should be building digital content into their future strategy.

Stehmeier: Producers, distributors and IP holders dumping vast libraries of content into the non-linear space, disqualifying the added value that curation and channels bring to the table as B2C experts and [accelerating] the shortened attention span audiences bring to storytelling.

The buzzword I don’t want to hear in 2025: Brisley: “Pivot.” I can’t hear it without picturing the sofa scene from Friends!

David Karabinas, founder, Texas Crew Productions: “Disruption.”

I DIDN’T MAKE IT… BUT I LOVE IT! Because you don’t just make and sell unscripted programming — sometimes you watch it too!

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story made its debut at Sundance in 2024.

My favorite non-fiction program of 2024 was: Brisley: Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.

Christopher Reeve was a hero to millions, but the most heroic thing he ever did was as himself, inspiring even more people to stay strong after his tragic accident. It’s an emotional and powerful watch and a sign that once you choose hope, anything is possible.

Renaud: The Boyfriend [Netflix]. I’m a fan of Japan, and, beyond being a captivating set of characters seeking love in a light documentary-style format, what interests me is the impact of LGBTQ+ storytelling in a culture and community where being out is a complex social and legal web.

Normalizing relationships, with the challenges and positives, gives strength to others, everywhere in the world.

Betsy Ayala, head of content, food, Warner Bros. Discovery: Deal or No Deal Island. As someone who loves a good format and is always looking for a fresh approach, I love that Endemol Shine took a successful series originating in 2005 and gave it the ultimate glow up. They supersized it and relocated it to the Banker’s private island — can’t beat that!

Marcie Hume, vice president, programming, A&E: Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes (Discovery) was a sizzle that captivated me when it came to market but it felt like an impossible gamble for linear television, so I was thrilled to see that a cable network took a gamble on it. It filled me with hope that despite the jagged edges of the TV market, outlier stories can still make it to air. This series is unnerving, deeply hilarious and disturbing. The story is a true sociological study playing out in a context that you could never orchestrate; it is the perfect mix of darkness and light.

Lashan Browning, founder, Antoinette Media: Soundtrack to a Coup d’ État. It’s so much more than a music documentary: it’s a sweeping exploration of history, politics, and culture.

Karabinas: Chimp Crazy (HBO). It drove me crazy, but I also couldn’t stop watching it.

Eline van der Velden, founder/CEO, Particle6 Productions: Irresistible: Why We Can’t Stop Eating (Lion TV for BBC Two). I love docs like this that challenge the status quo.

Deal or No Deal Island host and EP Joe Manganiello is part of the format’s “glow up.”

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FIRST LOOK

THE BRIEF: Bravo’s hunt for memeable moments, streaming synergy

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills had a banner 2024, racking up the highest viewership for the franchise since 2014.

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hen NBCUniversal parent Comcast revealed in November of last year that it would be spinning off the majority of its cable nets into a separate entity, it was telling that Bravo was the only cabler earmarked to remain under the NBCU banner proper. As a key source of unscripted content for its sister streamer Peacock — and the recipient of boosted linear viewership numbers thanks to that extra SVOD exposure — the home of Real Housewives and Below Deck seems like one of the basic-cable players poised for continued success in an ostensibly cord-cutting age.

Here, Rachel Smith, Bravo’s EVP of unscripted content, lifestyle and documentaries, dishes on the brand’s virtuouscircle dynamic with its streaming stablemate, and how the network seeks to build out new unscripted offerings around its mighty franchise tentpoles.

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By Andrew Tracy

What would be the signature elements of a “true Bravo show” that you look for when considering new programming ideas?

For serialized docuseries like Real Housewives and Below Deck, there are some key things we look for, like organic groups of friends, an authentic business with a built-in hierarchy, and noisy and unique organizing principles. But I like to think that a “true Bravo show” is not beholden to any particular type of genre. Whether it’s a serialized docuseries, a competition show, a game show, [or] a talk show, what the audience is craving is this cocktail of real humor, earned drama, heart and emotion, [as well as] uninhibited personalities, lavish settings and “memeable” moments. And all that can take a while to come together — it’s hard to launch new shows, it takes a few seasons for some of these ingredients to really bake in, but those are what we’re looking for.

To what degree are you developing originals in-house versus welcoming proposals from outside?

It’s probably about 50-50. I have a passionate development team who are often pitching great new ideas or spin-offs or character combinations [from existing shows], but at least 50% comes from outside production companies. We definitely have a stable of producers who really know us and know how to make our shows — like Shed Media, Truly Original, 32 Flavors, Evolution — but we are open to taking pitches from anybody, as long as you come in through an agent or a lawyer, representation that we know.

What are your expectations regarding pitch materials for a new program?

An idea can come in as a logline, or a statistic from a magazine article — anything, really. The threshold issue is, we’re looking for ideas that feel fresh and undeniable, organizing principles that really punch through, and how thoughtful the producers are about the look and the feel and the authentic way they want to capture their stories. And then, the development team will be very hands on and work with the production company to help them shape and formulate the idea. Sometimes we’ll order casting, sometimes a presentation, sometimes a format bible; it’s really tethered to what the specific idea is and how best to get it on the air.

How do you look to optimize the programming “feedback loop” you have with Peacock?

The basic pattern is, everything that launches on Bravo goes on Peacock the next day, and we’ve found that it’s an amazing place for us to put extended episodes [and other] exclusive content. And that has led to exponential audience growth, because a different, younger audience is coming in on Peacock. Nearly threequarters of returning Bravo originals since 2022 have had year-on-year growth [on linear], and that’s because of Peacock.

Are you looking to experiment more with streaming-first originals?

We have found that Peacock is a way to eventize a new show by premiering it there first: we launched a Peacock Bravo original, The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, that started on Peacock and went to Bravo several months later. But most of the shows we have coming are still Bravo first, Peacock next-day. I think it’s about looking at the schedule opportunistically and seeing what’s on both platforms that might help launch [new programming] — for example, [Peacock’s] Love Island has been a great feeder into the Bravo originals [on the platform].

As cord-cutting continues, what does the Bravo brand have to do to survive, and thrive, in a streamingfirst era?

The key is that we are one of the first legacy brands to really embrace the multiplatform ecosystem: linear, streaming, an incredibly vibrant social environment, and IRL events like BravoCon. We’re trying to superserve an extremely dedicated and passionate fan base, [so] it’s really about keeping our programming fresh — [which means] it’s a curse and a blessing that we have so many legacy shows going on multiple seasons. So, the onus is on us to make sure we have the right balance of new shows versus returning shows, and are always serving up surprises and a fresh menu of content.

For example, we have a new series that was born out of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City called Sold on SLC, about a group of realtors who are adjacent to the Housewives there, which has these delicious ingredients of an unusual, faith-based location with incredible real estate. And next year we’ll be launching the reinvention of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, where we’re bringing back two beloved characters but also filling out the cast with some surprising and really interesting new women, and that will keep it fresh and give it longevity.

We are one of the first legacy brands to really embrace the multiplatform ecosystem: linear, streaming, an incredibly vibrant social environment, and IRL events.

Rachel Smith

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REALSCREEN AWARDS

HALL OF FAME

2025

The annual Realscreen Awards honor the best in global non-fiction and unscripted programming, and its Hall of Fame recognizes the individuals who shape the business through a mix of creativity, innovation and acumen. Here, we present this year’s Hall of Fame inductee, and the recipient of our Action Award.

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HALL OF FAME

CRIS ABREGO CO-FOUNDER, CEO HYPHENATE MEDIA GROUP A formidable force at the forefront of the media and entertainment industry for over two decades, Cris Abrego partnered with Eva Longoria in 2023 to launch Hyphenate Media Group, where he serves as co-founder and chief executive officer and sets the strategy and vision across the studio and all its holdings and investments.

Having co-founded Hyphenate while also serving as chairman of the Americas for international media and entertainment superindie Banijay, Abrego previously served as CEO of Endemol Shine Holdings, where he grew the company aggressively by scaling several key holdings under its banner in both the U.S. and Latin America, including Endemol Shine Boomdog, Endemol Shine Brasil and Truly Original.

