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Documentary Business

Peter Hamilton Consultants, Inc

Reality Television

Reality Television Information by Peter Hamilton. His expertise is reality television, reality television production, reality tv budgets, pitching reality tv & producing reality tv.

Reelz Explodes into the Top-Tier of U.S. Networks. How They Did It! A Pact Webinar

Reelz is currently the most-watched U.S. entertainment network on Fridays and Saturdays. It has not just grown, but exploded into a top-tier service — and in a matter of weeks! Veteran programming executive and respected senior consultant Dan Salerno continues his unique, deeply-researched strategic analysis of U.S. network schedules. How does the success of On …

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How to Find and Manage Reality TV Stars: My Newsweek Interview

Newsweek‘s Shannon Power interviewed me about the secret sauce of successful Reality TV talent. That’s a very relevant subject as streamers pull back from costly dramatic series and A-lister feature docs as they explore classic entertainment formats. Here is Shannon’s very worthwhile report, with links below to my earlier reports on Talent Management 101: By …

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How to Pitch Your Documentary & Reality Series to Streamers & Channels. Webinar with Steve Harris, Veteran Exec & Producer. Tues June 28, 10am/Pacific

Steve Harris bursts with inspiring insights into the pitching process. He has a gift for breaking out the key qualities for a successful pitch. As my charismatic, globe-trotting co-presenter, Steve has shared his insider knowledge to grateful producers at WESTDOC (LA), AIDC (Adelaide), Sunny Side (La Rochelle), and more. He draws on his veteran experience …

How to Pitch Your Documentary & Reality Series to Streamers & Channels. Webinar with Steve Harris, Veteran Exec & Producer. Tues June 28, 10am/Pacific Read More »

Netflix 2023 What You Need To Know Now


Top 100 UK Documentaries in 2021: Attenborough and familiar talent stand out in a 2nd troubled year of Covid

The BBC dominates the Top 10 most viewed Factual programs in the UK for 2021. The mix of documentary and lifestyle programs is led by the Attenborough-narrated A Perfect Planet, with more than 7 million viewers and nearly 30% share. Storm Clouds: This week, the troubled Boris Johnson government announced an ominous overhaul of the BBC’s …

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Fading U.S. Channels: How steep is their audience decline in the streaming era?

Variety Intelligence recently published Fading Ratings, featuring a useful series of charts that captures the downward audience trend over five-to-seven years of several portfolios of U.S. networks. The starting points are 2014 or 2016. All screenshots were taken from the report. SVOD’s Rising: The context-setting chart highlights the rise of Netflix and the top subscription …

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News Roundup: Climate Change Documentaries Breaking Through?

The COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference opens in Glasgow on October 31, bringing urgency to the race to save our planet. Documentary commissioners, producers and distributors have responded with lots of new orders. Does global warming have the urgent audience appeal of programs that address hot button issues like true crime, gender, and social …

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Netflix 2023 What You Need To Know Now


Nielsen’s Streaming Ratings 2020: Positive Takeaways for the Documentary / Unscripted Sector

Nielsen released their Top 10 Streamed Programs for 2020 (U.S.) in three categories: Originals, Acquisitions and Movies. Their key metric is Minutes-Streamed-per-Show. In the Originals category, the Top 10 is led by OZARK with 30.5 billion views in 2020. TIGER KING is #4 with 15.6 billion views. When I looked deeper into the data, I …

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President Trump to pardon Netflix’s Joe Exotic, the Tiger King?

Today’s New York Times links two stars of Reality TV in a report about the U.S. president’s end-of-term power of clemency. Donald Trump (The Apprentice / NBC) is being lobbied to pardon Joseph Maldonado-Passage (Tiger King / Netflix). “Others seeking creative ways to forge ties to the president include Joseph Maldonado-Passage, the former Oklahoma zoo …

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