Behind Warner Bros. Discovery’s Secret Audience-Shifting Strategy: Schedule Switches and Simulcasts
variety.comBrian Steinberg Senior TV Editor A lot of TV companies are judged by how quickly they can introduce new shows. Warner Bros.
Discovery thinks it may find some gains by developing new ways to introduce audiences to series and content that already exists The strategy has been playing out in open view on some of the company’s biggest cable networks.
Audiences watching NBA basketball games have been pushed to sample series such as Food Network’s “Tournament of Champions,” HGTV’s “Rock The Block” and Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch.” And some portion decided to follow the programs back to their original homes for more.
According to company research, 12% of TNT sports viewers who sampled “Tournament” went on to watch it on Food Network. Likewise, 10% of basketball fans that tried “Rock The Block” followed it to HGTV while 7% of viewers who tested “Deadliest Catch” watched more of it on Discovery. “We have an opportunity to share titles across the portfolio, but then we also have an opportunity to taek advantage of the huge audienfes that we have coming in for sports and expose them to shows that live on other networks,” says Kathleen Finch, chairman and chief content officer of Warner Bros.
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