Channel 21 Spring 21 - FACTUAL

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Factual Everything about content

Will Discovery+ be the Netflix of unscripted?

Spring 2021

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True crime remains a key source of IP

OWN ideas: Network eyes opportunities

PLUS: Glass Entertainment’s development strategy – 8 Croatian pubcaster HRT seeks comforting content – 16

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NEWS ANALYSIS: Discovery’s D2C strategy

Channel21 International | Spring 2021

Naked Attraction

Plus points With an enormous library of existing intellectual property and an ambitious originals strategy, Discovery+ is the latest big player to enter the streaming wars. Can it do for unscripted what Netflix did for drama?

Discovery boss David Zaslav

By Clive Whittingham

D

avid Zaslav, the famously well-remunerated CEO of US unscripted giant Discovery, is an IP man.

When the factual behemoth spent US$14.6bn to acquire Scripps Networks Interactive and its suite of US cablenets, including Travel Channel and DIY Network, in 2017 – just as the industry talk was all about cord-cutting and the decline of cable – eyebrows were raised.

Later that year, Zaslav travelled to Cannes to collect the Mipcom Personality of the Year award and told a gathering of curious industry journalists outside Discovery’s Palais suite that it was primarily an IP play.

Scripps owned tens of thousands of hours of popular, bingeable, unscripted lifestyle content and had exploited very little of it on the international distribution market.

Discovery also paid US$1.4bn for a 10-year rights package to show the summer and winter Olympic Games across Europe on the Eurosport network it previously acquired from French commercial network TF1.

It has gone hot and heavy into golf

and cycling. The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, moved to this summer because of Covid-19, means Discovery+ will be its home in Europe.

In 2019 a deal was struck with the commercial arm of UK pubcaster the BBC for Discovery to become the exclusive global home of its famed natural history content, such as Planet Earth and Blue Planet. Again, solid IP, owned and able to be exploited over a long period of time. Discovery commissioners, even by US cable standards, have always been fastidious over rights – if they’re greenlighting a show, they want to own it 100%, in 196 territories. It’s all about IP. At the start of last year, the company, founded by John Hendricks in 1985, made its long-awaited big play in the so-called ‘streaming wars’ with Discovery+. More than 12 million subscribers signed up within the first two months. Zaslav has previously poured scorn on the US$1bn-plus deals to take ownership of classic sitcom libraries such as Seinfeld and The Big Bang Theory, saying it showed the buyer didn’t have enough of its own content.

As Discovery evolves from a pay TV and free-to-air company into a global streaming player, Zaslav said during the company’s first earnings call since the Discovery+ launch that its mission “is to play hard in traditional free-toair and cable with fantastic margins and free cash flow and play harder in direct-to-consumer [D2C], while we are uniquely positioned to achieve long-term sustainable growth.”

He added: “We’ve never made our entire library available before. There’s a lot of excitement about being able to sit down and watch all of MythBusters, or look at all the seasons of Deadliest Catch or Ice Road Truckers. That library from the last 25 to 30 years u

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NEWS ANALYSIS: Discovery’s D2C strategy

Channel21 International | Spring 2021

Ferry disaster documentary Estonia

of local content really differentiates us from Netflix and Disney.”

Many embattled unscripted producers and distributors would dearly love to see the arrival of Discovery+ have the same effect on their genre as the arms race between Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal continues to have on scripted, resulting in skyrocketing budgets for original series..

Myriam Lopez-Otazu, group VP for EMEA and international content at Discovery, explained to C21 how Discovery+ has changed her commissioning strategy and offered some hints and tips for how content owners and producers can get a foot in the door at the new streamer.

“We see Discovery+ as a threepillar system,” she says. “We have an unbeatable library of Discovery IP we’ve been commissioning for a long time – more than 50,000 hours of volume – and with Discovery+, for the first time, they’re all in one place. If you are a super fan of Gold Rush, 90 Day Fiancé or Ghost Adventures, you can find it there.

“On acquisitions, we are securing premium thirdparty content exclusively for Discovery+ incrementally to what we do for the linear businesses. That comes in the shape of volume deals like the one we announced with the BBC that helps attract the best natural history offering outside the UK, but also deals for international and Europe where we might want to have local stories and formats more relevant to viewers.

“Finally, we have the cherry on top that is Discovery+ originals,

which also differ from what we do on linear. There is a big focus for us on what are the billboard-worthy, mustwatch originals, and that’s what’s keeping us busy right now.”

