money directly from SBS - saw it as valuable
entry into the Australian market.
There was a good deal of discussion at the
conference about strategies for reaching niche
audiences, or as one conference participant
put it, creating special broadcasting genres, in
a world of thousands of competing radio,TV
and Internet sources. “Success is not just
numbers,” Byford noted. “It’s reputation, as
measured, and not just anecdotes. Of the 3.9
million viewers to BBCWorld in the United
States, surveys show that about 20 percent
are opinion leaders.That’s what counts.”
Meanwhile in international commercial
television, there are separate issues. John
Begert,Vice-President of Content for Discovery
Networks Europe,
put the case for the
strong marketing of
media brands. He
said that the key to
the success of his
service in reaching
3 1 m i l l i o n
households in 33 languages, with 3,000 hours
of regional programming a year, was clear
storytelling in the factual arena – providing
programmes that people liked and wanted.This
was backed by connecting with audiences
through branding ‘I know you’; distribution – ‘I
bring things to you’; marketing -’I can work for
you’;and content –‘delivers goods (and ensures
return of viewer)’. He also said it was vital that
a global brand appeared to be local with the
development of local material to accompany
the spine of internationally-appealing factual
output.
Nick Johnson, of Osborn Clarke, a
legal practice agency specialising in
advertising and brand presence on
international broadcasters, said
that the number of advertiser-
funded deals was expanding to the point that
in the US up to 10% of programmes were
funded in this way, with projections that the
total would grow to 50%. He said that the
trend would be strengthened as personal video
recorders became more popular and viewers
could decide to skip spot advertisements. He
also pointed to a number of cross-border
branding problems based on the fact that some
programmes such as theTop Cat cartoon could
not be shown in the UK under that name
because it was the brand of a pet food. He
added that those advocating advertiser-funded
programmes still had to tread warily because
there were those who resented advertisers
being directly involved in content. Johnson
added that some companies such as Hallmark,
which had created its own channels, were very
advanced in moving towards the ownership
of content and had worked out in fine detail
the difference between product placement and
genuine brand advocacy.
Technology – the future of international
broadcasting?
The relentless drive for technological
development in international broadcasting was
explored with particular emphasis on new
delivery platforms and the workflow in
newsrooms and production centres.The issues
of coping with a mass of content and a library of
material were examined in a case study of how
French-language international broadcaster TV5
has introduced a media asset management
system. Alasdair Kennedy, director of Media
Services for UK technology firm Convera that
had managed the TV5 project, said that the
network’s previous system had been “chaotic”
with complex filing involving bothMacs and PCs.
He explained that the new system created user-
friendly interfaces, hadmade videomaterial from
throughout the world available by extranet, and
had made the filing of material on PDF files easy
to access and use. He added that the upshot of
the changes was that clips had become available
inminutes rather than half a day.Mr Kennedy said
that costs had not been that high because it had
been based on proprietary software – although
this rang alarm bells with some delegates who
feared being tied-in to a single vendor’s
technology with associated maintenance costs.
So you’ve got the content, but how do you
reach out to viewers and listeners and perhaps
exploit them for financial return or loyalty to
your channel? SimonWyatt, an interactive TV
consultant, said that interactivity brought
problems in controlling and
managing the flow of
responses, as they often
came all together. He noted
that SMS text managing had
become a very powerful
tool of interactivity in the US,
and was also triggering big
growth in general SMS traffic.
He added that the ultimate goal to create
maximum opportunities for interactivity was
a broadband return path.MrWyatt contended
that a careful strategy was needed for
interactive developments, including properly
managing viewer expectations, and ensuring
that response rates were rapid, otherwise
viewers would switch off. He added that
revenue generators included shows with
interactive responses, shopping channels and
advertisements eliciting a response.
Christophe Duplay, vice president of service
development at SES-Global, said that a quarter
of the satellite transponders used by BSkyB in
the UK now incorporated interactivity,
and that his company had been
instrumental in developing a new project
called SATMODE. He said this system
allowed voting via viewers’ remote
controls at the rate of 1m votes per
minute using an uplink on the viewer’s
satellite receiving dish – turning it into a
two-way communications system. He
said the information from viewers could be
then sent on to the broadcasters, who could
immediately send an acknowledgement to the
individual voter.Mr Duplay said that the system
could be used in a variety of contexts including
home shopping, gambling and general
programming involving voting. He added that
the extra hardware involved cost around
€
50
per terminal.
In radio, Peter Gordon of AIB member VT
Merlin Communications talked about the AM
radio project Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM).
He explained that it
allowed FM-quality
reception on AM
channels below 30MHz
(in other words, short,
mediumand longwave),
and also permitted the
transmission of data. He
added that the development of the system was
important because large parts of the world still
received radio via AM transmissions. Noting
that DRMhad gained permission to be broadcast
within existing AM licences, he said that the
system now required a proper launch strategy.
For workflow and production systems for the
future,Wolfgang Klein,the CEO ofAIB member
Dalet, said that television
had just passed through
its second phase of
television development,
(defined as half-digital
with the gradual
integration of broadcast
and IT systems) and was
entering the third – the
‘open generation’ with
the focus on solutions
that worked for
“We share stories…we don’t
shout them.”
Jonathan Marks, creative director,
Radio Netherlands
