“TV Is In A Pickle”: Producers Told To Embrace Digital-First Content & Platforms Or Get Left Behind – TellyCast Digital Content Forum
It was the TellyCast Digital Content Forum in London this week and the message was clear for traditional TV producers – you either embrace social and digital platforms or face lean times.
There were some key takeaways. UK-based ITV Studios shared how it has generated huge views for a George Clooney clip from its archive, offering hope to IP owners. Delegates also heard a slowdown in commissioning in the UK has created opportunity for digital-first prodcos. And the likes of TikTok, Snapchat, Meta, and Twitch broke down their content strategies.
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The mood was upbeat as digital producers, commissioners, platforms and creators gathered in the British Film Institute’s home on London’s South Bank for the event. The gathering is billed as Europe’s leading event for the digital-first video industry and is organized by the team behind the TellyCast industry podcast. The digital crowd sensed opportunity as the traditional TV business continues to faces tough times.
“TV is in a pickle,” said Matt Campion, founder of UK indie Spirit Studios. Spirit produces for a range of platforms as well as traditional broadcasters and Campion added: “Every time I speak to another indie at [TV industry confabs] MIP or Edinburgh TV Festival, it’s doom and gloom. This room is different, it feels exciting. You can see that shift now and where we’re going with content… it is probably scary if you haven’t got your foot in this door.”
TikTok & Snapchat
TikTok’s UK Head of Publisher Partnerships and Operations, Ed Lindeman, said the platform will help creators who want to get into mainstream TV.
“We really want to support them with that transition,” he said. “For us as a platform it then tells the story that if you start out as a creator on TikTok, you can be the next Amelia Dimoldenberg and become the next presenter of the Oscars red carpet.” Dimoldenberg is the creator of hit digital series Chicken Shop Dates and was the official red carpet correspondent at this year’s Oscars.
Lindeman added that film and TV firms should be “knitting creators into their marketing strategies,” and added: “We’re seeing the IP owners – and particularly we’ve noticed major film studios in the U.S. – really leaning into that process, especially around those red carpet moments, which are becoming incredibly viral on social platforms.”
Snap’s Head of UK Partnerships, Lucy Luke, said views of content from its verified creators – known as Snap Stars – was up 55% this year. She encouraged TV brands to glean lessons from this cohort, who typically post frequently and share their lives on Snapchat.
“The episodic content that a lot of our [TV] publishers are still doing is reaching great audiences, but I’d encourage our broadcasters to also lean into that public story format as well, that kind of daily behind the scenes content.” She gave the example of Alison Hammond, a presenter on ITV daytime show This Morning, who is a Snap Star and posts from the set of the popular broadcast show.
A Trip to the Zoo With George Clooney
ITV Studios Ruth Berry and Graham Haigh were in town to talk about the company’s newly minted digital label Zoo 55. The latter gave an example of how IP-owners can mine their archives to find success on digital. He singled out a clip of George Clooney talking about pranking Brad Pitt on Graham Norton’s BBC talkshow almost a decade ago.
“That was a clip that was posted originally nine years ago,” he said. “We put it in vertical format, put it onto Facebook, and it has delivered nearly 13 million views in the last few weeks.”
For a clip from the So Television-produced talkshow that’s not a record breaker – many others have double-digit millions of views on YouTube – but racking up 13 million views in such a short space of time is what made the Clooney clip noteworthy for Haigh.
Commissioning Slowdown creates opportunity
Sam Barcroft, meanwhile, was typically forthright in a session about documentaries with digital-first prodcos Zandland, Quintus Studios, Seen.TV and The B1M.
He established Barcroft Media, which majored in viral shortfom video for its own YouTube channels and was sold to Future for $30 million in 2019. Barcroft said a slowdown in the commissioning of factual programming opens the door to the digital specialists selling content to traditional players.
“I heard something at MIP I have been predicting for over a decade; there’s not much content for people to buy,” Barcroft said. “There is a gulf because no TV commissioners are commissioning any more. There’s this big opportunity with channels saying: ‘Oh my god, I’ve got f**k all to put on my channel on Sunday at 9 o’clock, please can someone sell me something to fill that.’”
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