His entrepreneurial capabilities first bore fruit when he co-founded 51 Minds Entertainment in 2003, where he pioneered the celebreality genre with such breakthrough unscripted formats as The Surreal Life and the numerous spin-offs it generated. The company became a major unscripted studio that was acquired by Endemol five years later.

Committed to pro-social and humanitarian endeavors that expand access to education, entrepreneurship and creative leadership, Abrego has lent his influence and his philanthropic support to a number of key organizations and initiatives. In 2022, he was elected chairman of the Board of Directors of the Television Academy Foundation, the charitable arm of the Television Academy. In January 2024, he became chair of the Television Academy itself, taking the reins of the 23,000+ member organization that oversees the Emmy Awards.

“It is our distinct pleasure to induct Cris Abrego into the Realscreen Hall of Fame,” says Barry Walsh, content director and editor-in-chief of Realscreen. “As an entrepreneur, television executive, showrunner and awardwinning producer, he has been at the leading edge of so many of the evolutions that have shaped unscripted television, and with Hyphenate Media Group, he and his team are set to create further innovations across the spectrum of entertainment content in the years ahead.”

DAWN PORTER FILMMAKER, FOUNDER OF TRILOGY FILMS The Realscreen Action Award is designed to recognize the work of individuals within the unscripted and non-fiction screen content industry working to create positive change both within the industry and the world at large. This year’s recipient fits the bill, and then some.

Dawn Porter is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has appeared on ESPN, Netflix, HBO, PBS and Discovery. Her latest feature doc Luther: Never Too Much, on the life of pop music icon Luther Vandross, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it earned accolades from critics and audiences alike.

Highlights of her auspicious career to date include 2023’s groundbreaking, all-archival documentary about Lady Bird Johnson, The Lady Bird Diaries; the incisive Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court for Paramount+ and Showtime, also from 2023; the four-part ESPN docuseries 37 Words, which examined the push for equal rights in education and athletics; The Me You Can’t See, a multipart docuseries for Apple TV+ focusing on mental illness and well-being; the NAACP Image Award–winning John Lewis: Good Trouble; 2016’s Trapped, which explored laws regulating abortion clinics in the South and won awards at Sundance and the Peabodys; and 2013’s Gideon’s Army for HBO, which followed American public defenders and is now part of the U.S. Department of State’s American Film Showcase.

“Especially in this sociopolitical environment and culturally challenging times, it’s inspirational to be reminded of the impact a body of work can have,” said Realscreen EVP Mary Maddever, “which is why the Action Award is so important, and why we’re so honored to be presenting it to Dawn Porter this year.”

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“THE MORE THAT THINGS CHANGE, THE

TRENDWATCH ‘25

THE OLD ADAGE SAYS

MORE THEY STAY THE SAME.” BUT WHILE SOME ELEMENTS WITHIN THE EMERGING MODELS IMPACTING THE UNSCRIPTED AND NON-FICTION ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS MIGHT LOOK FAMILIAR, MAKE NO MISTAKE: WE’RE HEADING INTO NEW TERRITORY. TO HELP YOU BUCKLE UP FOR THE RIDE, HERE’S A LOOK AT THREE TRENDS SET TO DOMINATE THE DISCUSSION IN THE YEAR AHEAD.

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TRENDWATCH ‘25

BRAND-POWERING PROGRAMMING WITH INTERNATIONAL

Hello Sunshine, Roku Channel and Ally Financial team up for unscripted series Side Hustlers

BROADCASTERS AND PLATFORMS AIMING TO TAKE THE STING OUT OF FUNDING CONTENT, PRODCOS AND BRANDS ARE FINDING NEW WAYS TO PARTNER BEHIND THE SCENES AND ON SCREEN.

By Barry Walsh

It’s a telling sign of the current state of the entertainment business that the news of a content platform being launched by a fast-food outlet was met not with shrugs or snickers from producers, but rather with curiosity — and even excitement.

The arrival of Chick-fil-A into the content space is currently centered on its “Play” app, with a focus on “familyfriendly” entertainment ranging from original shows to podcasts and games. And while the brand isn’t looking to become the next Netflix, 016

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when it comes to the growing importance of brands in funding, co-developing and, in some cases, coproducing programming, the move is being seen as a welcome one.

“It’s exciting that brands aren’t just seen as a checkbook,” says Matt Rotondo, head of brands at Los Angeles–headquartered management and creative studio Sugar23. “Yes, their money is valuable, but they also come with a whole bunch of resources that no other producer has. They have relationships with

audiences in a whole lot of touchpoints, and marketing and media distribution in their own right.”

But what some of these brands might not have, and what they’re increasingly looking for in prodcos, is the team or infrastructure to craft compelling content that will be bought by streamers or broadcasters as original programming. While the rise of AVOD has made sitting through advertising more acceptable for viewers than in the early days of TiVo, brands are looking for more bang for their bucks than a 15- to 30-second spot can usually provide.

“A brand can telegraph what it stands for by the entertainment it stands behind,” says Rotondo. “By brands being collaborators and being presented as studios involved in worldclass entertainment with world-class creators, they’ll get a halo effect from that.”

“This isn’t just treating the brand like an advertiser,” offers Zoë Fairbourn, head of strategic partnerships and branded entertainment at Los Angeles–based Hello Sunshine. “Granted, they should be making a media spend on the platform if they think it’s necessary to promote a show that they’ve been a part of. But brands have a right to tell stories — they have equity too.”

Founded by actor and producer Reese Witherspoon, Hello Sunshine focuses on content aimed at and centered on women, ranging from short-form video to episodic series, feature films and documentaries. And, over the span of its existence,

the prodco has been able to integrate brands into the mix across that range.

Fairbourn says Hello Sunshine’s entry into what she calls “brand-partnered entertainment” came when Witherspoon first happened upon The Home Edit, a lifestyle brand founded by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin which was purchased by Hello Sunshine in 2022. The prodco teamed with the duo for a short series, with AT&T and Buick brought to the table as co-funders. “Eventually it became the Netflix show [Get Organized with the Home Edit], and now they’re taking over the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition reboot at ABC and Hulu [produced by Endemol Shine North America and Hello Sunshine],” notes Fairbourn, who calls the scenario “a great example of how we had a short series that became a much bigger show, and we could go back to those brands who helped us from the beginning to also be a part of that.”

The prodco has also brought brands on board as partners for series and feature docs. Its women entrepreneur series Side Hustlers, produced for Roku with Ally Financial, is now two seasons deep, while P&G came on board for feature doc Fair Play, which addressed the issue of women’s “invisible work” in family life.

Samsung, meanwhile, has helped power Fanmade: Enhyphen, a documentary featuring the K-pop band that recently premiered on Prime Video.

Of course, brands are still engaging in the good old 30-second spot or the modernday equivalent, the viral video. Danny Fenton, CEO of UK-based Zig Zag, first began working with brands in the early ’00s via the science series Explorations: Powered by

Duracell, says that just as the content landscape has changed post-streaming, so too have broadcasters’ attitudes towards brand-powered programming.

“The problem we’d found previously is that the broadcasters didn’t give the brand-funded shows a lot of love and attention,” says Fenton. “So, they’d often put them in a sort of late-night, middle-of-the-night slot or an early-morning weekend slot.

Worse still, the brands would try and build a campaign around the airing of the show, but the broadcasters would change the schedule at the last minute.”

However, as broadcasters continue to grapple with the economic challenges brought on by the pandemic, the attitude towards such content has become more accepting.

“The broadcasters have been briefing out to the brands,” says Fenton. “They’ve been briefing out to the producers when brands are interested. And if you come to the broadcasters with a brand attached to an idea, you sort of go to the front of the queue now in the conversations.”

For those eager to enter the fray, Fenton says that just as there are various points of entry — ranging from media agencies active in content partnerships, such as GroupM and Publicis, to brokers and consultancies who connect prodcos with brands — there are projects of all varieties that can help build relationships.

