Less Arts, More Entertainment
By Anne Becker -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/19/2006 6:38:00 PM
Just what does A&E stand for these days?
That’s what the cable network has been explaining to ad buyers in advance of the upfronts. Network execs are pitching the former Arts & Entertainment channel as a "focused entertainment network" of original and acquired series whose shows are connected by strong characters. An on-air rebrand, including a new tagline, will be implemented over the next year, and the network is poised to open a Los Angeles office to develop its first batch of scripted dramas in years.
"A&E’s gone through so many changes in the last couple of years, it’s on us to clarify for everybody who we are and what we stand for," says Executive VP/General Manager Bob DeBitetto. "Most people still go, ‘A&E—Arts and Entertainment.’ That is what we need to move beyond."
What the network stands for, he says, is characters—and that’s the message DeBitetto—whose Senior VP of Marketing, Artie Scheff, recently departed—and his ad-sales team have delivered in L.A., Chicago and Detroit over the past few months. Although that message sounds similar to USA’s ("Characters Welcome" is the tagline at USA, which has more than twice as many viewers in the 18-49 demo as A&E), DeBitetto says A&E is more focused in its personality-driven programming. A&E hasn’t bought the rights to pricey sports franchises or movies like the bigger entertainment networks, he adds, instead focusing on youth-targeting reality series, original movies and acquired dramas.
"The sports franchises and the wrestling deliver huge ratings—I get that," says DeBitetto. "Those companies also pay dearly for those franchises."
While original series like Rollergirls and Dallas SWAT haven’t emerged as huge ratings draws, they and shows like Dog the Bounty Hunter have lowered A&E’s median age in prime from 59 to 45 since DeBitetto joined the network in 2003 as senior VP, programming. DeBitetto has also helped raise A&E’s ratings by 40% in 25-54 (579,000 viewers in prime, 2006 to date), and by 75% in 18-49 (559,000), according to Nielsen Media Research.
A&E has scheduled more reality, including a series about rocker Gene Simmons, and is laying the groundwork to produce its own scripted dramas. The network will open its first development and production office in L.A. and is down to a short list of about three to head its West Coast team. A&E, in the next two weeks, expects to fill the top slot and to hire one or two more L.A.-based executives to develop original dramas. The first, a companion to CSI: Miami and The Sopranos, is loosely slated for summer 2007. The new show should share its companions’ edgy vibe—"a soft romantic ensemble drama probably is not going to be right," DeBitetto says.
But until then, much of A&E’s plan centers on running CSI: Miami five nights a week in fall 2006and The Sopranos in January 2007. The network plans to run back-to-back Sopranos at least one night a week, and DeBitetto insists the mobster drama will have "minimal cuts" from its original format on HBO.
A&E has had preliminary conversations with potential advertisers for The Sopranos, hoping the opportunity to buy spots during the previously ad-free show will lure new youth-targeting categories, like videogames, which haven’t previously placed spots on A&E.
Sales execs are pitching more than the 30-second spot: a first-run trailer for a studio’s upcoming movie, or the exclusive sponsorship of a Sopranos episode. One-third of A&E’s clients during last year’s upfront were first-time advertisers, and many were in categories new to the network like beer, fast food and Internet service providers.
Buyers see the network as "going through a metamorphosis," says Kris Magel, senior VP, national broadcast at Zenith Optimedia. A&E’s team recently met with Magel and screened a strip-club scene from The Sopranos in both HBO and A&E versions. Magel, who said the scenes were very similar, says he came away better understanding A&E’s focus: "In terms of original programming, it’s not that they’re doing it better than USA, but it’s definitely more of a definition of a character-driven strategy.
No related content found.