As well as making use of the greater flexibility in runtimes and series lengths offered by streaming, Discovery’s commissioning teams are also breaking out of the tightly defined identities of their linear networks. For example, crossing over the true crime series that work so well for ID with sports content from Eurosport to produce quick-turnaround doc What Killed Maradona?, about the death of Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona.

Lopez-Otazu is keen to refer to Discovery+ as a “glocal” streamer, with the global content pipeline

“

There is a big focus for us on what are the billboard-worthy, must-watch originals, and that’s what’s keeping us busy right now.

Myriam Lopez-Otazu Discovery

coming from the US supplemented by local commissions, market by market, from the teams in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

She points out that Discovery is known for different types of content in different regions. In Scandinavia, for instance, audiences are more used to relationship, dating and general entertainment shows from Discovery, compared with a greater factual focus in the UK.

What Killed Maradona? focuses on the Argentinian football superstar

Where possible, however, the aim is to still own global rights and take the local commissions out globally, with ferry disaster documentary Estonia, commissioned by Discovery+ teams in Sweden, being a good example.

“We’ve always had an ambition to own IP. That’s our model at Discovery – the industry knows we have that appetite to own IP aggressively, not only for the ownership but to share stories globally,” Lopez-Otazu says.

A big part of the localisation strategy revolves around formats. Discovery is getting into the formats acquisition and adaptation business in a big way, recently launching an Italian version of Love Island and commissioning local editions of risqué Channel 4 show Naked Attraction in Finland and Norway.

Buzzworthy feature docs that can be marketed to potential subscribers – a big part of Netflix’s success – are also high on the shopping list. “Embrace the edginess of a story – think about what’s new about the angle, what’s definitive about that doc, why u

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NEWS ANALYSIS: Discovery’s D2C strategy

90 Day Fiancé

“

I hope there is still a demand for linear hours because these channels all commission hundreds of hours a year.

As the market moves more to D2C, do they still need that?

Ben Barrett Drive

are we reopening that case?” LopezOtazu advises producers. “Bring us great stories but also a reason for it to be commissioned right now that will give people a hunger and desire to watch.”

Teams work across both the linear networks and the streamer, and Lopez-Otazu describes conversations about where certain projects will end up as “organic.”

Of course, Discovery founder Hendricks did beat his baby to market with a factual streamer of his own, launching CuriosityStream in the US in 2015. The service has subsequently rolled out around the world to fill a gap in the market for pure factual content that Hendricks perceived as Discovery, A+E Networks and even Nat Geo moved more towards returnable reality television.

Devin Emery, CuriosityStream’s recently appointed exec VP of content strategy, believes that niche still exists, playing down concerns about the biggest player in the unscripted business parking a sizeable streaming tank on his lawn. “There’s a misconception in the market that people are looking for three streamers and no more. I see it quoted all the time. It’s based on market research that is not great, because if you’re asking people, ‘What do you want to pay for?’ typically they will say they don’t want to pay for anything, when in reality they do,” Emery says.

“I think Discovery+ will be successful and I hope it is. There is a lot of room for a lot of strong businesses in the area we’re building, and we’re not doing the same thing. I view Discovery+ very similarly to how I view HBO Max, Hulu and Disney+. They’re a general entertainment programmer with primarily entertainment programming. It’s what people know

Channel21 International | Spring 2021

them for and it’s primarily what people online platform at a low rate, it then will get their value in Discovery+ from. becomes the mother ship in unscripted They’re pushing 90 Day Fiancé and and now you’ve set your licence fee right down.”

1000-lb Sisters.

For Ben Barrett, co-MD of UK “They also have very good factual content. So does Netflix, so does HBO coproduction fixing agency Drive, Max, so do a lot of places. But they Discovery+ is “a great opportunity to do not have the portal experience of sell content that Discovery’s channels would not have bought even six months factual that we do.

“When you see charts around ago.” However, he adds that it’s “too connected televisions and how people early to say if it’s a gamechanger,” and use their time, what you’ll notice also shares Young’s concerns about a is the two that float really high are reduction in linear commissions from Netflix and YouTube. If you’re looking the group.

“Something you would never have for something to watch, you turn on Netflix or YouTube and browse around previously pitched to Discovery is and try to find something. We’re that now something they’re interested in,” for factual. People are going to watch Barrett says. “When you’re pitching Planet Earth with Discovery+, Our ideas to Nat Geo/Disney+, the focus Planet with Netflix and great HBO now is very much on whether it would docs. We’d be worried if they weren’t. work on the streaming service. Is this a But we have a better experience for brand that will work in D2C that we can put up in lights? I’ll be interested to see the full category.”