Fenton and team recently worked on a viral video project for British shoe brand Pavers.

Fenton also points to streamers such as Roku and Prime Video as players that are aggressively courting the space. In the case of the latter, in particular, the synergies are obvious: a leading online retailer partnering with brands for its original content offerings.

Sugar23 brought P&G to the table for MSNBC’s doc series The Turning Point

But while the cash infusion is a valuable proposition for producers and broadcasters, brands are still conscious of investing wisely. While some brands have opted to fully fund feature docs with budgets beginning at $1 million, others are offering development funding for pilots or series, which can run in the $100,000-andup range. Once a buyer commits with a greenlight, the brand can then step up the funding and share in the IP accordingly.

“Brands find development investment to be shockingly affordable,” says Rotondo.

“Typically, brands have been brought projects requiring full funding. They put all their eggs, or dollars, into one project, and if it doesn’t work, then ‘entertainment didn’t work.’

“With development funding, brands can invest in a few projects simultaneously, giving them more opportunities for success,” he adds.

For Sugar23, which first partnered with brands on the MSNBC series The Turning Point — with P&G on board

along with Time Studios, and Trevor Noah as executive producer — bringing top talent into the mix is also a selling point for brands and broadcasters alike, and helps to elevate the work in the eyes of audiences and the industry itself.

While each partnership might come with its own rulebook, and some brands may prefer to wield a heavier hand in the editorial than others, when it comes to original brand-partnered unscripted, authenticity — one of the favorite buzzwords for practitioners of the genre — is paramount.

Hello Sunshine’s Fairbourn cautions that “if it looks and smells like an ad, a buyer isn’t going to want to air it — at least not as an original. They might put it up on the platform, but they’re not going to buy it, partner with you or co-finance it.

“It has to be something an audience is going to want to watch whether a brand is attached or not, and something we would want to make whether a brand is attached or not,” she adds. ”That’s the barometer.”

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Spinning off, or winding down?

NBCU’s streamer Peacock, home to The Traitors, will not be part of “SpinCo”

By Andrew Tracy

LAST YEAR MARKED THE BEGINNING OF A PROCESS THAT MANY SAW ON THE HORIZON — THE SPINNING-OFF OF LINEAR ASSETS BY LEGACY MEDIA COMPANIES LOOKING TO FUTURE-PROOF THEMSELVES FOR THE STREAMING ERA. BUT WHAT WILL IT MEAN FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT ECOSYSTEM AS A WHOLE? In a CNBC interview in summer 2023, Disney chief Bob Iger raised some eyebrows when he suggested that the Mouse House’s traditional linear TV assets “may not be core” to the company’s business — a public acknowledgment of the widely held belief that the very real decline in revenues on the broadcast and cable side over the past several years portends their eventual extinction in the Streaming Era. “The business model that forms the underpinning of that business, and that [has] delivered great 018

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profits over the years, is definitely broken,” Iger continued. “And we have to call it like it is.”

As it happened, it was NBCUniversal parent Comcast that was seemingly the first to make that call when it announced in November of last year that it would be spinning off the bulk of its cable properties into a separate, publicly traded entity, “SpinCo,” with reality-TV go-to Bravo the only cabler remaining under the NBCU banner proper.

Less than a month later, Warner Bros. Discovery revealed a similar if less definitive plan,

demarcating a line between its streaming and studio operations and its linear TV assets.

The implication of these moves, and potential future ones in the same vein — eyes on you, “New Paramount” — seemed to be that the standard bearers of old guard media are relegating their declining linear assets to a dinghy behind the corporate flagship, towed on a fraying rope on the way to being jettisoned completely. And such a possibility can’t help but raise anxiety within the unscripted industry, where so many prodcos have built their

businesses on providing content to cable nets in particular.

Assorted pundits echoed these sentiments shortly after the SpinCo news broke. Appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box (the same program that featured Bob Iger’s pronouncement), Rich Greenfield, media and tech analyst and partner at LightShed Partners, called the creation of SpinCo “a very clear, direct statement by Comcast… this is them saying, ‘We don’t want to be in this business; this is no longer a growth business.’”

Speaking to the Los Angeles

TRENDWATCH ‘25

Times, analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson was more blunt: “If it feels like Comcast is shedding itself of an albatross — that’s because it is.”

But perhaps this is just the easy read. As some veterans and keen observers of the industry noted in discussions with Realscreen, spinning off may not necessarily be the same thing as winding down.

“Industries go through cycles where people believe that being a conglomerate is better than being a niche specialist, and then there’s suddenly a contraction in the market and they start recognizing that there are very different businesses that exist within that [conglomerate] ecosystem,” says Thomas Dey, principal founder and CEO of ACF Investment Bank. “So [with Comcast], I don’t think that they’re saying that they’re necessarily selling those [cable] assets, because they could have done that already. At this point, they’re just separating them and saying, ‘Let’s look at these individually.’

“I kind of believe that there was an overstatement [about] the demise of cable, and that by separating it out from the production and creation cycle people will [now be able to] appreciate it in its own right,” Dey continues.

Noting that there is still a large audience contingent that simply wants to “click a button and be entertained” by preprogrammed scheduling rather than submit to the seemingly endless choice of streaming scrolling, he argues that “there is a very strong and strategic rationale for these businesses to exist. I think [cable] has its own place in our society, and I think it will [continue to] do very well.”

There is a very strong and strategic rationale for these businesses to exist... I think cable will continue to do very well.

Thomas Dey

That view is largely shared by a veteran producer we talked to who preferred to remain unnamed. The exec doesn’t see the prospect of more mediacos potentially spinning off their cable holdings as being particularly alarming, at least within the context of an already daunting industry landscape.

“Linear cable isn’t seen as a growth business, but the reality is that it still throws off a lot of cash and will continue to do so for the next several years,” he says. “And those channels have existing deals in place and an obligation to create and commission content.

So we don’t need to panic.”

Speculating on other potential upsides of separately operating cable businesses, the producer notes that “one possibility this opens is that the cable networks will now be licensing their programs across different streaming platforms, [and] producers should be able to share in that licensing revenue.

“We also may see the networks define their brands more specifically because they won’t have the streaming platform to also consider,” he adds. “This could mean quicker decisions on the development side.”

Others, however, are less willing to entertain the possibility of even such modest improvements for producers should a new cable landscape

take shape, one dominated by pure-play media companies unencumbered by multiplatform concerns. Speaking with Realscreen, an industry veteran who also opted for anonymity opined that even given such an eventuality, the playing field would remain relatively the same (read: tough) for the production side, including a still-cumbersome commissioning process; a prioritization of renewals from previously established providers over fresh ideas from new or emerging production companies; and a progressive offloading of funding — especially regarding co-financing and the solicitation of brand partnerships — onto the shoulders of sellers.

While the sources that Realscreen consulted were generally unanimous in feeling that legacy mediacos will prefer to keep any spun-off cablers at a comfortable arm’s length rather than shedding them, the fact that this longrumored separation appears to have finally begun naturally opens up the question of what kind of players might be interested in acquiring these assets should they actually go on the auction block. One possible scenario sees legacy media companies scooping up each other’s networks to feed their particular streaming

operations, which could also merge together in one form or another in the not-too-distant future. An anticipated relaxing of regulatory oversight under the Trump administration could serve to “pave the way for industry consolidation and reignite deals previously encumbered by regulatory hurdles,” according to PwC’s 2025 outlook for U.S. deals in the media/ telecommunications sectors.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav seemed keen on the idea during a Q4 earnings call in November, shortly after the U.S. election. “If the best content is going to win, there needs to be some consolidation in order to have these businesses be stronger and have a better consumer experience,” he told investors.

But as for suitors outside of the major network groups, beyond the usual suspects in private equity, Dey speculates that there could be some more non-traditional parties that could potentially be interested in entering the media space.

“The question I was asking myself was, are there people in different value chains who would find moving into cable additive? Say, a soundstage group, or a telecoms provider — people in adjacent industries who would actually look at cable as improving their [asset] mix? That would be an interesting question.”

