As an entertainment executive, understanding audience demand for TV shows is crucial in making informed decisions about content acquisition, distribution, and programming. Using "Shameless" as an example, we can see how demand data can inform executives on various aspects of the show's performance:
1. Content Valuation: Demand data helps in determining the dollar value contribution of the content to any platform in any region. In the case of "Shameless," with an 11.7 times audience demand of the average show in Australia over the last 30 days, we can infer that the show's value is exceptionally high. Further, "Shameless" ranks at the 99.6th percentile in the drama genre, which means that it has higher demand than 99.6% of all drama titles in Australia. Understanding the content valuation of a show using demand data helps executives make informed decisions before choosing to acquire or distribute content.
2. Programming Decisions: Demand data can help with programming decisions as it provides insight into which TV shows are most popular in a particular market or on a global scale. "Shameless" has achieved outstanding audience demand of 18.4x in the United States, making it the number one market globally. Understanding the show's performance in various markets can help executives decide which markets to target for distribution, tailor their programming strategies and create localized content.
3. Acquisition Decisions: When making acquisition decisions, executives need to understand if a particular TV show would be a strategic asset for their streaming platform. With an increase in demand of 15.7% in Australia in January, "Shameless" shows that it has the ability to drive subscriptions and mitigate churn. Executives can use demand data to estimate the cannibalization of audiences if a title is available on multiple services and to assess the value of exclusivity.
4. Distribution Decisions: Demand data can be used to analyze the travelability of a show, which measures a show's international demand relative to its home market. For "Shameless," its travelability is outstanding, and the show has higher demand in Australia, with 41% of the demand of the US. With this understanding, executives can decide which platforms to target for distribution and monetization and how to allocate funds in order to maximize the content investment.
5. Content Performance: Demand data can uncover insights into the show's momentum, which is the pace of growth of a show, and its reach, referring to the number of people expressing demand for a show. For "Shameless," both its momentum and reach are exceptional. Moreover, its franchisability (spin-off potential) is also exceptional. Understanding the show's performance in these areas can help executives understand its effectiveness in marketing, how to monetize IP for the show through spin-offs or franchises, and how to attract new subscribers to their SVOD service.
Ultimately, leveraging demand data to analyze a show's performance can provide useful insights for entertainment executives in making informed and strategic decisions around content acquisition, distribution, and programming. For executives looking to make data-driven decisions concerning monetization, audience retention or acquisition, travelability, content valuation, franchise spin-offs, and global expansion, understanding the power of demand data is crucial.