For Paul Heaney, the experienced if Discovery takes the same approach. founder of UK-based distributors I hope there is still a demand for linear Cineflix Rights and TCB Media Rights hours because these channels all who is now behind nascent factual commission hundreds of hours a year. distributor BossaNova, “our livelihood As the market moves more to D2C, do depends on Discovery+ working, and they still need that?

“Discovery has a vast catalogue we have to make sure it does.”

He continues: “They’re driving the of shows that haven’t gone into subs the same way Netflix did with distribution. Ten years ago, you drama. Right now, they need the big, used to see big Discovery shows zeitgeist, billboard-friendly, noisy on Channel 4 six months later; stuff – What Killed Maradona? Then now they’re all safeguarded for the eventually all aspects of unscripted streamer. If you get to a point where the focus is totally on D2C will have its place there. and linear becomes second, There isn’t a genre with a you might see it becomes greater breadth of budget about fewer hours, which than unscripted, and all the would be a problem.” gaps in the brickwork will be With its D2C strategy, filled in. I was holding my Discovery could well be breath waiting for the first giving with one hand subscriber figures, wanting and taking away with the it to be a success, but it other. In Discovery+, the looks like it’s on the way.” industry has a new buyer Karen Young, MD of with deep pockets looking another UK indie distributor, for unscripted content, Orange Smarty, strikes a potentially driving the more cautious tone, pointing genre in the same direction out that Discovery’s linear Netflix took drama. But channels around the world an overall move towards were previously prolific a ‘fewer, bigger, better’ buyers and commissioners commissioning strategy of content, and that may at a broadcaster whose now diminish. enormous bouquet of “Discovery has a huge linear channels has been global footprint of channels. From top: Devin meat-andThey’ll do what Netflix did, Emery, Karen Young providing drink commissions and see what works, commission and Paul Heaney acquisitions to producers more of that, then push it out and distributors for years is across the footprint, and that will mean that international footprint a potentially damaging change in tack.

However it shakes down for buys less overall. It’s important that distributors know how to segment our producers, you’d be a brave person rights and recognise their value. The to bet against David Zaslav getting worst thing to happen is you sell to the exactly what he wants.

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DEVELOPMENT SLATE: Glass Entertainment

With channels now so focused on their brands, are the days of shopping a project to multiple different networks over?

It’s so specific now. One network was only [interested in] ghosts for a while. We came in with an insane idea called I Had Sex With a Ghost. We go in, we pitch it, she looks back and says, “Oh, I hear that 10 times a day.” You realise that, because these networks are so specific, everybody is trying to think of a weird thing to put into that format. We have not had a lot of success with ghost networks because it’s hard to pitch without laughing.

But doesn’t that put your development costs through the roof ?

We’ve always developed a lot. We will develop 50 ideas a year. We do our development in different steps. We get an idea and we know the networks well enough to make a couple of calls before we go further. You used to make a reel and throw it to everybody – ‘spray and pray.’ Now, if we have an idea for History or Discovery, we make a few calls.

If one thinks it’s interesting, we develop; if they all reject it, we say no. We put a lot into development.

Do you anticipate moving further into premium docs?

Right now, we have a big music doc and a big crime doc in the works. Series are better for you economically and our podcast division has grown so much and is a priority. But we’re a company that doesn’t specialise in one thing. If it sells and people like it then we do it. We’re doing Lincoln: Divided We Stand and, at the same time, doing fiveminute episodes with a transgender wigmaker for Snapchat, with Cardi B farting through her whole episode. We have a range. It’s confusing to some people but it feels right for us.

How do you see 2021 panning out for your company?

It’s a complicated answer. Working from home, there are no more serendipitous acts of creativity.

You don’t walk into somebody in the lunch room and say, “What about this and that?” It’s only appointments now. Will we go back to a full office?

I suspect we won’t. Networks are also now thinking that if you were able to cut back and shoot more economically, why can’t you continue doing that?

Tell us about the origins of Lincoln: Divided We Stand.

When thinking of a new documentary series for CNN, you always want to tap into something that feels familiar but is actually unknown. Abraham Lincoln is the second most written-about person in the history of the world behind Jesus Christ, but most people only know the broad strokes about him. You know he grew up in a log cabin but you don’t know his father left him and his sister alone with nothing to eat when they were very young while he went out and got another wife because Lincoln’s mother had died.