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TRANSATLANTIC EXPRESS U.S. PRODCOS THAT MADE THEIR BUSINESSES ON THE BACK OF THE “WORK FOR HIRE” MODEL WITH CABLE NETS ARE NOW LOOKING AT NEW OPTIONS, AND VARIOUS TYPES OF INTERNATIONAL TEAM-UPS ARE LOOKING LIKE THE WAY FORWARD. As the unscripted industry flips the calendar pages to 2025, much of the business remains in a state of flux. Particularly in the U.S. market, the challenges of the past few years are continuing, with commissioning significantly reduced from the heyday of prepandemic times.

While international producers are used to looking towards larger markets like the U.S. and UK to increase their business, some American prodcos are now eschewing the work-for-hire model traditionally favored by U.S. networks and are looking abroad to partner with companies from other territories to help get their projects off the ground while also retaining the IP. And while typical copro deals are part of the equation, in the current landscape, international partnerships can include anything from first-look and co-development deals to strategic investment in foreign prodcos.

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Jenny Daly, president and head of Burbank-headquartered Critical Content (an SK Global company), has been an early adopter of the international partnership model. She says that when surveying the current climate, two factors stood out to her that made her company’s approach make sense.

“It was looking at the landscape of the market and seeing the difficulty in getting shows that used to [not require as much] heavy lifting to get to series, and [asking] what were the obstacles and what was going on in our industry that was preventing that,” she says. “And a lot of what I was seeing was IP ownership and money… it really boils down to those two things.”

Daly says her interest in exploring the myriad approaches to international partnership came in part from being a smaller operation. “We are not a company like Banijay or ITV that has multitudes of companies across the world that we can be pulling from their IP,” she explains.

A big part of the benefit of partnering up is that it’s a twoway street. Daly says the partner company can “initiate and then grow a proven IP that we could then effectively take globally, and back to the U.S.” For Critical Content, the range of partnerships has included format co-dev deals with South Korea’s Something Special, a first-look production deal with ITV Studios France and a first-look distribution deal with Belgium’s Be-Entertainment.

“It’s definitely a relationshipbuilding piece of business,” Daly says. “You can’t just [decide] overnight and say, ‘Oh, let’s go

Jenny Daly

[Partnership] is a commitment and not every production company has the resources to do it.

here.’ It’s a commitment, and not every production company has the resources to do it.”

Another company that has not only survived but thrived by seeking out partnerships with outfits around the world is the recently rebranded Pantheon Media Group (formerly known as Asylum Entertainment Group), which has been investing in production companies in the UK across 2023 and 2024.

Jodi Flynn, president and head of content, says the company looked to the UK first, as the common language made it easier to share IP. “They also own their content — the producers keep the rights, so that’s superappealing when trying to build

By Justin Anderson a library of content [and] trying to bring formats to the U.S. and retain some control of it.”

As part of this strategy, Pantheon has invested in such UK companies as Soho Studios, co-founded by former Alaska TV exec Ian Lamarra; DARE Pictures, founded by former Woodcut Media creative director Derren Lawford; Moon&Back Media, founded by UK television vets Dawn Airey, Nigel Hall and Russ Lindsay; and Ladywell Films, established by The Tinder Swindler directors Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris.

“We felt that investing in some new companies that were up and coming, but with extremely experienced founders, was a good way for us to break into that market,” Flynn says.

She notes that the move has been successful and is leading to cross-pollination between markets. “What we’re doing on top of that is partnering them with our U.S. companies on projects that are originating in the UK; some that are originating here and we’re taking [them] there. So [we’re] trying to find ways to work in the U.S. and in the UK and go back and forth in order to maximize the benefits on both sides of the pond.

“Our buyers are way more interested in shooting things in the UK, in Ireland and Scotland and these places that have tax credits, that have a great talent base for crews, and that have stages,” she adds. “That’s a new thing too, on the scale that we’re seeing — so many studio shows, game shows and competition shows being shot in those kinds of territories. It’s becoming a much more global business.”

Connect with the Atlantic Canadian Delegation at Realscreen Summit:

Arcadia Entertainment Ocean Entertainment Tell Tale Productions Screen Nova Scotia

info@screennovascotia.com

Who made the list?

Nominated by peers, curated

by Realscreen; it’s almost time to check out this year’s crop of up-and-coming unscripted and non-fiction industry execs.

Coming soon to a screen near you…

Launching January 20 realscreen.com

WHILE THE PACE OF CHANGE IS ALMOST AT BREAKNECK SPEED, THERE ARE THOSE WHO SEEM TO BE ABLE TO STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE AND ILLUMINATE THE WAY FORWARD. WITH AN EYE TOWARD THE TRENDS THAT WILL SHAPE NON-FICTION CONTENT IN THE YEAR (OR YEARS!) AHEAD, HERE IS OUR LOOK AT THOSE WHO WILL BE DRIVING THE INNOVATIONS TO COME.

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TREND SETTERS

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TRENDSETTERS ‘25

Race Across the World has spawned a successful celebrity edition

STUDIO LAMBERT RACES AHEAD ALWAYS KNOWN FOR TAKING BIG, BOLD SWINGS, STUDIO LAMBERT IS RIDING

By Barry Walsh

HIGH ON THE TRANSATLANTIC SUCCESS OF THE TRAITORS AND MASSIVE UNSCRIPTED COMPETITIONS OF HUGE SCALE. WHERE TO NEXT? Fewer prodcos are better positioned to meet the broadcaster/platform mantra of “bigger and better” than Londonheadquartered Studio Lambert.

The proof is in the programming: the All3Mediabacked studio has a transatlantic smash on its hands via its U.S. and UK adaptations of IDTV’s global hit format The Traitors, and its unscripted take on Netflix’s outrageously huge Squid Game (coproduced with The Garden), which brings the original series’ dystopian competition conceit into the reality space as Squid Game: The Challenge, is about to start shooting a second season that 024

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will debut later this year.

Another competition of scale, Race Across the World for BBC Two, has returned in force after a pandemicinduced hiatus, nabbing its second BAFTA in 2024.

Augmented by a tremendously busy U.S. office in Los Angeles, which recently launched the psychological reality competition The Anonymous on NBCU’s USA Network, the prodco’s strength is not strictly in the domain of the loud and noisy. Its long-running Channel 4 hit, Gogglebox, continues to be the secondhighest-rated unscripted series on the UK pubcaster, behind

another rather unassuming unscripted staple, Love Productions’ The Great British Bake Off. Studio Lambert also saw its scripted ambitions pay off in 2024 with its first returning scripted series, Boarders, airing on BBC Three.

Range of content aside, it’s not every prodco that can ramp up the stakes for a competition series to incorporate a cast of 456 vying for a $4.56 million cash prize, as is the case with Squid Game: The Challenge.

In a pre-holiday chat with Realscreen, Studio Lambert founder Stephen Lambert and creative director Tim Harcourt shared their thoughts on current

commissioning appetites, areas they’re keen to explore next, and the value of being part of a “club” of companies trusted by networks and platforms to deliver the goods, no matter how grandiose.

It’s been another strong year for Studio Lambert. What were the major milestones?

Stephen Lambert: With The Traitors, winning the Emmy was a big moment for us, and the fact that the show on both sides of the Atlantic has become such a phenomenon is great.

Equally, Race Across the World on the BBC is also

It seems there’s a real appetite for shows that are — and I hate to use the cliché — too big to fail.

Stephen Lambert

Tim Harcourt

becoming incredibly popular and well-regarded.

were doing The Circle for Channel 4 and then for Netflix that we had gotten into that “club.” When you think about it from a buyer’s point of view, it’s a big gamble when they buy a show that costs a few million dollars, but when they buy a show that costs tens of millions of dollars, then they’re making career-defining decisions. It makes them gravitate towards those that they know can make those big shows. It’s a relatively small club, and if you can get into it, it’s a great place to be.

