Digital firms go back to the future

There’s no doubt we have entered a brave new world of video content, but sometimes there are more than a few echoes of the past.

Facebook briefed more than 20 UK indies about its programming requirements at Natpe in Miami last week with a very clear appointment-to-view message. Given that the social media giant referenced ABC’s The Bachelor, which has just begun its 22nd season on ABC, it is not trying to reinvent the wheel.

Similarly, when Broadcast saw a briefing note about Apple’s non-scripted requirements late last year, it cited The Amazing Race and American Idol as indicators of its ambitions, alongside Making A Murderer and The Jinx.

And a snapshot of the content being offered by digital pioneer Netflix late last year revealed something not a millions miles away from a linear schedule: it had new eps of Star Trek Discovery landing on the Monday, Designated Survivor on Thursday, The Good Place on Friday and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on Saturday.

”Perhaps the most exciting opportunities are where new platforms and established formats intersect”

Okay, those shows are acquired rather than originated content, but Netflix wasn’t trying to hide that the full series weren’t available – instead it was revelling in the release dates.

It is too simplistic to claim that Netflix, Apple and Facebook just want rehashed versions of existing TV shows and are not demonstrating ambition, but neither are their requirements so far removed that they are out of reach of most successful British indies.

Perhaps the most exciting opportunities are where new platforms and established formats intersect.

A very senior production and distribution exec was explaining this to me recently: imagine the power of a short-form gameshow that could drop live onto the Facebook platform at the same time, seven days a week. If only the tiniest percentage of its vast global user base were to tune in, it would equate to a huge audience.

The conversation also turned to the balancing act that producers must strike in terms of keeping both traditional broadcasters and their new digital rivals happy. If there is less distinction between what both parties want, choosing where to take ideas is tricky.

Producers need to factor in who will make the bigger offer, what rights can be retained, and the value and volume of other business they could hope to do with the customer.

The opportunities facing producers come with many questions attached: would you want your gameshow to be a smash on ITV or Facebook? Is Discovery or Apple the best home for a new natural history epic?

It will be interesting to explore whether producers can develop slates that satisfy both independently, or whether the competition for ideas is set to intensify even further.

Chris Curtis is the editor of Broadcast