His father beat him when he read because he

Channel21 International | Spring 2021

Polishing Glass Nancy Glass, CEO of US indie Glass Entertainment, discusses moving away from the ’spray and pray’ approach to development and the long-term impact of the pandemic.

Lincoln: Divided We Stand

didn’t want him to be educated, he wanted him working the fields. He sold him to other farmers to work for them. That’s just his childhood. The evolution of what made him believe slavery had to be abolished took a long time.

Does the current political climate in the US make this especially well timed?

We put this into production two years ago. Any time is relevant considering our political climate is so volatile.

How did you shoot the large recreation scenes during the Covid-19 pandemic?

It was a herculean effort with 150 people on set.

Everybody was tested, over and over again. We wore masks, we socially distanced. We took really careful measures, besides testing constantly and the masks and safe distances. Every meal was individually wrapped. Make-up was thrown out after each person used it. It’s complicated.

Everybody is in costumes, with everybody in different tents and costume areas. Nobody got sick.

We’re very grateful for that.

That presumably adds all kinds of costs and extra time?

It does, but to CNN’s credit they may have even asked us before we asked them. They were really careful and good about that.

“

Working from home, there are no more serendipitous acts of creativity. You don’t walk into somebody in the lunch room and say, “What about this and that?”

Nancy Glass

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AHEAD OF THE CURVE: True crime

True crime spree

The Pembrokeshire Murders

A

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What’s important is to find storylines that can sell internationally. Our true crime feature docs tend to focus on stories and crimes that are well known globally. In series, the universal appeal is also helped with the additional hook of key talent or experts.

Jonathan Ford Abacus

Channel21 International | Spring 2021

decade ago, watching true crime TV felt like a guilty pleasure, similar to catching up on a soap omnibus at the weekend instead of going for a bike ride. But the success of Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer in 2015 changed perceptions of the genre almost overnight. Today, scripted and non-scripted true crime shows have infiltrated every corner of the TV ecosystem, from high-volume returnable franchises on pay TV to schedule tentpoles on free TV and streaming platforms. Already in 2021, true crime has delivered watercooler shows such as BBC drama The Serpent and Netflix doc The Night Stalker.

Julie Meldal-Johnsen, exec VP of global content at ITV Studios, says her company has built up a “broad and deep range of true crime series” that is generating high ratings across all platforms and audience demographics.

“In drama, UK commercial channel ITV has had a run of strong performances with series like Des, White House Farm, Honour and The Pembrokeshire Murders, which was ITV’s highest-debuting new drama since 2006, with an audience of 11.2 million for its first episode in the week after launch. One thing worth noting about these shows is the calibre of cast they attract; actors including David Tennant, Keeley Hawes and Luke Evans. Another is the fact that they are drawing young audiences back to television.”

Alongside scripted, ITV’s true crime factual includes 24 Hours in Police Custody, Rose West & Myra Hindley: Their Untold Story and Madeleine McCann: The Hunt For The Prime Suspect. “We also have a one-off documentary called The Pembrokeshire Murders: Catching The Game Show Killer, which is a strong companion piece to the drama,” says Meldal-Johnsen. “The producers of the two collaborated closely and the doc has sold well off the back of the drama.”

Expanding on this point, the rise of scripted true crime has not adversely affected true crime documentary. From a production perspective, Netflix has gone into overdrive – with recent factual launches including The Ripper, The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, I Am A Killer and Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.

As for distribution, Rick Barker, head of sales at DCD Rights, says: “With both genres on our slate, we can

Firmly established as a key source for both premium documentaries and dramas on streamers, cable and FTA channels, true crime shows no sign of losing its popularity.

By Andy Fry confirm that true crime factual is booming and unstoppable.

Three factors play a key role with factual: access, expert testimony and riveting subjects. An example on our slate is Deadly Dates, which exposes internet dating stories that had tragic consequences.”

In part, says Barker, the growth of true crime is a consequence of the growing number of outlets seeking shows. But it’s also down to diversification in storytelling approach. “There is room for all forms and style of content, ranging from engaging one-offs such as I Shot My Parents to high-volume and returnable 10-part series such as Nurses Who Kill. Our docudrama franchise Real Detective is the kind of production that can easily sit in both a factual and a drama slot.”