Tim Harcourt: It’s a show that launched just before the pandemic broke, and in its first season on BBC Two it won a BAFTA, but that all happened in the height of lockdown in the summer of 2020. Then it went on a hiatus, like the rest of the world did, and as a format it didn’t travel because there wasn’t much traveling to be done. So it had to build up a whole new head of steam on the back of the pandemic.

You’ve got hits on cable, streaming and broadcast, and as such are well positioned to weather changes in the commissioning ecosystem. What do you make of the disruption that’s impacting linear television so strongly now?

With that appetite for big and bold in mind, would something like Gogglebox get commissioned now?

TH: One of the really sad things, in addition to the producers and companies suffering during this time of attrition in the market,

is that when you lose the middle market you lose the opportunities for these ideas that might be a little bit more of a punt, a big bet like Gogglebox and perhaps like Bake Off. They felt like Hail Marys for the broadcasters, but they were still mid-market, affordable shows, and they were taking a chance.

With all the changes taking place in the commissioning climate, where do you see opportunity and growth for Studio Lambert?

SL: We want to be in business with all the broadcasters in the States, and make more for the global streamers.

When it comes to expanding, we don’t need to go into new areas, but just expand the relationships with who we’re already in business with.

TH: There’s a clarion call for live content from the streamers. We’d love an opportunity to do some big live events, and it seems like the appetite is there.

With the volatility of the market in mind, what advice would you give to other producers out there for the year ahead?

SL: Oh God, advice [laughs].

I think anyone who’s good and who has a good idea should feel confident that they can get it away. Yes, it’s great to have a company and be able to build it into something of value, but that’s much harder than it used to be.

Having partnerships as a creative with really good companies — if you already have a track record, you can negotiate a good deal, and clearly the market can’t support as many companies as it has done in the past.

TH: It seems there’s a real appetite for shows that are — and I hate to use the cliché — too big to fail. Squid Game was a huge swing for Netflix, Beast Games for Amazon is huge.

There’s also an appetite for very small-scale, lo-fi YouTube-type stuff. Where the market’s really been gutted is in the mid-list stuff. The appetite for that seems to have diminished completely.

SL: We made a decision about four or five years ago to just concentrate on some really big shows. We realized when we

Studio Lambert produces the UK and U.S. versions of hit format The Traitors

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PRIME VIDEO’S BRAND PLANS AS MEDIACOS COURT BRANDS TO BE FULL COLLABORATORS ON THE NEXT

By Andrew Tracy

GENERATION OF CONTENT CREATION, AMAZON MGM STUDIOS’ HEAD OF BRAND AND CONTENT INNOVATION LAUREN ANDERSON IS SPEARHEADING NEW WAYS TO FUSE THE CREATIVE WITH THE COMMERCIAL.

Prime Video has started 2025 with a bang with The Beast Games (Photo: Amazon MGM Studios)

Concurrent with market-leading SVODs like Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video incorporating ad tiers, one of the buzziest themes in the streaming space was how brands could be better incorporated into content as organic collaborators. With new unscripted shows such as Buy It Now from Studio Lambert and Wish List Games from MGM Alternative linking viewers directly back to its namesake e-commerce cousin, Amazon’s Prime Video has unsurprisingly been a field leader in this regard — and, with AVOD Originals chief Lauren Anderson taking on an expanded remit in 2024 as head of brand and content innovation, the company has found an executive who knows how to create a natural and dynamic fusion between the creative and commercial realms.

Joining Amazon MGM Studios in 2019 as head of strategic content, Anderson made her mark at FAST platform Amazon Freevee by shepherding such unscripted titles as Judy Justice and the Emmy-nominated scripted-reality hybrid Jury Duty before broadening her oversight to cover Prime Video as well. Following Prime’s incorporation of an ad-supported tier (which ultimately led to its absorption of Freevee this past fall), Anderson was tapped to lead the streamer’s brand-partnership push, spearheading sponsorships, integrations, custom content and brand-supported originals across the full spectrum of Amazon’s streaming offerings.

Speaking to Realscreen ahead of the premiere of Amazon’s biggest unscripted venture to date — Beast Games, the hotly anticipated competition format from YouTube emperor Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson — Anderson discussed her approach to brand-content integration, as well as how Prime Video is continuing to stake out its own distinct brand identity in the streaming space.

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With your expanded remit, how do you see brands working with you in the year ahead on unscripted and non-fiction content?

I look forward to the ways in which studios will continue to work with brands across our entire slate. In this first year of having ads on Lauren Anderson Prime Video we’ve only scratched the surface in showcasing capabilities with sponsorships and custom content, in addition to the work pioneered by our marketing team on the co-promotional side. As we move forward, I’m excited to see products and services more deeply (but always organically) integrated into our titles and to collaborate more with brands on the development of original content.

Prime Video has been commissioning a wider range of unscripted programming as of late, ranging from constructed formats, to game shows, to large-scale competition series. Are there any areas of unscripted that you’d like to take a deeper dive into in the year ahead?

I come from the world of live sports and still think of it as the ultimate unscripted format, so I admire, from a distance, the work the live sports team is doing. Beyond that, I think we have an incredible opportunity to continue connecting the dots between our entertainment formats and our retail experience. That’s an exciting space to be in right now.

What makes an unscripted project the right fit for Prime Video?

Prime Video is unique, given our offering of movies and series to rent and buy, add-on subscriptions, FAST channels, live sports, licensed content and Amazon MGM Studios Originals all under one roof. For this reason, as we consider the fit for Prime Video, we are evaluating customer need, existing selection, title differentiation, production expertise, and the potential for the series to enhance the customers’ experience of Prime in a uniquely Amazon way.

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Love Is Blind continues its reign as Netflix’s top unscripted series

NEXTFLIX

By Justin Anderson

IN THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD, NETFLIX HAS WELL ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS A CONTENT TRENDSETTER; WHERE THE STREAMING GIANT GOES, THE REST OF THE SCREEN INDUSTRY OFTEN FOLLOWS. HERE, VP OF UNSCRIPTED JEFF GASPIN AND VP OF DOCUMENTARY ADAM DEL DEO OFFER A GLIMPSE INTO THE NONFICTION OUTLOOK FOR THE GLOBAL PLATFORM.

From its beginnings as a DVD delivery hub to its current status as global streaming powerhouse, it’s hard to think of another media platform that has experienced the incredible transformation and stratospheric growth of Netflix. And one area that has propelled that growth in recent years has been its unscripted and documentary offerings.

The phrase “Netflix documentary” has cultural meaning — typically but not exclusively referring to a slickly produced, compelling documentary or docuseries focusing on true crime or perhaps a popculture or sports figure or phenomenon — and has emerged as something of a standard bearer, prompting fellow streamers such as Amazon’s Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+ and, more recently, NBCUniversal’s Peacock and Paramount+ to up their respective non-fiction games.

Among the streamer’s topperforming docs in the past year were the heartwarming festival sensation Will & Harper, the timely true-crime feature doc The Menendez Brothers, the Martha Stewart bio-doc Martha, the nostalgic music doc The Greatest Night in Pop, and the historical docudrama series Testament: The Story of Moses.

In addition to its impact on the doc genre, Netflix’s full-court press into the reality world has also had significant effect on unscripted around the world, with hits such as Love Is Blind, Squid Game: The Challenge and Rhythm + Flow, as well as international unscripted series such as South Korean hits Physical: 100 and Culinary Class Wars showcasing the streaming behemoth’s global output.

Early indications point to a big year ahead for Netflix with non-fiction content, including high-profile docs on sports icons like Mike Tyson, the Dallas Cowboys, Rafael Nadal and more. There are also concerted forays into the creator space, with live specials of the Hot Ones format popularized on YouTube reportedly in the mix, and UK creator troupe The Sidemen moving their hit series Inside from YouTube over to Netflix. Such deals are especially savvy given YouTube’s increasing emphasis on connected TV dominance.

Speaking with Realscreen ahead of the holidays, Netflix VP of unscripted Jeff Gaspin and VP of documentary and film series Adam Del Deo talked about what works for the streamer, growing its audience, and the company’s ambitions for 2025 and beyond.

