Unscripted execs point to brands and self-commissioning as ways around broadcaster commissioning delays
Commissioners have been urged to “open their eyes” to the potential of ad-funded programming (AFP) as unscripted execs look for ways to get shows into production.
The growth of brand-funded content was a topic for a session at MIA in Rome, and Banijay’s Carlotta Rossi Spencer said the genre was becoming more widely accepted, particularly with broadcasters facing unscripted budget squeezes,
“There has been a lot of snobbery about it in some countries… but that’s changing,” the MasterChef group’s head of branded entertainment told Broadcast International.
Rossi Spencer pointed to Maître Chocolatier, a brand-funded culinary show from Banijay producer Nonpanic produced for Sky Italia’s TV8, which was supported by confectionary brand Lindt.
The show ran for two seasons and helped to drive interest in the AFP model, she said, with ITV Studios’ Cecilie Olsen pointing to a similar experience with South Shore’s Dress the Nation for ITV.
The series, which sees contestants vying to design new outfits with retailer M&S, was extended into a second run by ITV in September and expands the companies’ partnership following Cooking With The Stars, which is into its fifth season.
“Dress The Nation is just a really good reality show,” said Olsen, ITVS’s senior vice president of global content, non-scripted, pointing to its ability to engage viewers and bring them into the production to provide feedback.
“That’s what’s happening on Instagram, brands asking whether their potential customers like this colour or that colour. That sort of feedback is vital for brands.”
Rossi Spencer added that she is now nudging brands into looking at pure digital plays for AFP, because demos can be targeted via platforms such as YouTube.
“With branded content you do need a lot of people to agree, the commissioning line is a bit longer than on a normal show, but at the end of the day it works for a lot of stakeholders.”
Gerbrig Blanksma, Blue Ant Media’s senior vice president of international sales and partnerships, added that her company is looking to navigate delays around unscripted by co-commissioning and even greenlighting projects themselves.
She said its first two self-commissioned shows - archaeology series Buried Evidence and mystery show History Unsolved - would hit Mipcom next week and underlined the direction of travel for Blue Ant.
“We know they will hit the mark for certain broadcasters and that is how we mitigate the risk,” she added, while pointing to co-commissioning decisions that have helped shows such as Cold War Spies move into production.
No comments yet