SVOD OPPORTUNITIES
FACTUAL TV
chief Jen Kim flagged projects when speaking at the Edinburgh International TV festival in August. Meanwhile, niche broadcasters such as wildlife SVOD Love Nature or US-based horror platform Shudder are keen to take a slice, but not the whole pie. Based in the US, co-founder of Drag Race
production company World of Wonder, Randy Barbato says, “the expansion of outlets just means that everyone is even more keen (translation… desperate) for something that will cut through the ever-increasing clutter.” Despite the success of Drag Race, the production company couldn’t raise the interest it wanted for connected ideas, so they launched their own platform, World Presents Plus. The SVoD has found a market and is now beginning to look at working with like-minded producers, with the launch of Wow Docs. One of the appeals of owning the platform is the retention of rights. Barbato’s co-founder Fenton Bailey says, “we retain IP when we produce for Wow Presents Plus and that is certainly part of the appeal, because nobody is interested in sharing IP. Nobody. “ As the SVOD picture begins to come into focus,
there are chinks of light in IP-sharing when it comes to international rights, where services are limited by territory. In Asia, Bilibili has signed a deal with BBC Studios and is co-producing The Green Planet, Dynasties II and The Mating Game. In some cases, Netflix has bought pieces of IP, notably with The Circle being available in limited territories. And there’s Amazon’s purchase of Love Island, for one country only. “Maybe they’re thinking differently about the things they’re buying and need to become more local in their thinking,” says Olsen.
DISCOVERY ENTERS THE SVOD ARENA
With details to be uncovered in December, Discovery president and ceo David Zaslav has said that the roll-out of the Discovery SVoD will include “a huge amount of original content.” The SVoD, will differentiate from other global players, says Zaslav, with a focus on local programming, including sport and news. As well as a library of programming, including a raft of established lifestyle franchises, Discovery agreed a £300m deal in 2019 with the BBC for natural history and science shows to run on Discovery’s global service across ten years. The BBC deal is a cornerstone, but not a natural history endgame. Discovery’s Serengeti series from John Downer, which premiered last year was the highest rated natural history on the Discovery Channel in six or seven years. “We want to be strong and relevant on all platforms,” says Howard Swartz, the svp of Production and Development for Docs and Specials at the
Discovery Channel “So each project that comes to us and we are excited about, there is a serious discussion on where it will work best.” Speaking at Wildscreen in October, Swartz said that his doors were open for landmark films, as well as those with a conservation focus or character- driven approach. Swartz also talked about the new Undiscovered strand, for stories that are “more contemporary and more eventised…with a filter of trying to rewrite the history books.” First up is The Lost Lincoln, tracking the attempt to authenticate a newly surfaced picture of Abraham Lincoln on his deathbed and Everest’s Greatest Mystery, a quest to find the lost camera that could establish the first men to climb Everest. Swartz confirmed that upcoming feature docs would be part of the SVoD launch. “There’s a lot of opportunity as we get ready to launch our direct to consumer product.” The brief for feature docs is for stand-out, stories that celebrate key anniversaries, world changing events and present day investigations. “Working with the best film- makers, being edgier and skewing a bit younger, but staying in the Discovery wheel-house.”
Winter 2020
televisual.com
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