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The range of unscripted genres covered by original Netflix programming is getting bigger by the year, from food to dating, real estate to competition reality. What do you think the “white space” is for Netflix’s unscripted content at the moment?

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Jeff Gaspin: We see a real opportunity to connect with fans through music specials and dynamic music competition formats.

Recent projects like Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS World Tour and specials such as A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter have demonstrated how deeply audiences respond to authentic, artist-led storytelling. These shows allow viewers to connect with their favorite artists on a personal level, creating moments that resonate globally.

In the competition space, we’re actively building out music-centric formats like Building the Band and Rhythm + Flow, which tap into the excitement of discovering and celebrating new

Rhythm + Flow is making noise in the music competition space

talent. Music competition shows are a proven genre, but we’re bringing fresh perspectives to the format — whether through diverse storytelling, innovative production, or unique artist partnerships — to ensure they feel modern and relevant for today’s audience.

Overall, music remains an underexplored yet highly impactful area for unscripted programming, and we’re excited to continue creating quality, genre-defining programming that inspires and entertains fans worldwide.

F O R M A T S

Adventure Competition

info@zone3.ca

Renovation Competition Reality

Dating Reality

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DIY Competition

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What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the unscripted and content businesses today, and what are the biggest opportunities?

JG: One of the biggest challenges facing unscripted series as a whole is breaking through in an increasingly crowded and competitive content landscape. Audiences have access to more options than ever before, which means standing out requires innovative formats, fresh storytelling, and talent that truly connects with viewers.

Dating shows, for example, are a true powerhouse genre for Netflix within our unscripted ecosystem. Love is Blind — now in its seventh season — was the catalyst for more fan favorites like Love on the Spectrum, Too Hot to Handle, The Ultimatum, The Perfect Match, and localized versions of Love is Blind in different regions. We expect to duplicate this success with performance formats, competitive reality and more.

Music competition shows are a proven genre, but we’re bringing fresh perspectives to the format.

Jeff Gaspin

Netflix is frequently referred to as one of the key forces in the resurgence of the doc genre. What makes your slate unique among competitors?

Adam Del Deo: We are immensely proud of the diversity in our documentary slate and remain committed to captivating global audiences with top-tier original storytelling. Our ambition is to be the leading voice in the documentary realm, crafting deeply emotional narratives that transcend their subjects. By collaborating with renowned filmmakers and integrating narrative techniques from fiction, we aim to engage, inspire, and entertain that world with unparalleled storytelling experiences.

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MOHAMMED ADNAN

MONIQUE BARRETT

WILL D’EPAGNIER

DIALOG: THE CLASS

OF 2O25 The DIALOG Mentorship Program is a transformative initiative and partnership between Realscreen and NATPE Global designed to foster connections for mid-level executives who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color across unscripted and scripted programming and production.

Here, we unveil the selection of participants for 2024/2025.

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KYLE ESPINOSA

TAI HANSON-SHIN

Mohammed Adnan has over 10 years of development experience and leading teams to win multiple commissions as a head of development and development executive. Adnan has sold shows to streamers and networks in the U.S., UK and Europe. Notable credits include Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (HBO Max), Stolen Gold (ESPN ’30 for 30’), Max Verstappen: Anatomy of a Champion (Viaplay) and Who Should Get to Stay in the UK? (BBC Two).

Monique Barrett, creator and executive producer of Ladies Who List: Atlanta on OWN, achieved a significant career milestone with the series, showcasing her ability to create resonant content in a crowded marketplace. She’s also developed content for prominent production companies such as Sirens Media, Conveyor Media and Monami Entertainment, further demonstrating her collaborative and innovative spirit.

Will D’Epagnier is a producer and the director of development at 1895 Films. Since joining the company in 2019, Will has worked as a producer, associate producer, and researcher on several non-fiction projects, including the royal biography documentaries Charles: In His Own Words and Being the Queen (National Geographic/Hulu/Disney+), the South African rugby documentary The Moment: How Sports Changed the World (Red Bull Studios), Alien Abduction: Betty and Barney Hill (Travel Channel/Discovery+/Max) and 1895 Films’ original podcast, Artifactual.

Kyle Espinosa is the U.S.-based global programming director for Fremantle. In this role, he oversees content strategy and programming for Fremantle’s global channels. His remit includes linear and digital programming for a wide range of content and genres, including Buzzr, Jamie Oliver, Baywatch, The Price Is Right and Let’s Make a Deal. He has worked with world-class IP such as SpongeBob SquarePants and House of the Dragon from his time at Nickelodeon and HBO Max. He was also a part of the Nickelodeon Digital team that won a shared Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media.

MAHAK JIWANI

NAZIATH MANTOO

GEOFFREY OKOL

Tai Hanson-Shin began her career in 2011 at NBC as part of the page program in the alternative department. From there, she went on to work at Style Network, supporting executives in both development and current programming. In 2013, Hanson-Shin joined the team at Smart Dog Media, where she collaborated on original paper formats and specialized in international adaptations and helped launch the PGA Award– and Emmy-nominated The Masked Singer for Fox, while consulting globally on the hit format. At Smart Dog, she developed the U.S. adaptation of Celebrity Show-Off, based on the South Korean format My Little Television from MBC. She has lent development services on the first seasons of I Can See Your Voice and The Masked Dancer, both for Fox. At ZnakTV, Hanson-Shin has produced series for YouTube and had shows in development at BET, TBS, NBC, Food Network and Fox. Mahak Jiwani is a producer and development executive based in Los Angeles. She has worked on scripted and unscripted films and TV shows for HBO, Paramount+, ABC Signature and CBS. She was also part of the team that started the scripted division at Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, and led the charge to find and adapt projects for the scripted slate. Jiwani’s credits include the Cannes Film Festival selection Joyland, Emmy-winning documentary The Forever Prisoner and Venice Film Festival–prizewinning short film Darling.

Naziath Mantoo is a seasoned development exec with over 14 years of global experience working in the UK, U.S. and Australian markets.

She is currently the vice president of unscripted at Legendary, where her remit has been to build the first-ever unscripted slate for the studio encompassing the entirety of unscripted: docs, docuseries and formats.

Originally hailing from the UK/Australia, she has worked with the biggest players in TV, including Studio Lambert, ITV, BBC and Viacom.

Geoffrey Okol is head of development at ZigZag Productions. Last year, Okol won the Formagination international format pitch competition at the Realscreen Summit. His winning format, Wedding Rush, is currently in development with ITV Studios and has been optioned for production in Canada and Spain. He has worked in successful television development teams devising new television shows at a range of companies, including BBC Entertainment, ITN Productions and the Argonon Group.

FARAH QAYUM

ANNA-KAY THOMAS

Farah Qayum is an award-winning factual producer based in London with over a decade of documentary filmmaking experience. Passionate about diverse characters and untold stories that say something about the world we live in, she has produced the primetime BAFTA-winning Muslims Like Us, shining a spotlight on the diversity of Islam in Britain; and the Grierson-awarded Hometown, about the proliferation of drugs in West Yorkshire. She’s also helped shape global formats for youth-skewing programs including Educating Yorkshire and The Great British School Swap.

Anna-Kay Thomas, producer & creative development executive at the U.S. office of Love Productions (The Great British BakeOff), works as part of a talented team to develop and produce unscripted formats and documentary series for network, cable, and premium streaming services such as Prime Video, Disney, Fox, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery. Recent projects include The Great American Baking Show (Roku) and Ladies Who List: Atlanta (OWN).

Realscreen and NATPE Global thank our mentors, and founding supporting partners A+E Networks and Warner Bros.

Discovery. Learn more about this year’s cohort at realscreen.com.

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Find out more

NHK SPOTLIGHT

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or nearly 100 years, Japan’s NHK has stood at the forefront of public service broadcasting, dedicated to serving audiences at home and abroad with programming that informs, educates and entertains. But beyond its traditional role, NHK is also known globally for pushing boundaries. From pioneering high-definition TV to exploring the frontiers of science, NHK continues to redefine what it means to be a modern public service broadcaster.

