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Thursday, April 14, 2016 4:13 PM ET

Upfront and Personal: TV One: 'It's the summer of Cookie'

By Mike Reynolds

If "Empire" changed the dynamic for prime­time dramas with multicultural casting and storylines, TV One (US) has altered the paradigm forcable syndication deals, obtaining the rights to the hip­hop series before it completes its second season.

The Radio One Inc.­owned network has secured cable­exclusive rights to "Empire," the hit show on 21st Century Fox Inc.'s FOX (US), starringTerrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson as Lucious and Cookie Lyon, the estranged couple heading Empire Entertainment, a music company inwhich their three sons are also integrally involved as artists and management. Financial terms for the deal with 20th Television were notdisclosed.

TV One President Brad Siegel, in an interview after the network's April 14 presentation in New York, said the network will run all of "Empire's"sophomore season through its penultimate, 17th installment in a marathon, ahead of the second­season finale on FOX in May.

Thereafter, Siegel said TV One will gain access to the first two seasons. "It will be the summer of Cookie," he said, without disclosing thenetwork's "Empire" seasonal scheduling strategy. "For competitive purposes, we're going to hold back as long as we can."

Cable networks traditionally have had to wait to air broadcast dramas in the fall ahead of their fourth­season debuts. TV One's pact pushes upthat time frame, an acceleration no doubt influenced by streaming services that have opened earlier windows for off­network fare. For instance,Hulu LLC garnered exclusive, subscription video­on­demand rights to "Empire," following the conclusion of its first season.

Siegel, who said discussions with 20th Television began during NATPE in January, called the agreement "unprecedented. It's a marketing andprogramming deal. It's not just repurposing. We'll get to the whole second season, minus the finale. We will run marathons into the new seasonin September and ahead of the show's mid­season in February or March. Then, we'll run the series in the summer. Next summer, we'll getaccess to season one, two and three and keep rolling as 'Empire' moves ahead."

Asked if the deal included a joint ad sales arrangement, Siegel said TV One had not discussed such connectivity with FOX around "Empire,"which he said is one of the most expensive shows on television with 30­second spots on the broadcaster fetching $500,000. "But we probablyshould, to see if there is a way to combine efforts."

Siegel believes "Empire" will expand TV One's audience. "There are so many aspects to the show: the music, the family drama, the violence.It's also incredible to look at," he said. "African­Americans love this show, and I think they are going to want to revisit it and see what they didn'tsee before. And we're going to make that easy for them."

During the presentation, Siegel said TV One, as part of its recently adopted brand position of "Represent," will look to "defy expectations" as it iscommitted to producing authentic content for Black culture past, present and future. He said the "Empire" acquisition is a big move for TV One,but it is eyeing others.

The network also is making a big bet in telefilms. "Two years ago when I started at TV One, we thought it was great that we had one originalmovie," said D'Angela Proctor, senior vice president of programming and production, during the upfront presentation, before noting that theservice increased its output to quarterly presentations.

She said TV One will premiere an original movie every month this year, before ramping up in 2017, when it will run 15 telefilms betweenMemorial Day and Labor Day, and 11 more thematic, calendar offerings, for a total of 26.

"We think there is a great opportunity here. No one has done this with that level of consistency for African­American audiences," said Siegelafter the presentation. "Movies have worked well for us with most of them performing well above time­period averages."

He added that by running the original movies at the same time on the same night in the summer of 2017, he hopes they will function like series inengaging audiences to return recurrently.

Siegel also noted that TV One wants to join the scripted original series arena next year and the network is currently deciding among fiveprojects. Several in contention are telefilms that could be deployed as backdoor pilots, including "Ringside," which he likened to "Entourage," setin the boxing world. "We want to come out swinging in early January."

In the meantime, TV One is continuing to bolster its portfolio of unscripted and docuseries.

"Sneaker Pawn" follows 17­year­old Chase Reed and his entrepreneurial family as they grow their athletic shoe business in Harlem, while "BailBonding by CJ" tracks Princess and CJ Jones and their twin daughters as the family locks down the bail bond business in Winston­Salem, N.C.

The network touted four new series in the real crime and justice genre with "Evidence of Innocence," "Thou Shalt Not," "For My Woman" and"#Murder."

But a new dating genre entry elicited the biggest reaction from attendees. "The Dating Games" combines that format with elements of gameshows, as groups of friends, family, cast members, teammates and everyday people compete against each other while being voyeurs of realdates. The participants are captured by hidden cameras as they answer thought­provoking and often intimate questions about the daters. Eachcorrect answer earns a cash prize for the collective.

During the event, TV One screened an episode in which three groups of friends/contestants had to decide how many weeks the couple at

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dinner had been dating (three); how many times they had sex (not yet); and whether or not the guy — upon receiving the wrong order — wouldask the server to bring him the right one, call for the restaurant's manager, or do nothing. He wound up eating what was brought to the table.

