Best Specialist Channel Shortlisted
Eden Eden had a strong 2011, peaking with a special season of shows and school partnerships to celebrate Sir David Attenborough’s 85th birth- day. The channel also hosted a live Q&A with natural history expert and presenter Ben Fogle, giving online viewers the chance to pose their own questions through social media platforms.
Food Network UK The launch of Food Network UK on Freeview gave the channel an instant boost to its audi- ence figures, taking it to 3.5 million viewers a month. Last year saw the introduction of Brit- ish talent Andy Bates and Reza Mohammad to its otherwise largely US-dominated output.
Horse & Country TV Horse & Country is a slick operator that includes sporting events alongside lifestyle programmes designed to appeal to the whole horse-riding community. Key successes this year included eight-part AFP Getting To Green- wich, and signing Dean Dibsdall, the winner of E4 series Playing It Straight.
At The Races T
his premium racing channel was the judges’ clear favourite, despite tough competition from the other
runners and riders in the category. The channel, which provides a mixture of news and racing coverage, had a great 2011, expanding its output to include program- ming from Australia and South Africa, as well as its existing reports from the US. In 2011, it developed into a 24-hour
service rather than just a channel, with more than 1 million unique users signed up to
Attheraces.com, and fea- tures including the ATR Predictor for pre-race analysis and the ATR Horse Tracker, which gives updates on some 88,000 horses. It also dipped its toe into 3D, commis-
sioning, producing and editing its first stereoscopic feature for British Champi- ons Day at Ascot in October, which was licenced to Sky for broadcast on its 3D channel. At The Races developed new programme formats such as the Friday evening Get In Show, helping to build subscribers and viewers to a monthly figure of 2 million.
10 | Broadcast Digital Awards | 22 June 2012 The judges said At The Races’ had a
reach with which some terrestrials would be happy. It could now claim to be “truly specialist without becoming too niche”. They also loved how the channel talked “directly to its viewers”, noting that interactivity played “a key role in its strategy”.
‘A great example of digital storytelling moving from TV to web, to a clever
iPhone app’ Awards judge
But it was At The Races’ all-round
approach, particularly its digital engage- ment, that helped it edge ahead in the category. In the words of one judge, it was “spot-on for targeted audience appeal, both on the channel and its online support”. A second said it was “a great example of digital storytelling moving from TV to web, to a clever iPhone app – a shining beacon of commercial imagina- tion in these lean times.”
www.broadcastnow.co.uk
Syfy Having carved out a successful niche, Syfy built on its rebrand and won a growing audience. It offered UK premieres of series such as Ware- house 13, Lost Girl and Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil – as well as running high-profile stunts such as an entire weekend dedicated to Buffy, which gave ratings an 84% uplift. The channel also made great gains on social media platforms.
Highly Commended
Horror Channel The judges loved the chutzpah of The Horror Channel and its deep knowledge of its audi- ence. While working on a lower budget than some channels in this category, they felt it pro- duced well-curated seasons, as well as original programming such as presenter Emily Booth’s Horror Bites. Audience engagement included its support of UK festival Fright Fest. As one judge noted, the channel “showed a real understand- ing of its audience and a sense of fun that appeals beyond the hardcore fans of the genre”.
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