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15.11.13 MusicWeek 21
comparison to the perhaps ‘safer’ choices of the likes of C4 with the two pop quiz type shows they trailed earlier this year - how does it benefit Sky to have such daring music programming? Our focus is on our Sky customers and we’re not governed by overnight ratings, which the terrestrial broadcasters are. That allows us to cater for the interests and passions of a whole host of different groups of people. Music in the past used to be defined as almost a
tribal thing - you were either a rocker, a prog rock person or you were into punk. Now you hear kids are into Oasis and their dads will probably say, “Listen to this lot,” and play them The Beatles or the Stones. People’s knowledge of music - because a lot of it is so easy to access now - has changed, and their collections are incredibly diverse. I don’t think anyone is typecast as they once were. There’s a whole host of people who have as much 70s rock, 80s disco and Mozart in their TV collections as anyone else would have on their iPod. People are not narrow in their sensibilities and Sky Arts reflects that, this is why we can go right across the board. We’re happy to do all this stuff because BBC, ITV and Channel 4 increasingly don’t. We provide that point of difference.
You’ve done quite a lot in the past on André Rieu and have just announced a new series, why is he such a big focus? I identified André some years ago and remember sending one of the schedulers to Berlin to see him perform. He came back and said, “God he’s amazing.” We got in touch and bought 10 of his concerts, then went back and bought five more - last year we had 26 of his concerts on the channel and those are the biggest rating shows that we run on Sky Arts 2, so much so that we ran a whole themed fortnight. We re-named Sky Arts 2 Sky Arts Rieu for the two weeks because we had all this material and ran things back to back. It was a huge success, in the two week period 1.8 million viewers tuned in. You only have to look at all of his stats to realise that he’s a genius in what he does and understands his market so brilliantly, we’re just
“André Rieu accounts for nearly 40% 0f the commercial impact on that channel. I imagine that the audience we have are very attractive to advertisers” JAMES HUNT, SKY ARTS
thrilled to give him a showcase. When we thought about the new ten part series
with him – which looks at all the aspects of his life as well as all the performances - we couldn’t have been happier. This guy is bigger than Beyonce, Coldplay, Elton John, Madonna and Lady Gaga – he outsells them all. He sells out The O2 Arena, GMEX and venues all around the world. He’s an absolute phenomena and I think that’s why he’s the most loved person on Sky Arts 2. To have this exclusive series has been fantastic. He is a very key guy to us. The amount of people that have viewed his concerts on the channel is staggering.
How much does the music programming attract in terms of advertising? Vast amounts. I don’t know what the exact figures are but André Rieu on Sky Arts 2 accounts for nearly 40% of the commercial impact on that channel. We’re sponsored by Nexus and it’s not my field of expertise but I imagine that the audience we have are very attractive to advertisers - 50+, ABC1’s and affluent.
So if the audience is there, and the advertising is there, why don’t you have big competition from ITV, BBC and Channel 4? ITV, BBC and Channel 4 do what they do, it’s not for me to tell them how to run their sweet shop, but I don’t actually think there has been a decline [in music TV programming] to be honest. I see quite a lot of music on Fridays on BBC4, the Proms coverage on BBC2 and BBC4. Though I’m not sure whether there’s a great deal on Channel 4 and ITV. Music is really important to us because we’re
about showcasing good stuff and we know that there’s a big appetite for that and we’re increasing the appetite. You only have to look at the
ABOVE Diverse line-up: [Top] Nile Rodgers in the hot seat on Sky Arts’ Music Talks. [Bottom] André Rieu - pictured here with Dame Vera Lynn - is “the most loved person on Sky Arts 2,” according to channel director James Hunt
proliferation of music festivals to realise that, and it’s for performance - that’s what we’re really interested in showcasing. We took six hours of coverage from the Isle of Wight Festival, Download Festival, Rewind, Benicassim and a whole list of others. The Glastonbury coverage from the BBC was record viewing for them so it’s still important.
Do you think the music industry has utilised TV as a promotional tool and you as a channel enough? What we want to do on the channel is just showcase great people and I don’t think that it’s about promotion necessarily. From our perspective, Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac - that’s just good stuff whenever you play it. If that makes people go out and buy Rumours, fine. Equally, Andrea Bocelli is an amazing performer and if you see a concert of his on Sky Arts and that makes you go out and download the CD, that’s fine.
Looking forward, do you have any plans for any more music programmes coming up? We’ve got three or four projects that are hugely exciting in terms of music, and it’s right across the board from musicals to looking at archival stuff, so they’re works in progress. Our two big things in the run up to Christmas are Talks Music and André Rieu for Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2.
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