TV One has acquired cable rights to "Empire"Source: FOX

Wednesday, April 13, 2016 4:18 PM ET

Upfront and Personal: Azteca America opens up in­house digitalproduction studio

By Mike Reynolds

Azteca (US) unveiled an in­house digital production unit at its upfront presentation in New York as well as continuing efforts to fortify its prime­time lineup aimed at counter­programming the top U.S. Spanish­language networks.

Executives at the U.S. arm and wholly owned subsidiary of Mexican company Grupo Salinas said Azteca GlassWorks Studio will producemultiplatform stories bearing customized messaging for marketers.

Craig Geller, executive vice president of network sales and digital at Azteca America, said in an interview after the April 12 presentation that theunit's producers will create content reflective of Latino culture and the broadcaster's brand.

"We're looking to connect with audiences on an emotional basis around such passion points as sports and music," he said. "We think there arehuge opportunities here and it plays well with Azteca's history of story­telling, which is now evolving to new platforms."

Geller said the content "would roll out on a client­by­client basis" and travel wherever consumers' journeys take them: TV, tablets, smartphonesor desktops.

Azteca America said it is incorporating Real­Time ParticipatoryMedia technology into its programming to create more engagementwith viewers, while also serving as a data­collection tool intoaudience behavior. Geller said the technology enables viewers toanswer trivia questions and engage in polling activities, and workswell with game shows and soccer.

He noted that viewers could vote for a top player of a soccer match,something that is typically decided by producers. With RPM, theviewers' voting results would be sent to a master control room and

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Azteca America President and CEO Manuel AbudSource: Roxxe Ireland/Marc Bryan­Brown

"Rabia" will be added to Azteca America's drama lineupSource: Azteca America

then be reflected on­air. A sideline reporter would then conduct aninterview with the "advertiser player of the game," Geller said. "Howgreat would it be for a fan to say he or she had an impact on thatdecision?"

The network, which Geller said has already inked early ad dealsaround RPM, will participate in both digital and TV programmaticplatforms, with details to be revealed in the weeks ahead.

Manuel Abud, president and CEO, said Azteca America hadregistered gains in 2015 across all key demos, including 41% growthamong adults 18 to 49 and a 44% rise against millennials ages 18 to34 in prime time. He said ratings momentum is continuing with thenetwork scoring its best March prime­time demo deliveries in fiveyears.

Abud, who joined Azteca America in 2014, has instituted definedprogramming that counters the telenovelas often favored byUnivision Communications Inc.'s flagship Univision (US) service andNBCUniversal Media LLC's Telemundo (US) in prime time.

Azteca America has been running family­oriented, game show fareat 7 p.m., under the La Hora Gandora (The Winning Hour) banner,which features "Todo o Nada" and "Escape Perfecto," in which ateam of two contestants strive to grab prizes from the "cage" beforethe doors close. Joining the lineup is "Ahora Caigo," a crossword­style game where "the hero" tries to beat 10 "strangers" in solving the puzzle and beat the 20­second clock.

The network follows with adventure/reality fare in the 8 p.m. hour, notably "La Isla." Now in its fifth season, the show, hosted by Alejandro Lukini,pits Mexican celebrities against two other groups of unknown participants as they use mental and physical skills in vying for a cash prize.

"Desafio," a new entry, will test human endurance levels, with playersbattling the forces of nature in exotic locales in Morocco and India.Using a system of progressive elimination, the contestants competefor cash and other prizes.

Newsmagazines, like "Al Extremo" ("To the Extreme"), are scheduledin the 9 p.m. hour. Hosted by Veronica del Castillo and Juan Barragan,the show combines video clips capturing extraordinary events, as wellas some of life's lighter moments, and presents human­interest, crimeand entertainment segments.

Azteca America goes dramatic at 10 p.m., currently home to Turkishacquisition, "Kacak" ("The Fugitive"). In new series "Rabia," thegovernment looks to stop the spread of rabies and attendant masschaos by quarantining the infected. However, a group manages toescape and hide in an abandoned shelter, as the series tells the tale ofwhat happens when people face an extreme situation beyond theircontrol.

"We have stable time periods with games shows and realityprogramming to newsmagazine and more cutting­edge dramas," saidGeller. "We're the fastest­growing network, with 14 months of

continuing growth and no retrenchment in March. We transition the audience through the night, giving them choice, and more and more arechoosing us."

Network officials said Azteca America is also scoring well with its soccer coverage, highlighted by home­team match presentations of ClubAtlas, Monarcas Morelia, Santos Laguna, and Tijuana from Liga MX, Mexico's top futbol circuit. Kicking off last July, Azteca America expandedits coverage from prime time on Fridays to Saturday nights as well.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016 1:26 PM ET

British broadcasters edge ahead of US counterparts

By Vinjeru Mkandawire

Industry observers gathering at the FT Digital Media 2016 summit inLondon agreed that U.K. broadcasters have held up well againstdisruptive newcomers in comparison to their U.S. counterparts.

A year ago, Wall Street woke up to the full impact of cord­cutting ontraditional broadcasters' business models. As a result, investorsgrew increasingly wary over the pace of American consumersmigrating from pay TV packages towards cheaper "skinny" bundlesand online streaming services.