Nevision creative director Anne Morrison agrees that true crime storytelling has evolved. “True crime shows used to reveal almost everything before the title sequences were finished, but now they deliver a more gradual reveal. As a result, the audience feels like it is learning alongside the investigators.”

In parallel, she says, true crime storytelling is benefiting from innovative production techniques: “Take Expectation Entertainment’s Murder 24/7, which looks at the reporting of murder cases in real time, or True Vision’s Catching a Killer, which follows the story from the initial emergency call to conviction. Both are authentic, immersive approaches that fascinate audiences.”

Morrison says one of the most significant recent trends in true crime has been greater emphasis on the victim’s perspective. This was evident in Netflix’s recent The Ripper, recounting the Yorkshire Ripper story, and also plays out in The Missing Children, a 3x45’ factual special for ITV, RTÉ and Topic.

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: True crime

Channel21 International | Spring 2021

ITV Studios’ Julie Meldal-Johnsen

German drama Dark Woods for ARD Degeto and NDR DCD Rights’ docudrama franchise Real Detective

“

True crime factual is booming and unstoppable.

Three factors play a key role with factual: access, expert testimony and riveting subjects.

Rick Barker DCD Rights

Produced by Nevision and True Vision, The Missing Children will investigate the Irish mother and baby home scandal which claimed the lives of 9,000 children. Focusing on a home in Tuam, County Mayo, where 796 babies are believed to have been buried in a septic tank, it will tell the powerful story of survivors and families uncovering the truth. “I’m not interested in projects that glorify crimes or stimulate fear in audiences,” says Morrison. “I’m more interested in telling stories from the victim perspective, exploring the impact on their lives.”

Morrison says this emphasis on the victim’s story has become so much easier in the era of social media: “Filmmakers have access to so many insights that allow them to build a picture of the lives of the victims. Netflix’s

American Murder: The Family Next Door is a good example of that.” So, for the record, are other Netflix hits Don’t F**k With Cats and Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.

UK-based Woodcut Media has established itself as a leading true crime producer, with series such as The Killer in My Family, How I Caught the Killer, World’s Most Evil Killers and The Krays: The Prison Years.

Business development director Koulla Anastasi, who joined the firm from Crime & Investigation Channel, agrees with Morrison and Barker that “there has been a shift in true crime away from documentaries that are purely biographical in approach. These days, producers have to use their access and archive to find a new way to tell stories.”

This might mean taking a more serialised approach or looking to create a different kind of emotional connection.

Woodcut productions Murder at My Door with Kym Marsh and Jo Frost on Killer Kids, for example, use TV celebrities to create an engaging narrative. “The Beverley Allitt Tapes, meanwhile, was built around 16 hours of interview tapes that had never been heard before,” says Anastasi. “It was so haunting to hear this young nurse who was convicted of the murder, attempted murder and GBH of 13 children under her care.”

Superficially, it might seem as though this kind of content would not have worked well during the Covid-19 pandemic, with audiences reported to be in search of escapism. But actually it has prospered, says Anastasi. “There was a dip during the first lockdown when big news events were taking precedence. But true crime then came back strongly. For many people, it is escapist TV.” There’s a strong Anglo-American vein to true crime but this doesn’t mean it lacks appeal in other regions. All3Media International, for example, has achieved strong sales u

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AHEAD OF THE CURVE: True crime

Channel21 International | Spring 2021

StudioCanal’s noir-ish Paris Police 1900

for Des in markets including Latin America, Australia and Scandinavia.

True crime plays a key role at recently launched distributor Abacus Media Rights. The company’s series slate includes Meet, Marry, Murder (52x60’) from FirstLook TV and The Real Manhunter (6x60’/2x90’) from Revelation Films. In the feature documentary space, its catalogue includes Last Man Standing: Suge Knight & the Murders of Biggie & Tupac (1x105’) from Nick Broomfield and My Name is Bulger (1x90’) from Fine Point Films and Below the Radar TV. Abacus founder and CEO Jonathan Ford says: “What’s important is to find storylines that can sell internationally.

Our true crime feature docs tend to focus on stories and crimes that are well known globally. In series, the universal appeal is also helped with the additional hook of key talent or experts. For example, In The Footsteps of Killers features actress Emilia Fox [Silent Witness], while former Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Colin Sutton is the writer and presenter of The Real Manhunter.”