The entity that would become NHK got its start in March 1925, with radio broadcasts from stations in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. A year later, these three would merge to become Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai — NHK — an entity tasked with providing educational and cultural programming meant to enrich the lives of the Japanese people, especially through classical music and educational content.

A key turning point, according to NHK senior director Megumi Kurosaki, was the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923. The

NHK

PIONEERING THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION For a century, Japan’s public broadcaster has led the way when it comes to media innovation, delivering both cutting-edge technology and inspiring cultural programming.

By Brendan Christie disaster underscored the need for a reliable way to share vital, life-saving information — a role NHK continues to play, as it demonstrated during the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in 2024.

“Japan is a country prone to natural disasters, and NHK has striven to adapt ourselves to serve as an indispensable lifeline in these situations,” she explains.

“NHK has stood by the Japanese people and has continued to document their resilience.”

NHK launched a second radio network in 1931. In its early years, the broadcaster played a significant role in shaping public opinion, particularly during World War II. After the conflict, it underwent a transformation via a new Broadcasting Act

NHK and space agency JAXA developed a special camera to capture the first HD images of the “earthrise” from the moon.

tabled in 1950 which effectively opened up the Japanese market for commercial broadcasting, and made NHK a business free from government control and funded by public contributions.

This helped establish NHK as an impartial and reliable source of news and entertainment for the Japanese public.

TRANSFORMING TV

NHK began broadcasting television in 1953, followed by the launch of an educational TV channel in 1959 and color broadcasts in 1960. In the decades that followed, it has continued to push the boundaries of broadcasting and broadcast technology.

In the 1980s, for example, it began a bold project to develop high-definition (HD) television, paving the way for the global transition to HD. Japan became the first country to offer HD programming in the early 2000s.

NHK also led the way in the development of 8K, launching the world’s first 8K channel in 2016, a milestone in the evolution of broadcasting 033

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2015’s Beneath the Mushroom Cloud

NHK SPOTLIGHT

technology — though it’s been equally groundbreaking for other fields, such as education and medical science.

Consider the broadcaster’s 8K Cultural Heritage Project, a digital archiving effort that combines 8K technology with 3D scanning, photogrammetry and a robust game engine. It enables real-time exploration of artifacts from any angle, revolutionizing art appreciation and the way art history is being taught.

NHK put it to use in October of last year, linking Harvard and five prestigious Japanese universities to explore the Kuse Kannon, a national treasure found in the Horyuji Temple, Japan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Buddhist statue is a masterpiece of ancient art, but because it is rarely shown to the public, few researchers have had the opportunity to examine it up close.

Today, NHK remains steadfastly at the forefront of exploration, both here on Earth and in deep space. Japan’s National Space Development Agency (NASDA) launched its first practical broadcasting satellite in January 1984, which led to NHK beginning the world’s first direct broadcast satellite service that May — the culmination of 18 years of research. In 1989, it began regular satellite transmissions.

In 2003, NHK turned its attention south, building an HD broadcast station in Antarctica and staffing it with a crew for a year. “The Arctic and Antarctic regions are where the changes in the planet’s environment first appear,” explains Kurosaki of the mission. “Throughout the year, the Antarctica project brought us images of the deteriorating environment while also showing us the world’s first images of the total solar eclipse shot from the Antarctica region.”

Some viewers may remember stunning images of Earth rising behind the moon — part of NHK’s Kaguya project in 2007, a collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). To film the first HD images of the “earthrise” and “earthset,” NHK developed a camera capable of withstanding the intense vibrations and impacts of launch as well as the extremes of space, including temperature fluctuations of up to 300 degrees.

In 2013, NHK, along with its distribution and production arm NHK

WITNESS TO WAR

2020’s Searching for the Standing Boy of Nagasaki

Enterprises and Discovery Channel, captured the world’s first video of the giant squid in its natural deep‐ocean habitat. To achieve this, NHK developed an ultrasensitive HD camera that could work at great depths while using light with a specific wavelength invisible to the sensitive eyes of the giant squid. A culmination of 10 years of research with the National Museum of Nature and Science of Japan, the project showed how global warming was reaching even the deep sea.

“From the depths of the ocean to the vastness of space and the extremities of the unknown lands, we have provided our viewers with dynamic and immersive visual experiences by visualizing the unseen,” sums up Kurosaki.

As 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, NHK is reflecting on its role in documenting history through myriad impactful projects.

Consider the new film Revisiting Grandpa’s War (49 minutes), in which Dutch photographer Marianne Ingleby discovers 1,000 Pacific War photos taken by her cameraman grandfather during the war. That kicks off a journey to Japan that uncovers the messages left behind through these powerful images.

NHK has previously delved into the aftermath of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in films such as Beneath the Mushroom Cloud (2015, 60 minutes), which uses cutting-edge technology to reveal new facts about how Hiroshima was impacted three hours after the atomic bomb dropped. There’s also Searching for the Standing Boy of Nagasaki (2020, 50 minutes), which focuses on the struggles of atomic-bomb orphans by tracing the story behind a famous photograph

by United States Marine Corps photographer Joe O’Donnell of a young boy waiting at a crematorium, carrying his brother’s lifeless body.

NHK continues to embrace advanced technologies to create immersive experiences, such as recently produced VR content that offers virtual access to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Through these immersive programs, NHK seeks to make its historical content more accessible, promoting peace and ensuring its value for future generations.

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NHK SPOTLIGHT

NHK’s science content, such as The Arctic Circle (a copro with the NFB and Discovery), sells globally

CONTINUING THE CULTURAL EXCHANGE Since its inception, NHK has played a key role in promoting Japanese culture and providing a window into Japanese life for international audiences.

In April 1995, NHK launched its first international television channel, following it up in 1998 with the start of English digital service NHK World.

Through this platform, NHK brings Japanese news, culture and entertainment to millions around the world, offering a diverse range of programs that include travel, food, history and documentaries.

Indeed, some of NHK’s greatest international successes have come from its non-fiction programming. In order to strengthen its partnerships and work in collaboration with independent production companies, the broadcaster recently joined Global Doc, an initiative led by France Télévisions in which public media companies link to support and co-finance ambitious documentary projects with universal appeal.

“NHK has decades-long partnerships with public 036

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media around the globe,” explains Shin Yasuda, senior producer, international coproduction and acquisition at NHK. “These partnerships have been indispensable in news reporting, as well as production of diverse content

for our viewers. Since the 1980s, NHK has been active in organizing international coproductions with media companies and independent filmmakers around the world.

“As media becomes more diverse and fragmented, we

NHK’s Deep Ocean team takes to the seas for Deep Ocean: Searching for a Coelacanth (w/t)

DIVING DEEPER NHK’s Deep Ocean team, known for capturing unprecedented footage of the giant squid, recently succeeded in filming another world’s first. Working with ZDF/Arte and OceanX Media for an upcoming international coproduction (in collaboration with the Indonesian ministry for maritime affairs, CMMAI), it captured the behavior of coelacanths in Indonesia. Using an ultra-sensitive 8K deep-sea filming system, the team conducted a 72-hour continuous survey which resulted in groundbreaking footage that suggests coelacanths, typically thought to be solitary, may actually live in groups. It’s a new look into the behavior of a rarely-seen ocean inhabitant.

believe that these partnerships play an important role in making sure that aspiring filmmakers are encouraged and that wellresearched, high-quality content is made and delivered to the public.”

In terms of sharing Japanese culture with international audiences, the network is also, in its centennial year, prepping a major series project that combines material from its estimable archives with examinations of up-to-the-minute innovation. NeoJaponism (w/t) will explore Japan’s global cultural influence through the fusion of traditional and modern elements in Japanese arts, cuisine, design and pop culture.

A MISSION RENEWED

NHK’s commitment to authenticity remains clear in its remit. In May 2024, Japan revised the Broadcasting Act, requiring NHK to offer internet content equivalent to its broadcast offerings. This shift aims to combat misinformation in the digital space, maintaining that NHK remains a source of trustworthy reference.