This picture, however, appears to look quite different in Britain,where broadcasters have arguably had better success in curbingthe cord­cutting trend, particularly among younger consumers.

For a start, cord­cutting numbers are lower in the U.K. by

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Claire Enders, founder of Enders Analysis, at the event

Source: FT Digital Summit

comparison. A recent study from Nielsen showed that U.K. viewersare only half as likely to cut the cord in favor of online services,compared to the global average.

"The increasing popularity of online­only TV services will continue toput pressure on the likes of Sky and [Liberty Global­owned] Virgin[Media], but a wholesale replacement of these traditional subscriptionplayers is unlikely," Nielsen's European digital lead, Terrie Brennan,said.

For most U.K. viewers, online VOD and traditional subscriptionservices are complementary, and "cord shaving" is more likely:consumers opting for slimmer subscription packages from traditionalplayers, rather than cancelling them outright.

It is true that broadcasters in Britain face less aggressive, home­grown competition from digital disruptors such as Netflix, Amazonand Alphabet­owned Google in the U.S. market.

Claire Enders, founder of research firm Enders Analysis, tolddelegates at the event that, crucially, broadcasters in the U.K. havestolen a march in their home market by ushering in more aggressiveadvances toward online and catch­up TV models.

Enders argued that traditional U.S. pay TV broadcasters largely"came to roost on YouTube" — particularly those that relied on shortform content consumed primarily by 16­24 year olds such as

Viacom Inc.'s MTV. She added that this widespread reliance on short form content was particularly damaging for many U.S. broadcasterssince, more than a decade after Google Inc.­owned YouTube was founded, short­form content is "not going to hit any home runs."

Instead, online and catch­up viewing of longer­form content in the U.K. has been an "extraordinary locus of revenue generation," Enders said,adding that such new models have enabled U.K. broadcasters to reach new audiences.

Enders also credited the high pace of technological innovation to the competitive dynamics of the British pay TV marketplace. There iscompetition from Sky, all of the existing pay TV establishments and the "many hour­long options on [the BBC's] iPlayer without any adverts,"she insisted.

Caroline Thomson, chair at Digital UK, said in agreement that a competitive marketplace has kept traditional media players in the U.K. afloat.

"For decades, Britain has had this extraordinarily successful broadcasting ecology, which initially started with this sort of genius that the BBCand ITV, and [later] Channel 4, competed for audiences but not revenues … and then the market was open enough to let Sky [in]," sheexplained.

Sky in particular has been a significant disruptor that "made everyone sit up and pay attention," she added.

“It is very fashionable in Britain to denigrate American programming but … American television,

particularly in scripted drama at its best, is still the best in the world.” –– Caroline Thomson, chair at Digital UK

As a result, British broadcasters' efforts appear to be paying off. Figures from a 2015 report show that approximately 97% of U.K. populationview, listen to, or read BBC content every week. Additionally, Channel 4's 13.5 million registered viewers include more than half of all 16­24 yearolds in the country. Meanwhile, Sky closed its 2015 financial year with 506,000 new customers: its highest organic customer growth in morethan a decade.

Also speaking at the FT Digital Summit, Gary Davey, Sky's managing director of content, said the group owed a significant portion of itssuccess to its huge emphasis on delivering "choice and convenience" to customers seeking high quality content.

A showcase in flexible viewing, Sky Q is the most recent addition toSky's core products and the company's answer to the threat ofcord­cutting. The platform, aimed at the premium end of the market,offers customers the ability to take content recordings on the go, aswell as the option to pause viewing in one room and continue inanother.

Also making an appearance at the event, David Abraham, chiefexecutive of the British public service broadcaster Channel 4,argued that technical innovation in the U.K.'s broadcasting industryis ahead of North America, as online offerings have notcompromised linear viewing in Britain. Adaptation is the key.

"We have been able to adapt our model and offer our proposition toadvertisers and to consumers which complements the other thingsthat are on offer, rather than facing a situation where those newservices are fundamentally cannibalistic to what we are doing,"Abraham told the audience.

He stressed that All 4, Channel 4's online and on­demandproposition that combines catch­up, live streaming and exclusivecontent has benefited greatly from its mobile­first strategy andinvestment in proprietary data technology, enabling the company tooffer both linear and non­linear highly behaviorally targeted

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Panel at FT Digital SummitSource: FT Digital Summit

advertising.

However, panelists discussed whether advertising on the other sideof the pond ought to be pared­down. Insight from Enders Analysis presented at the summit showed that U.K. TV viewers are shown sevenminutes of TV advertising each hour, compared to 20 minutes in the U.S.

The intensity of advertising in the U.S. is fundamentally "inhibitive of enjoying a narrative form of any kind," Enders said, leading to a massexodus, particularly among younger viewers, toward non­advertising­based models.

Nevertheless, Thomson was quick to point out that American brainpower is largely behind the industry's golden age in television, enjoyed byhundreds of millions of viewers around the world.

"It's very fashionable in Britain to denigrate American programming but … American television, particularly in scripted drama at its best, is stillthe best in the world," she concluded.

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