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CONTENT
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THE CHANNEL
THE CHANNEL
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ISSUE 1 2014
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35
repurposing of their archive, shooting
new original content and providing
channel management/optimisation
strategies and implementation.
What’s special about Sunset+Vine?
[AP] We provide award‐winning
creative solutions, on budget, that
tell great stories. Our clients trust
that we are going to deliver.
[JA] There is also a history of being
innovative within the broadcast
space. We go in and try to make the
coverage of that sport better than it
has ever been before. We brought
Hawk‐Eye to cricket and that
changed the way people watched
that sport. It’s a question of staying
across new technology in the sector
that we are in, and balancing that
innovation and technology with
audience experience, coupled with
a shrewd editorial eye. It’s a
combination of those things that
make for successful projects.
This is borne out in the rugby
coverage for BT Sport where we
have seen a huge increase in
audience numbers. What we do is
drastically different: we are in the
changing rooms and we are on the
pitch with the players as they warm
up. It is all about understanding
what the audience wants to see. If
you hear a director of rugby talking
to you live during the game when
his team are down that’s really
relevant editorial.
How is BT Sport changing the
landscape in Britain?
[JA] BT Sport is putting
innovation, money and excitement
back into sport. The coverage we do
looks very different. We have a lot
of technology in that studio and a
lot of space so it allows us to be a
bit more relaxed and casual, and
gives us room to demonstrate
things with human beings rather
than pixels on the screen. BT Sport
aren’t hiding the fact that they are a
multi‐sport channel and are making
that a virtue. They embrace the fact
that football leads into rugby leads
into European football leads into
French rugby.
[AP] Part of their overall mission is
to create an approachable, fun
channel. Take sport seriously, but
have fun doing it.
A brand as a broadcaster, a new
trend?
[JA] The shift from brand to
broadcaster is a well‐trodden path.
Look at Orange in France, or soft
drinks brand Red Bull, which
markets itself by making films
about extreme sports.
[AP] As brands build better
relationships with their customers
they need to develop content to
engage with those customers. So
there is a role for content creators
out there. The other interesting
trend for me is the idea of the
brands becoming broadcasters and
having a new revenue model like
BT Sport, like Sky, in terms of
having a triple play where they are
actually using content as a vehicle
to drive broadband subscription.
You are going to see that model roll
out around the world where
traditional terrestrial broadcasters
are really going to struggle to pay
for rights based on purely an ad
revenue model. You are seeing that
already with ITV losing the
Champions League, or in Canada
the NHL hockey rights going to
Rogers, which will likely offer a
broadband package as part of the
deal. That is a big shift.
[JA] Another good example is
Fosters in the UK commissioning
comedy shorts that were so good
that they actually made it back onto
TV in the broadcast slot. The old‐
fashioned paradigm of ‘thing goes
on telly first, clip goes on line’ will
decrease as time goes on. The
landscape will radically change.
[AP] The other interesting point is
that there is a content fight as to who
delivers that business for brands.
Does it sit with the media agency,
the ad agency, or is there an
opportunity for programme makers,
like ourselves, to tell stories?
Which are themost excitingmarkets?
[AP] If you had asked that question
a couple of years ago, I would have
said the Middle East. Right now,
the next 18 months is on our
doorstep, BT and Commonwealth
Games. There are some interesting
opportunities in Asia too with the
Pan‐Asian Games coming.
What do you see increasing
demand for?
[JA] Broadcasters ask for more
social media integration and better
use of social media just because
they see the sheer weight of people
who tweet along to things or like
things on Facebook and they all
want to take advantage of that to
bring an audience to their
programming. On the other side,
we are also seeing smarter
technology come out about how
you cover events. Previously to put
in a broadcast facility for a football
match, for example, there was only
really one way to do it, now there is
more flexibility depending on your
budget, your audience, on the
timescale, and the importance of
the game. In effect that gives you
different price points.
How do you integrate social media?
[JA] There are some pillars which
are key when it comes to using
social media on TV. One of those is
Good use
of social
media is
a very
economical
way of
producing
engaging,
agile, up-
to-the
minute
content
“