“Transmitting accurate and reliable information has been an important role for NHK as a public service media organization,” says Kurosaki.

“Our mandate is to continue to provide accurate and fair information in the hope of serving as a reference point for the people — and that’s becoming even more important than ever.”

In fact, in celebration of its 100th anniversary, NHK recently launched a slogan contest, choosing “Caring for one, we become media for all” to reflect that mandate, and its commitment to inclusivity and diversity in a complex media landscape.

“In an era where diverse opinions and perspectives are increasingly prevalent, we aspire to listen to these voices and strive for an inclusive world,” offers Kurosaki.

T E L E V I S I O N A D - S U P P O R T E D F R E E

SOLVING FAST’S DISCOVERABILITY PROBLEM

When it comes to having an incredibly vast array of content available at the click of a remote, FAST delivers. But having viewers discover that content is a multibillion-dollar issue, says Social Department founder and media veteran Jonathan Verk.

Jonathan Verk

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WINTER ‘25

It’s Saturday night. The kids are finally asleep and you have the night to yourself. You make some popcorn, grab a glass of “good-enough” wine and flop on the couch. Grabbing the remote, you commence clicking on the 105-inch screen and begin your typical 30-minute journey to find something to watch, flipping though a zillion options across four streamers you pay for, and five that you don’t.

Nothing is grabbing you, so you reach for your phone and turn on what can only be described as “the new Primetime.” Social is where the action is. Scrolling is the new channel-surfing.

What you don’t realize is that somewhere, there’s the exact type of award-winning medical dramedy you’re looking for, about a heartthrob surferturned-trauma-surgeon running a beachfront ER, fighting Big Pharma with ancient healing practices, who performs lifesaving surgeries between

catching waves — on a FAST channel you’ve never heard of.

If FAST is going to win, that’s got to change.

According to streaming media pundit Dan Rayburn, a whopping 90% of FAST viewing happens on just 10 services. The rest? Lost in streaming’s bargain bin. It’s clear that when FAST revenue hits $12.5 billion by 2027 (according to S&P Global Intelligence), the most effective ROI will not come from launching new FAST channels, but from marketing the ones that already exist.

TAPPING INTO SOCIAL Remember when TV promos were king, and networks could launch a new hit show by riding the wave of the last one? Those days are gone. Audiences have shifted away from linear TV, and the traditional “clip-based promo” has become the “organic clip-based social media asset.”

Today’s viewers aren’t discovering content through promos — they’re finding their next binge by scrolling IG, flipping through TikTok, or diving into Facebook.

Social media hasn’t just changed how we watch TV; it’s transformed how we discover it. For FAST channels in particular, this creates a unique opportunity.

“The biggest challenge in a crowded market is ensuring content stands out,” says Sweta Patel, VP of growth marketing & merchandising at Roku. “We tackle this by creating cohesive, multiplatform campaigns designed to simplify discovery.”

Even truly iconic shows can get lost in the great search for something to watch. Take Law & Order, a show everyone knows.

But how someone discovers Law & Order depends entirely on who they are (online) and where they hang out (online). It’s a perfect example of streaming’s biggest challenge: it’s not just about having great content, it’s also about making sure the right audiences discover it at the right time, in the right way.

“Modern content marketing requires building multiple touchpoints that surround your potential audience wherever they are, whenever they’re there,” explains Laura Florence, SVP, global channels at Fremantle, who has emerged as one of the industry’s most innovative strategists.

Her team members are the architects behind National Game Show Day, a marketing masterstroke that transformed Fremantle’s game-show channels such as Buzzr, The Price is Right and Family Feud from just another streaming option into a destination for viewers.

At the center of the stunt, Florence registered “National Game Show Day” with the

Social media hasn’t just changed how we watch TV; it’s transformed how we discover it. For FAST channels in particular, this creates a unique opportunity.

Pluto, Roku, and other platforms with marketing materials — especially social content — that they can push through their own feeds. There’s no better marketing strategy than helping the platforms succeed with theirs.”

“Social media has become essential to reinforce the connection between the FAST content, the audience and the channel brand,” explains Kent Rees, GM of MyFree DirecTV. “Social is so good for ‘Thanks for watching show X. Here’s how to get more of it.’”

FEEDING THE BEAST But creating that volume of content? That’s where the industry hits a wall.

Lisa Flores is a colleague of mine at our AI-focused startup Social Department, where she’s head of partner success. She’s also a former head of social media at Roku Channel, and has led and served on social teams at Quibi and Paramount, among others. And she knows feeding the beast can be an uphill battle.

“I’ve witnessed firsthand the brutal reality these small teams face,” she says. “You’re trying to feed this constant demand for social content, but relying on external resources for both strategy and creative often left us paralyzed — the costs kept rising, and the delays became hard to justify when every minute counts in social.”

This isn’t just a budget problem: it’s a fundamental mismatch between traditional marketing structures and modern content demands. Flores points to how modern solutions are revolutionizing the way shows connect with different audiences.

“AI can analyze content through different audience lenses,” she says. “Traditional viewers might connect with longer scenes showcasing plot and production value. Gen Z gravitates toward quick, relatable reactions perfect for GIFs. International audiences often resonate with universal themes. Different cultural communities find entirely different moments worth sharing.

“That’s where modern content marketing gets interesting,” she continues. “You’re finding the unique moments that speak to specific communities: nostalgic clips for retro fans, discussionsparking scenes for social commentators, reaction-worthy moments for meme creators.

Same show, dozens of distinct marketing campaigns.”

bajillions or burning your talent to the ground,” media cartographer Evan Shapiro recently said in his MIPCOM Innovation Lab keynote.

“AI kicks open the door to being an uber-fan alongside your audience,” Rees adds.

“It automates effectively and makes it more possible to be everywhere at once, as long as there is an authentic human voice in there too.”

The real power of AI isn’t just in finding popular moments quickly — it’s also in understanding the subtle ways different scenes resonate with specific audiences. While traditional content analysis might focus on obvious dramatic peaks or previously successful clips, AI can identify scenes that perfectly align with particular demographic interests or campaign themes.

Of course, the path forward requires careful consideration — choosing partners who prioritize compliance and transparency, maintaining control over automated processes, and ensuring AI solutions enhance rather than replace human creativity.

Back at Fremantle, Florence’s team is busy unlocking the potential teeming in each of its channels. “We’re building year-round content marketing ecosystems,” she explains.

“Every show, every episode, every programming stunt contains multiple opportunities to connect with different audiences.”

THE FINAL CUT

National Day Archives (yup, it’s a thing), and promoted the June 1st event through Fremantle’s own channels, social media, PR and other channels.

“It’s about creating touchpoints that reach viewers before, during, and after they watch,” she says.

“We need to think in terms of years, not campaigns.”

Florence’s approach goes beyond traditional channel marketing. “One of our most successful strategies has been about creating synergy between our content and the platforms’ marketing efforts,” she explains.

“We continuously feed partners like

Laura Florence

Here’s the reality: social media algorithms have a simple yet demanding business model — they have millions of daily users who stay on a platform to watch engaging video content. The algo will reward brands that consistently feed content by pushing those brands up their feed. It’s a symbiotic cycle of visibility and engagement: feed them content, and they’ll feed you audience.

But modern social algorithms demand three to seven posts daily per platform just to maintain visibility. Multiply that across channels, platforms and demographics, and you’re looking at hundreds of assets monthly just to stay relevant.

Social at that scale is out of reach for most FAST channels.

FINDING AUDIENCES WITH AI Enter artificial intelligence — not the scary, job-stealing kind that’s been making headlines, but something more like a marketing team’s secret weapon.

“AI tools are the secret sauce that allows marketing teams to survive the social video tsunami and thrive, without spending

Jonathan Verk is the cofounder/CEO of Social Department, an AI-powered platform revolutionizing social marketing workflows for networks, streamers, studios and FAST. 039

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