In terms of content that originates outside Englishspeaking markets, current examples include Dark Woods, a ConradFilm and Bavaria Fiction scripted production for ARD Degeto and NDR. This show explores the real-life 1989 disappearance of a woman who was the sister of a high-ranking German police officer. Maren Knieling, executive producer on the series, says: “Crime fascinates viewers and true crime is the icing on top. When watching true crime, you are facing your worst fears as a crime is possible in your world. This charges emotions and widens the experience, making the fascination universal.”

Dark Woods was a big hit in Germany, with 17 million viewers watching the show in linear primetime. Knieling says distributor Global Screen has also started securing international sales: “On top of its gripping crime story, Dark Woods is a family drama that gives the victim’s perspective.

The event series portrays the deep distress her loss causes her family over the course of almost 30 years.”

ITV’s White House Farm

With the exception of The Serpent, distributed by ITV Studios, true crime shows are generally domestic in subject matter. But Knieling sees no reason why the genre can’t be the subject of creative coproduction. “Leaving aside the financial reasons for a coproduction, crime is not limited by border. Its gripping narrative can reach a global audience and make collaborations organic.”

Many of the current crop of true crime projects dig back into stories from the 1970s to the 1990s – long ago enough not to run into legal issues but recent enough to still be in the audience’s consciousness and also have living contributors.But can the genre reach further back in time? Is it accurate, for example, to characterise a show like StudioCanal’s Paris Police 1900 as true crime? “It might be,” says creator Fabien Nury. “But I would probably define it as period noir.

There are elements of true crime to start with, but it remains a work of fiction. The identity of the murderer, and the links between the case and other historical facts, are invented. It is more like The Black Dahlia than In Cold Blood.”

Part of the challenge when trying to fuse true crime with period storytelling is maintaining factual accuracy. “The French Belle Epoque is a well-documented era, but you simply can’t recreate its reality on screen,” says Nury. “I try to do solid research, but I always have to make choices between different accounts of what happened. And the language has changed so much as well.”

In part, the rise of true crime-based drama is driven by a desire to tell stories that couldn’t otherwise be explored – for example, where the central character is dead. But even where this isn’t the rationale, Nury stresses there is a lot of value in basing storytelling on factual events. “The characters, situations and stakes I find with research are usually more powerful than the ones I invent,” he says. “In Paris Police 1900, I had to deliver an epic noir series, not a true crime. But I brought up the true elements because history beats my own imagination by a mile.”

Truth, as they say, is always stranger than fiction.

Maren Knieling

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CHANNEL PROFILE: OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network

Channel21 International | Spring 2021

Going its OWN way Oprah’s Harry and Meghan interview

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alkshow icon Oprah Winfrey’s OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network is looking to continue growing its slate of relationship reality series as well as enter new territory with Discovery+ crossover content.

Robyn Lattaker-Johnson, OWN’s head of unscripted development, programming and specials, flags up the success of relationship reality shows, which are proving a huge hit for the cablenet and currently dominate its Friday and Saturday schedules.

“The company has been through a lot of tonal shifts since the beginning to find the footing and see what works. But in the past few years on our linear network what’s really been working for us is relationship reality,” she says.

OWN was launched as a joint venture with factual giant Discovery Communications and Winfrey’s prodco Harpo Productions in 2011.

Since then, Discovery has upped its stake in the network to 95%.

The arrival of Discovery’s fledgling streamer Discovery+, which rolled out in the UK, Ireland and India in December and launched in the US in January, is also opening up opportunities for OWN to grow

US cablenet OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network is eyeing a broader range of content along with new opportunities opening up thanks to the launch of Discovery+.

By Ruth Lawes

its reach and enter unchartered territory.

“We’re going to be able to cross over into lanes that we wouldn’t necessarily be able to do on our linear platform because of Discovery. This is not just home and food shows but also adventure, exploration and some nature programming,” says Havva Eisenbaum, VP of programming and development at OWN. Branching out into investigative programming creates new openings for the cablenet, adds Eisenbaum: “There’s an opportunity on Discovery+ for us to find something that lives somewhere between the

OWN brand and the Investigation Discovery brand that can serve both of our audiences.”

“We might get a pitch – I’m going to make something up – around a group of women that hunt. Four months ago, that would not have made any real sense and would not have a place on OWN. But today, that’s a story that could actually work on Discovery,” Lattaker-Johnson explains.

Last fall saw OWN expand its successful unscripted programming block focused on love and relationships, adding Friday nights to an already popular Saturday line-up and launching two new shows.

