Steve Hewlett
Monday October 11, 2004
The Guardian
Children's television is a mega global business. Some of the multimillion-dollar numbers involved are enough to bring tears (of joy, that is) to the eyes of the most hardened City investor. So what are we to make of the news that ITV, Britain's premier commercial broadcaster, is considering selling its children's airtime to Nickelodeon?
On the face of it, Britain's most commercial broadcaster has failed to grasp the major commercial opportunities offered by one of the most lucrative areas of the television business. In reality, there are three interrelated factors behind its thoughts of selling - the broken-backed ownership of ITV pre-merger with the attendant role of the Network Centre, the profoundly unhelpful approach of the old regulator (the ITC) and the nature of the children's business itself.
To take the last first. Much children's TV is funded by merchandising and about 80% of the revenues are from off TV. In other words, ad revenue is nowhere near the most significant revenue stream associated with this type of programming. In effect, TV is the shop window for sales of branded goods - toys, pyjamas, paper plates, potties - you name it and I bet there's one with a Pokémon on it.
Broadcasters have responded to this in two main ways. Either they have used the value of their airtime - the shop window - to force down the price they pay producers for the programming or they have sought to play the whole game themselves by originating the programming and using their own airwaves as effectively as possible to create a market for the attendant merchandising. At one extreme, it is not unusual in the US for broadcasters to charge producers a fee and demand a share of their other revenues in exchange for broadcasting their children's programmes. At the other, there is the BBC, which has turned Teletubbies and Tweenies into global money-spinners. It has organised the use of its airwaves so its properties get the maximum and most effective exposure, especially at key times (such as the lead up to Christmas), making it the UK's most effective commercial kids player by far.
ITV, meanwhile, is stuck in the terrestrial space alone with no dedicated children's channel, still paying over the odds for programmes that go on to make other people lots of money and unable to grasp the whole value chain in the the way the BBC has. To ITV, children's programmes are loss-makers - the advertising revenue barely covers the cost - and the requirement to do them at all is part of what it regards as overburdensome regulatory obligations.
There are broadly two reasons for this - both historical and to some degree beyond ITV's control. First, the programmes ITV made were not owned by the network but by the then individual companies, such as Granada or Carlton. The network could be judged only in terms of ad revenue - it had no share in the ultimate value of the property beyond its immediate value to the ITV schedule.
Second, there is the role played by the then regulator - the ITC. The idea, which still underpins so much regulation, that commercial activity must always be separate from editorial content, was played out in the children's arena in the most ostrich-like fashion. Programmes were not allowed, for instance, if merchandise related to the characters was already in the shops. But these rules didn't apply to foreign acquisitions or the BBC. This amounted to a wilful failure to understand the dynamics of the marketplace and hobbled ITV.
In fairness, not all ITV's required kids' programmes can be regarded as big potential moneyspinners. General entertainment and factual shows featuring real kids (as opposed to merchandisable characters) may have extra value as formats internationally, but are not in the Power Rangers, Sponge Bob or Teletubbies league. Nevertheless the fact is that ITV has been unable to turn its children's block into the valuable asset it could have been, which might have sustained and nurtured ITV's considerable contribution to public service children's programming for the future.
But back to reality. ITV still sees its children's block through ad sales' eyes as a liability and has failed to establish a presence in the multichannel marketplace so beloved of many young viewers and as such is some way behind the pack. So maybe that's it - game over, bring on Nick or Disney? Shame though.
SOURCE: http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,7558,1324122,00.html
Young People's Media Network
Coordinator
European Centre for Media Competence
Bergstrasse 8
D-45770 Marl
Germany
Mobile: +49 176 23107083
Fax: +49 12 125 125 21981
Email: cschuepp@unicef.org
URL: www.unicef.org/magic
Mailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/youthful-media
____________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment