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July 2006 - Strategy Magazine
Special Report: Fall TV Preview

Engaging Television
Consumers gain ultimate remote control as specialty nets' online panels direct show and ad development

by Matthew Sylvain
page 64

Homeowners are home-improvement obsessed. Yet, truth be told, a lot of people suck at it. Walk down any street and you'll see evidence of poor carpentry, roofing or painting.

Desperate homeowners are one reason why home and décor programming continues to remain strong. Alliance Atlantis zoomed in on this insight thanks to feedback from its new panel of 6,000 viewers. And while feedback will have a greater impact on its programming selections next year, this fall the net will still roll out more property shows on HGTV.

Across the country, broadcasters are mining the "communities of interest" that have sprung up around their specialty channels through viewer panels. They are using the panels, which are facilitated by websites and e-mail, to draw up detailed audience profiles and more deftly engage their viewers, as well as provide positioning opportunities to advertisers. CHUM recently used online panels during its MuchMusic VJ Search and Discovery used feedback to create new program Star Racer. Both are examples of an effort to create engaging programming and equally engaging advertiser opportunities.

At Alliance Atlantis, panel feedback has allowed it to ask questions directly of viewers, says Sarah Moore, the company's SVP of marketing and publicity. She rattles off several examples: "Is it because someone is thinking of buying a house? Is it because people are already involved with buying houses and they want practicality in terms of what they are watching? Or is it pure entertainment?"

The broadcaster has also been able to glean demographic info about its panel, viewers' other areas of interest, what their purchasing power is and whether a viewer owns her own home. "All of that is phenomenal information for our sales teams to present [to marketers] - a much more robust profile of who is watching our shows," she says.

The feedback not only helps the company better engage core viewers but also enlist new ones. Says Moore: "[It] gives us an opportunity to take advantage of that community aspect online and to seed information to [viewers]."

In addition, the panel enables Alliance Atlantis to extend its relationship with viewers, by offering opportunities to direct members to various websites, e-newsletters and other marketing vehicles, as well as by providing an avenue to test and create more engaging and targeted marketing campaigns. The broadcaster is also relying on the panel to track ad awareness and usage of new media, among other things. Along with the 6,000-member main panel, which represents the general viewing public, three others specifically involve viewers of HGTV, Food Network and Life Network respectively. All four were launched in February, and the broadcaster uses them every three or four weeks.

Meanwhile, over at CHUM, SVP of content Roma Khanna says her company's foray into online panels has helped it better customize its programming and advertising to the desires of the viewers who flock to its specialty channels. She says panel members contributed to the look and feel of last winter's MuchMusic VJ Search. For that talent-search program, the online panel provided feedback as the series was in progress, such as what celebrity they would like to see make a guest appearance, and how they felt about different products that could be integrated into the show.

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