“

We’re serving a mature audience – but still a very youthful and hip one. Just because we are a little bit older doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy good TV. Robyn Lattaker-Johnson OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network

One of these was relationship show Put a Ring On It, produced by Will Packer Media and Lighthearted Entertainment, which aired on Fridays on the network from late October. It follows three longterm couples as they embark on an experiment with the help of relationship coach Dr Nicole LaBeach.

Where OWN differs from its competitors in the relationship reality space is that it wants its shows to achieve resolution. “Every single episode, every story arc, all the character development, we’re making sure that we give our audience this hope for reconciliation, resolution and healing,” says Lattaker-Johnson.

“That’s a big part of what we do that’s different from some of the other networks that also play in that lane of reality.”

When it comes to its shows, Lattaker-Johnson says OWN prefers large casts. “Ensemble docs are working better for us now, as opposed to single-topic, single-family, singleworkplace shows,” she says. “We’re looking for series that have multiple layers so there is depth in the story.

We’re also focusing very heavily on sisterhood.”

For larger dating reality shows, on

CHANNEL PROFILE: OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network

Channel21 International | Spring 2021

the highest end of the scale, OWN will pay up to US$400,000, according to Lattaker-Johnson. “We typically programme in hours,” she says. “On the hour-long side, depending on the type of show, we don’t go higher than US$400,000, but that’s on the high side. This also does not include Covid costs.”

According to Lattaker-Johnson, OWN was the first network under the Discovery umbrella to shut down production in March 2020 when the pandemic first took hold. Today, OWN and Discovery each have a set of guidelines for future productions.

Meanwhile, OWN is eyeing current affairs – an unsurprising move given its founder’s ability to set the news agenda, as demonstrated by her recent explosive interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, which smashed TV ratings for CBS in March.

Describing OWN’s audience as “heavy media and news consumers,” Lattaker-Johnson says a “news magazine-style show” is high on the commissioning agenda. “We really want to create a pipeline in this news magazine space. Seeking justice or investigation or human interest, those are the types of stories that could live in that world,” she says.

In fact, programming across the board must mirror OWN’s core audience. According to the network’s research, viewers are largely African American women aged between 35 and 70 who live in the southern US. “Our sweet spot is probably 4555. That’s really what we’re aiming for with any given show, whether it’s scripted or unscripted. What that means is we’re serving a mature audience – but still a very youthful and hip one. These women love their drama and their reality television.

Just because we are a little bit older doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy good TV,” Lattaker-Johnson says.

“What is important is that we don’t really focus on the 20-yearold demographic so much, although when we can find cross-generational content it is very good for us.”

The geographical breakdown of OWN’s audience plays a key role in the choosing of onscreen talent and contributors. Like its viewers, who want to see themselves reflected on the small screen, they often hail from southern states, says LattakerJohnson.

Unsurprisingly, the spirit of media mogul Winfrey, who has inspired millions across the globe, runs deep into the programming elsewhere.

Eisenbaum describes the overall feel

Top: Kirk and Tammy Franklin in Behind Every Man. Left: Put A Ring On It. Above: Programming and development chief Havva Eisenbaum

of content on OWN as “inspirational rather than aspirational.”

“Aspirational gets confused with celebrity and having a lot of money, and being like a Bravo character, which is not really where our programming lives,” she says.

An example of an inspirational series with intention is Behind Every Man, from Carlos King’s prodco Kingdom Reign Entertainment and LostNThought Productions.

The show airs on Saturdays and premiered in November, with each episode focusing on a different woman who played an instrumental but unseen role in the success of a famous man. Subjects include singer Usher’s ‘momager’ (mother and manager) Jonnetta Patton and Tammy Franklin, the wife of gospel artist Kirk Franklin.

OWN is also seeking more shows that fall into the premium documentary category, like Behind Every Man. “Because of Discovery, we are definitely looking for more premium docs that we could potentially commission. For the most part, though, and for the linear brand, we don’t typically commission documentaries,” explains LattakerJohnson.

When it comes to pitching to the network, both Lattaker-Johnson and Eisenbaum recommend Discovery’s online producers’ portal. While producers are unable to upload documents or pitch materials through the portal, they can include links with passwords, says Eisenbaum, adding that tape is “always welcome.”

Lattaker-Johnson says: “Typically, for series, we would see things in the

early stages, in the pitch form, and then if we love it we will commission a development deal and be involved in the creative process. If it’s something that a producer is looking for a licence on, it’s always nice to get a sneak peek just to make sure that it feels right for us. We probably won’t commission a licence until we’ve got the finished product, or at least the pre-sound design material.”

