PIN-POINTING THE GREEN LIGHTS
Where can you find the suppliers to U.S. Factual networks?
- New York?
- LA?
- London?
- Are there other centers of development and production?
Are there different sourcing practices amongst:
- Established channels and digi-nets?
- Documentary and Reality channels?
These questions matter:
- For networks:
- Where should you locate LBA, Development and other resources?
- For producers:
- Where are you most likely to get on the networks’ radars?
- Should you establish offices or representation in multiple locations?
- For young professionals:
- Where is production scaled so that it promises entry level work?
Methodology
- We surveyed the Upfront and other programming announcements for 2010/2111
- We tracked down the locations of the cited producers
- We put them in 5 buckets:
- LA
- New York
- Other U.S. (mainly Washington DC)
- London (usually with an office in LA or NY)
- Other International (mainly Canada and Australia, and usually a ‘player’ like Canada’s Cineflix with a U.S operation)
- Caution: this is a valuable sensitivity analysis: It is based on extensive data. But it is not a comprehensive survey of network schedules
Snapshot
Here are the findings for a sample of 8 of the 25+ channels that we surveyed:
| HQ | LA | NY | Other US | UK | Other Intl | |
| History | NY | 52% | 20% | 7% | 17% | 4% |
| A&E | NY | 67% | 6% | 13% | 14% | 0% |
| Discovery | DC | 60% | 4% | 0% | 16% | 20% |
| Animal Planet | DC | 33% | 17% | 24% | 25% | 1% |
| ID | DC | 20% | 17% | 46% | 0% | 17% |
| SyFy | NY | 83% | 6% | 0% | 6% | 0% |
| WEtv | NY | 74% | 4% | 0% | 5% | 0% |
| Nat Geo/Wild | DC | 47% | 11% | 0% | 11% | 12% |
Fascinating, right?!
- Contact us for our mini-study of sourcing by location for 20+ U.S. channels
For more of the context, don’t miss two of our most popular and informative posts:
- Michael Hoff on MHP’s journey from basement to bi-coastal
- Wall to Wall’s Alex Graham at Sheffield Doc/Fest on how a leading UK producer approaches the U.S. market
A SPECIAL THANKSGIVING!
We launched DocumentaryTelevision.com in January to respond to a gap in the market for a source of expert-led information about the business of the global Factual television market.
The result?
- We are far exceeding expectations in terms of readership and recognition
- And we’re generating valuable new business
Many friends and colleagues continued to extend their encouragement and support:
- A very special thanks to you this week!!!!!
What next?
- More expert contributions:
- On Law & BA from Pamela Jones, Attorney
- Audience analysis from John Morse and Byron Media
- Updates on trends in 3D and DVD/online
- Coverage of Canada, UK and Europe
- And much, much more
Happy Thanksgiving!