Broadcasters Bet on Flexibility of Streaming to Attract Younger Audiences: ‘We Will Never Be Cool but We Can Try Being Elegant’
variety.comRafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor How can television attract ever-elusive young audiences? For European public broadcasters, the answer is to focus on streaming, which offers much more flexibility in trying out different content strategies.
Gathered at Venice Production Bridge, the industry section of the Venice Film Festival, to discuss how platforms and broadcasters can aid the international circulation of domestic titles in a saturated market, industry heads circled back to the larger question of how to lure those young audiences, an issue that dictates much of their current acquisition strategies. “We are actively finding audiences who don’t watch TV anymore,” said Diana Tabakov, who works in acquisitions for Ivysilani, the streaming platform of Czech Television. “We are very good at approaching millennials and older, but it’s difficult with Gen Z, which is a problem with all public service broadcasters.” Ivysilani has a team that works on specific shows for Gen Z, including producing content for YouTube to entice viewers onto their streaming platform. “Our platform is trying to look for its identity.
Young people think television is for their old grannies. I am okay in saying that, as a public service media, we will never be cool and sexy but we can try being an elegant lady and not the granny,” added Tabakov.
Maria-Pia Defourny, program manager at RTL Belgium, not only echoed Tabakov’s desire to ingratiate public broadcasters with Gen Z, but emphasized how valuable streaming can be in terms of allowing broadcasters to diversify their offering — something the rigid scheduling of television doesn’t cater for. ”Our platform allows us to test other content.
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