On the coproduction front, OWN tends to work with other Discovery networks. “It is easier when they are internal copros with other Discovery networks. But we do look at other copros,” Lattaker-Johnson says.

Robyn Lattaker-Johnson and Havva Eisenbaum were speaking at December’s online World Congress of Science and Factual Producers.

15

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CHANNEL PROFILE: HRT

Channel21 International | Spring 2021

Taken to HRT

Croatian pubcaster HRT wants to broaden its slate of uplifting lifestyle and history documentaries. By Ruth Lawes

F

ollowing a year that has seen Croatia contend with the coronavirus pandemic and a series of devastating earthquakes, HRT is on the hunt for content that will comfort audiences, according to head of documentaries Mira Vočinkić.

“We are taking great care with what we commission and are trying to provide shows that will cheer people up, as they have enough happening in their lives to stress about. We want escapist shows that will distract audiences from what is going on around them,” she says.

HRT was not only hit by the global public health crisis last year but natural disasters as well. The earthquakes of 2020, which left thousands of people without homes, led to a drop in licence fee payments while lockdowns put a stop to local productions.

TV shows shuttered due to Covid included the Croatian versions of hit competition format Dancing with the Stars, created by the UK’s BBC Studios, and ITV Studios’ singing format The Voice.

“Sometimes I think I am a magician because of our limited budget, which didn’t and couldn’t have predicted the current situation. Our domestic production, particularly the big shows, which were very popular with our audiences, suffered because of the pandemic. I can’t buy more but we’re doing the best we can with what we have to fill in the gaps and have a satisfied audience,” Vočinkić says.

With 200 slots per month over three channels allocated to documentaries, Vočinkić says she is looking to commission a variety of content but is particularly eyeing shows that focus on pop culture icons and music.

In this bracket, Vočinkić cites fourpart docuseries Punk, produced

by Network Entertainment and first commissioned by US cablenet Epix, as an example of a show that performed well on HRT. Covering the punk movement, the series features artists such as Iggy Pop, Johnny Rotten, Debbie Harry and Marky Ramone. “When I first [picked up] the series, I wasn’t sure as I normally buy single documentaries for the slot it was in. I wasn’t sure if the show would work for almost a month, as it had four episodes. But it worked and it was popular. I believe there will be a rerun,” she says.

Other recent and “incredibly popular” purchases include cultural docuseries This is Opera (30x52’), coproduced by Barcelona-based film and television production house Brutal Media, Spanish pubcaster Televisión Española and UNITEL, and This is Art, coproduced by Brutal Media and Televisió de Catalunya with pay platform Movistar.

“The language it’s in is not important at all, as we can arrange subtitles,” Vočinkić says. “My job is to find the best content wherever it may come from, and hopefully provide some comfort to audiences during these difficult times.”

Elsewhere, Vočinkić has been increasing commissions in the areas of cooking, gardening and DIY as audiences embark on home improvement projects during lockdown and seek advice and expertise.

Programmes that feature UK gardening presenter Alan Titchmarsh, famous for shows including BBC garden makeover programme Ground Force and more recently ITV’s Love Your Garden, are sought by HRT. “I have a lot of documentaries with Alan Titchmarsh; he is really popular here. This is because everything he

Croatian favourite Alan Titchmarsh

does is with so much emotion – even just picking up soil in his hand – and that resonates with audiences,” she explains.

Travel programmes and gameshows are also highly sought after by HRT, with a slot on Tuesdays dedicated to airing talent-fronted travelogues.

“We want to show people the world,” Vočinkić says. “We want to give people a chance to dream about exotic places and travel even when they’re currently stuck at home.”

Quiz formats also continue to draw in audiences, adds Vočinkić. Classic US show Jeopardy!, which originally aired on NBC between 1964 and 1975 and has been in syndication for more than 35 years, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, created by UK company Celador, remain popular, she says.

Meanwhile, shows about history have had a tonal shift, Vočinkić says.

Instead of documentaries about the grimmer side of humanity, Vočinkić is on the look-out for “softer” content.

“On Sunday, we usually air history documentaries and often in the past they have been about wars or violence. But now, in their place, I’m trying to broadcast documentaries like biographies of Agatha Christie or Coco Chanel.”

“

We are taking great care with what we commission and are trying to provide shows that will cheer people up, as they have enough happening in their lives to stress about.

Mira Vočinkić HRT

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