Documentary Archives - Documentary Business

The Rise of Netflix Increases Pressures on Producers. My Big Takeaways for 2018

2018 December 27 / Amazon, Commissioning Process, Conferences & Markets, Digital Video, Distribution, Documentary Production, Facebook, Internet Economy, Netflix, Pitching

Here are my key Takeaways for 2018. It was the year in which Netflix accelerated its challenge to the entire film and television eco-system, with the Amazon behemoth adding to the disruptive force of online video. 1.Channels Under Threat. Factual commissions boomed since the mid-Eighties. A tiny documentary market exploded into the global Unscripted industry …

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Amazon, Commissioning Process, Conferences & Markets, Digital Video, Distribution, Documentary Production, Facebook, Internet Economy, Netflix, Pitching

Revenues Drain from the Cab/Sat Programming Ecosystem. Part 4: Cord-cutting Accelerates

2018 December 2 / Amazon, Digital Video, Distribution, Documentary Production, Internet Economy, Netflix, Streaming Video, VOD

Is the U.S. Cable /Satellite Channels business facing its Napster moment? That’s when a disruptive online solution (Napster) sucks the revenues out of an established business model (the CD-based retail music industry.) Cord-cutting accelerated to record levels in the 3rd Quarter, surprising industry analysts. Cord-nevers: The mainly Millennial non-cabled home is a growing segment. Cord-nevers …

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Amazon, Digital Video, Distribution, Documentary Production, Internet Economy, Netflix, Streaming Video, VOD

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PBS History Programming: Audience & Pipeline. Top 5

2017 November 28 / Archive, Commissioning Process, Conferences & Markets, Distribution, Documentary TV, Network Profile, Pitching, Producers' Tool Kit, Public Television, Ratings

This post continues my coverage of the PBS audience for History and Science for delegates attending WCSFP Congress in San Francisco. The focus here is on the strands American Experience, American Masters and Secrets of the Dead. Also profiled are the highest-rated PBS History specials and limited series outside the strands. Next post: The Vietnam War. …

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Archive, Commissioning Process, Conferences & Markets, Distribution, Documentary TV, Network Profile, Pitching, Producers' Tool Kit, Public Television, Ratings

PBS Science Audience: Top 5 Non-NOVA Series & Specials, 2015-17

2017 November 27 / Commissioning Process, Conferences & Markets, Documentary TV, Funding a Documentary, Network Profile, Public Television, Ratings, Uncategorized

PBS commissions Science specials and series in addition to the NOVA pipeline. Top 5 Non-NOVA Science: Update “Farthest – Voyager In Space” is a standalone special produced by HHMI Tangled Bank Studios for PBS, and not a Secrets Of The Dead episode. Context: PBS’s average primetime rating is 1.41. That translates as an audience of 2,116,000 …

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Commissioning Process, Conferences & Markets, Documentary TV, Funding a Documentary, Network Profile, Public Television, Ratings, Uncategorized

PBS Series Ranker: The Audience For History & Science Strands, 2014-2017

2017 November 24 / Commissioning Process, Conferences & Markets, Distribution, Documentary Production, Documentary TV, Network Profile, Pitching, Producers' Tool Kit, Public Television, Ratings

Science and History programs are anchors of PBS’s programming strategy. This series of posts covers the audience and pipeline for these two popular genres. The Big Picture Chart: Strands: Science: NOVA. History: American Experience, American Masters and Secrets Of The Dead. Other genres captured in the Series Ranker are Drama (Masterpiece Theater, until recently driven by Downton …

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Commissioning Process, Conferences & Markets, Distribution, Documentary Production, Documentary TV, Network Profile, Pitching, Producers' Tool Kit, Public Television, Ratings

Audience Ratings Information for Producers: Arming Yourself for Negotiations

2017 November 22 / Commissioning Process, Pitching, Producers' Tool Kit, Public Television, Ratings, Reality Television, Theatrical Documentary, UK, Unscripted TV

Producers are at a big disadvantage in negotiations with U.S. networks because they lack industry information such as program ratings, network distribution trends, and network revenues. Best Deal We create customized reports for each producer that provides the knowledge that they need to get the best deal in the US marketplace. The reports include complete …

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Commissioning Process, Pitching, Producers' Tool Kit, Public Television, Ratings, Reality Television, Theatrical Documentary, UK, Unscripted TV

Facebook’s Video Strategy: “Throw Lots Of Video Against The Wall. See What Sticks!”

2017 November 6 / Amazon, Commissioning Process, Documentary Budget, Documentary Production, Documentary TV, Facebook, Funding a Documentary, Internet Economy, Netflix, Unscripted TV, VOD

Wall Street to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: “You have 2 billion monthly users and immense monetization capability. “Your move into video will have big knock-on impacts on producers, channels and others in the video ecosystem.” “So tell us: What is Facebook’s video strategy?” Zuckerberg: “Well, I think the answer to that is we don’t know …

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Amazon, Commissioning Process, Documentary Budget, Documentary Production, Documentary TV, Facebook, Funding a Documentary, Internet Economy, Netflix, Unscripted TV, VOD

“Hands & Pans”: Tasty’s Cooking Format Burns the Food Network in the Online Video Economy

2017 October 31 / Amazon, Commissioning Process, Facebook, Internet Economy, Network Profile, Producers' Tool Kit, Valuations

Tasty is enjoying a meteoric rise driven by its low budget, fixed-camera cooking format and Facebook distribution. It is a Case Study in how viewing on Facebook is hurting leading cable channels like the Food Network, and in turn, damaging Discovery‘s valuation. Hands & Pans: Tasty is a BuzzFeed division that produces and shares content related to comfort …

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Amazon, Commissioning Process, Facebook, Internet Economy, Network Profile, Producers' Tool Kit, Valuations